The
Chalk Pit could be described as a fairly
straightforward police procedural, but it’s not. The characters are so
convincing you feel you know them, and you really like most of them; which is
quite unusual in a contemporary crime novel as the vivid characterisation is
remarkable.
DCI
Harry Nelson is attached to Norwich CID. The only real fly in his ointment is
his immediate boss, Superintendent Jo Archer, who is a pain in everyone's
backside at the station.
Dr. Ruth Galloway is the head of forensic archaeology at North
Norwich University and is currently conducting the investigation into some
human bones that have been found in the undercroft below the Guildhall, where
there is a network of ancient tunnels. The bones are not a complete skeleton,
two tibias, part of a femur and an arm bone. They seem extraordinarily clean. Ted,
Ruth's assistant, assumes the bones are ancient, because the tunnels are part
of a medieval chalk mine, but Ruth says that is not necessarily so, and packs
them up to send to the lab.
Ruth
and Harry have a history. Seven years ago, they had an affair, which resulted
in the birth of Ruth's daughter, Kate. Harry told his glamorous wife, Michelle,
who has two teenage daughters, the whole story and she, very magnanimously,
agreed that he could keep in constant touch with Kate and take her out
regularly. But strong feelings still exist between the ex-lovers; and they are
close friends.
The
reason for the chalk pit, under the Guildhall being opened is that an
entrepreneur. Quentin Swan, has applied to convert the undercroft into a
restaurant and entertainment
centre.
He comes to the Guildhall in a state of high excitement, desperate to know
whether the bones are ancient, which could hold up his planning application. Ruth
explains that they will have to be tested by the forensics lab before they know
for sure. She also finds Mr. Swan quite dishy.
Meanwhile,
at the Norwich Police Station, Harry is visited by a rough sleeper well-known
to the police, nicknamed by them ‘Aftershave
Eddie’ because of his unsavoury smell. Eddie is worried about an
associate of his, another rough sleeper called Babs, who has apparently
disappeared. Harry thinks that the homeless habitually disappear at intervals,
and doesn't take too much notice at first, but does send members of his squad
to talk to various rough sleepers in the area. He discovers that they all tend
to congregate at a centre in Kings Lynn which provides hot soup and showers for
them at lunch time. Harry is also investigating a mysterious hole which has
appeared in a residential road in Norwich. The hole is above the chalk
workings.
So
begins a very complicated but exciting plot, which has such a multiplicity of
characters that it is sometimes difficult to remember who they all are. Several
homeless characters are murdered, then two young local women disappear. They
are comfortably off, one of them being the partner of a Detective Sergeant in
Harry's squad. She is a very attractive actress, who is directing a play in
which Ruth's daughter Kate is taking part.
Harry
Nelson becomes deeply involved in the investigation, despite the best efforts
of
Jo Archer to keep him office-bound. There is a thrilling climax, in which even
Jo Archer shows a softer side.
I have
not read anything by this author before, but after The Chalk Pit, I
wish I had. Elly Griffiths has the great gift of making the reader feel welcome
from the first page.
