The Last Remains 3 - The End (Pages 124 - end)

 RATING: VERY GOOD

SPOILERS!!!

This is supposedly the last book in the series and it finishes with a great end and story.

During the investigation into the murder of Emily, Cathbad goes missing. He goes to see Tony, who is in isoltation, and after that, he vanishes. One neighbour testifies that she allowed someone responding to Cathbad's description use her telephone and he mentioned a gate, and then someone saw him with Leo Ballard in his car.

Nelson suspects Leo, who he considers a creep, and continues investigating him. All the people that were in the camp are interviewed, but there are still many unanswered questions. One of the details from the autopsy is that the body was in contact with chalk, which is an element found in the caves in Grim's Graves. Ruth decides to go there to have a look again and contacts the guardian. She has Kate with her, and instead of Jamie she finds Leo in the place, who tells her that Jamie had to leave because his wife is in labour. Ruth and Kate go down the shaft, and then there is a loud sound and they find themselves in darkness. Leo has locked them there, and even though Kate tries to push the trapdoor, it is impossible, and her mobile has no signal either. Then they hear a moan and creep along the tunnel, and they find Cathbad unconscious. Ruth hopes that someone could come to rescue them, but nobody knows where she is. Thankfully, Lucy, who has joined the unit recently, has been to Ruth's cottage because she wants to talk to her. Zoe is worried, and Lucy wonders if she might be in Grim's Graves, and that is how she finds the car, and she calls the police and ambulance. Lucy tells Ruth that she is Lucy Downing, the girl she rescued in that first case which brought her and Nelson together. 

Cathbad, Ruth and Kate is taken to hospital. There is nothing wrong with Cathbad, and Ruth only has a broken rib. Leo is arrested, and when Nelson goes through the recordings of the testimonies, it strikes him as odd that one said that one of the girls had a hair curler, and he also wonders if when Cathbad mentioned gate, he meant gait. The next thing we know is that he arrests Amber for murder. Amber finally confesses to killing Emily. That night she saw Leo and Emily kissing, and she was so jealous and angry that she threw a stone to her and hit her in the head, killing her. Leo calmed her and said that they needed to create reasonable doubt. When the others woke up, Leo told them that she had driven Amber to the station, and what they saw was Amber dressed as Emily in his car. Nobody talked to her and she simply waved. What Cathbad found strange was her gate on the recording because Emily walked in a peculiar way because of an injury and the metal plate she had in her ankle. Amber says that they kept Emily's body in one of the caves in Grim's Graves, and then they moved the body to the cafe when Gaia gave them the key. What Nelson can't know is whether the owner, Peter, was involved, but it seems reasonable as when Tany went to see his wife, who was in a nursing home for dementia, the woman mentioned the girl behind the wall.

The case is resolved. The relationship of Nelson and Ruth goes through several stages in this book. Both have been offered new jobs in different places. Then on Father's Day Michelle and George return and Ruth sees them together with Nelson, feeling very jealous. And Michelle tells Nelson that she wants to come back. Also David, Ruth's colleague, tells her that she has a job in Sweden and he wants her to go with him because he loves her, which takes her aback. It is Cathbad, who tells Nelson that he needs to tell Ruth how he feels. So Nelson drives to the university; Ruth sees him in the distance, and he grabs a loudhailer from someone who is getting ready for a rally, and he shouts Ruth, I love you. Please don't leave me." And Ruth runs to him.

In the last chapter Ruth is packing. She and Kate are moving with Nelson to a village in Norfolk. Nelson has a new job, resolving cold cases, and Ruth has managed to save the department in the university. Michelle is back, but what she meant when she talked to Nelson was that she wanted to return to Norfolk, not to the marriage. In this last chapter Cathbad and Ruth get married, and all their friends are there to wish them happiness.

This has been one of my favourite series, and I am sad that it has finished. I hope that in the future there will be more mysteries for Ruth and Nelson.