Two books for 20 Books of Summer — Anthony Price and Elly Griffiths

This month I read two books from my 20 Books of Summer list that had a major plot line centered around the King Arthur legend. I did not realize that when I put them on the list, and it was serendipitous that I decided to read them one after the other. 

The first book was Our Man in Camelot by Anthony Price. This is the 6th book in the David Audley series, a Cold War espionage series set in the UK (usually), often featuring some historical element in the plot. The series was written during the Cold War years; this one was published in 1975.

Audley, an agent in the Research and Development Section of the Britain's Intelligence Services, has taken an extended leave from his job—with his wife and young child—to finish a historical research project. CIA agents posing as husband and wife plan to dupe Audley into helping them find the location of Badon Hill, considered to have been the site of King Arthur's most important battle. You might ask why? Somehow it is connected to a US Air Force plane that vanished on a flight from its base in Britain. Since this is an espionage book, you never know exactly what anyone's goal is. 

Price's espionage books are slow and thoughtful and this one was very talky with little action, but it was a great read. 

The second book was A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths.

This was the fifth book in the Ruth Galloway series, which features a forensics archaeologist living in Norfolk in an isolated cottage on the saltmarsh. 

From the flyleaf of the edition I read:

Ruth Galloway is shocked when she learns that her old university friend Dan Golding has died tragically in a house fire. But the death takes on a sinister cast when Ruth receives a letter from Dan written just before he died.

The letter tells of a great archaeological discovery, but Dan also says that he is scared for his life. Was Dan’s death linked to his find? The only clue is his mention of the Raven King, an ancient name for King Arthur.

Ruth travels with her young daughter Kate to Blackpool in Lancashire to take part in the assessment of the archeological dig and the bones found by her friend Dan. The investigation is exciting to Ruth, but it is hampered by academic intrigue and rivalries at Dan's college. Also, Kate's father is a policeman who is married with teenage children; he also ends up in Blackpool, where he grew up.

In the past I have had reservations about this series, but the characters and the stories are beginning to grow on me. In addition, the experience of reading about the research behind the Arthurian legend in Anthony Price's book enhanced my enjoyment of this book, which discussed some of the same documents and historians. 

These books were my third and fourth books read for 20 Books of Summer.