This is a collection short stories relating to Griffiths’ various series, and some that I think are standalone (or at least are unrelated to books that I’ve read). I listened to this on audio, read by many different narrators, who all did a good job. Obviously, as the Ruth Galloway series is my favorite, I was most interested in the stories that centered on that one. But almost all of them were interesting, and unlike most short story collections, I was able to listen to these back-to-back without ever feeling the need to stop and decompress between stories. That made it a really effective collection for me.

There was only one story that I originally skipped: The Stranger by RM Holland. I thought it was a real ghost story included in the collection, but on second pass, I realized it was actually a fictional short story from The Stranger Diaries, which is where my journey with Elly Griffiths began! So I went back and read this one after all the others.

My favorite story in the series by far was “The Valley of the Queens.” It was near the end of the collection and while it wasn’t necessarily the most interesting story, plot-wise, it was the only one that came after the Ruth Galloway series ended, so it provided a glimpse into the lives of these characters several years on. Since I miss that series immensely, it was lovely to see how everyone is doing. But I also really loved “The Man in Black,” “Articulation,” and “Flint’s Fireside Tale” to round out my top picks.

I know this isn’t much of a review, but how does one really review a short story collection related to other books anyway? I enjoyed it. A comfort read.