Harry is Catholic and desperately wanted Kate christened, so much so that he made arrangements for the ceremony. Because it’s neither land nor sea, but something in-between, they saw it as a kind of bridge to the afterlife.

Here we have mysterious deaths, drug smuggling, mysticism and enough horses to make a Dick Francis fan neigh with glee; but the actual mystery is almost incidental to the various inter-personal relationships between this circle of characters and I never felt particularly gripped by these relationships.

Griffiths applies a light touch, her Norfolk setting is admirably gloomy and Galloway is appealingly unglamorous. Of course, disturbing the dead is an occupational hazard for archaeologists, but Ruth makes sure that no matter how long-dead the bones are, she always treats them with respect. Ruth is depressed and overweight and she doesn't feel she's a good mother and she loves the depressing saltmarsh where she lives and she likes her job and blah blah.

I have to say I quite missed Ruth not being in the thick of things, but really enjoyed the mystical element. I loved working in publishing and eventually became Editorial Director for children’s books at HarperCollins.And much like when you start to watch any soap opera, there are some long ago plot strands in the background which remain somewhat opaque, but you can swiftly get a handle on who these people are and what they’re up to. Ruth makes the decision that she will pursue a relationship with Max and vows to cease thinking about Nelson. As is the usual way of their interactions we see Nelson and Ruth tongue-tied and muddling along in a mix of misunderstandings and irritation when they come across each other. Not copying the two diminutive bits of forensic archaeology information straight from wikipedia would help, too.