A recording of an online talk and Q&A with Sunday Times bestselling crime author Elly Griffiths (ellygriffiths.co.uk/) who discussed her recent novel The Night Hawks, and the craft of writing, in conversation with bestselling Bristol novelist Jane Shemilt (janeshemilt.com/)

The Night Hawks Dr Ruth Galloway returns to the moody and beautiful landscape of North Norfolk to confront another killer. A devastating new case for our favourite forensic archaeologist in the thirteenth novel in this acclaimed and bestselling crime series. The Night Hawks, a group of metal detectorists, are searching for buried treasure when they find a body on the beach in North Norfolk. At first Nelson thinks that the dead man might be an asylum seeker but he turns out to be a local boy, Jem Taylor, recently released from prison. Ruth is more interested in the treasure, a hoard of Bronze Age weapons. Nelson at first thinks that Taylor's death is accidental drowning, but a second death suggests murder.Nelson is called to an apparent murder-suicide of a couple at the isolated Black Dog Farm.Local legend talks of the Black Shuck, a spectral hound that appears to people before they die. Nelson ignores this, even when the owner's suicide note includes the line, 'He's buried in the garden.' Ruth excavates and finds the body of a giant dog.All roads lead back to this farm in the middle of nowhere, but the place spells serious danger for anyone who goes near.

About the Author Bestselling crime author Elly Griffiths worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer. Her series of Dr Ruth Galloway novels, featuring a forensic archaeologist, are set in Norfolk and regularly hit the Sunday Times top ten in hardback and paperback. The series has won the CWA Dagger in the Library and has been shortlisted three times for the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. There are twelve books in the series so far with number thirteen to be published in February 2021. Her Brighton-based mystery series set in the 1950s and 1960s is inspired partly by her grandfather’s life on the stage and the war magician Jasper Maskelyne, who claimed to have spent the war creating large scale illusions to misdirect the enemy. One of the two leading characters in the series Max Mephisto is based on Maskelyne.In 2017 she was the Programming Chair of Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Festival in Harrogate, the oldest and best-established crime fiction festival in the UK. In 2018 Elly wrote her first standalone novel The Stranger Diaries. The novel was a top 10 paperback bestseller, selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club and as a summer 2019 Richard and Judy book. Her second standalone The Postscript Murders came out in autumn 2020. In 2019 Elly published her first children's book in spring 2019 to great reviews with a second following in 2020. Elly Griffiths lives near Brighton with her husband, an archaeologist, and their two grown children.

Transcript coming soon

Shelf Life listener survey: https://bit.ly/ShelfLife_Survey

We talk with Mary Milton, an active member of the Sea Mills community, about Sea Mills 100: the centenary project that explores and celebrates this garden suburb’s social history. The project has culminated in a micro museum, a number of outdoor events, a podcast, and most recently, a book, entitled “How Lucky I Was: A book of Sea Mills memories.” It’s a fascinating journey into a place with a remarkable history. Built originally as a pragmatic but idealist council housing estate, for veterans of World War One, Sea Mills can tell us a lot about what housing can mean. We hear about what Mary learned, and what surprised her, as she developed Sea Mills 100. Find out more about the project here: seamills100.co.uk/

Transcript coming soon

Please help inform future episodes by completing our listener survey: bit.ly/ShelfLife_Survey Thanks!