Striped Socks and The Janus Stone

 The knitting: a regular ol' pair of socks in stripey yarn.

The novel: The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths.

I bought this Kroy Sock yarn in the Blue Striped Ragg colorway a couple of years ago when I scooped up quite a few skeins of sock yarn with the good intentions of knitting socks as Christmas presents for my parents and my mother-in-law.  My husband immediately called dibs on this yarn for his mom's pair.  

Then I didn't knit the socks.  

But then I did!  It's a good thing yarn doesn't expire.  I pulled it out earlier this month and got to work.  The stripes make me incredibly happy and I think this worked up fantastically.  

They may not stay in the gift stash for long, though--I'm pretty excited to get them to my mother-in-law!  Why wait for Christmas?

The Janus Stone is the second book in the Ruth Galloway series.  The first book in the series wrapped up with Ruth short a neighbor, a mentor, and a cat, while pregnant with a married policeman's child.  The Janus Stone keeps the wild pace going with Ruth breaking the news of her pregnancy to her very religious parents, a nearby archeological dig of a Roman settlement led by the handsome Max, and a child's skeleton turning up under an archway of an old mansion that had been converted into an orphanage that is being demolished to make way for luxury apartments owned by developer Edward Spens.  Do you follow? Me neither, and I've read this twice.

What sticks with me is that Nelson's wife likes Ruth, and he is buddies with friendly neighborhood Druid, Cathbad.  Judy is wondering when she'll be promoted to lieutenant and is feeling combative with newer employee, Tanya.  Ruth's life is threatened repeatedly and she does absolutely nothing to change her habits.   Ruth's former best friend and now somewhat friend, Shona, is dating Ruth's boss, Phil.  He is married.  

These people are ridiculous.

Janus is the Roman god of doorways and transitions.  He's usually depicted as having two heads.  The theme of transition is covered enough--Ruth is pregnant so there's all that business.  But the themes of two faces is piled on with one of those scoops on a bulldozer, my word.  Nelson is a devoted husband to Michelle and a loving dad who loses his mind when he finds out his oldest daughter is dating.  He is also having a secret baby with a police consultant.  Plenty of characters aren't what they seem, and at least three characters are not who people think they are--truly, three characters are living under assumed names.  There's someone on the archeology team who has secret family members.  A nun has a tragic backstory.  Max isn't quite who you think he is, but I still love him because when Ruth tells him she's pregnant--on their first date!  On a houseboat!--his first concern is that he has to change up his selections for the after-dinner cheese plate because pregnant women have to avoid soft cheeses.  I would run away with Max and his thoughtful cheese selections in a heartbeat.

There are lots of boating terms, assuming you understand them (Nelson and I do not).  There's even a boat chase!  Ruth gets hit on the head at least 3 times, losing consciousness each time.  She gets lost in the rain.  There's a party or two on a beach with a bonfire meant to honor some old pagan tradition.  The villain is revealed to be an over-indulged rich man. Ruth finds out she's going to have a daughter and Max adopts a big black dog.  Judy is promoted.  Ruth's mother attends a summer solstice gathering with her.  Nelson does nothing.  I am ready for more!