Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Ellis, K. | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
A marvelous British police procedural featuring detective and amateur archaeologist Wesley Peterson, a man whose unusual talents will be needed to solve two brutal murders--one of them over 400 years old.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Enough promise survives this choppy debut to warrant hope for future mysteries by Ellis. British Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson's transfer from London to Tradmouth in South Devon promises a fresh start near his wife's hometown. Peterson, a black detective with a degree in archeology, is warmly received by his new colleagues, among whom are unorthodox Detective Inspector Gerry Heffernan and bright Detective Constable Rachel Tracey. Although Tradmouth is a small town, the precinct has its hands full with two puzzling cases: one involves the kidnapping of a young boy, the other the brutal murder of an anonymous woman. As Peterson and his colleagues track down the identity of the murder victim and find her killer, Ellis unfolds a parallel mystery set 400 years earlier by placing short excerpts from an old journal at the beginning of each chapter. All the while, Peterson also follows a longtime archeologist friend's excavation of a 17th-century house that contains the skeletons of two bodies. Peterson, Heffernan and their colleagues form an interesting ensemble, and an effective subplot concerning Peterson's wife's anxiety over her inability to conceive a child adds emotional punch to the tale. Ultimately, however, the coincidences converge too neatly, and the clumsy tying together of the historical and present mysteries undermines the novel. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
An engaging first novel introducing Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson, who has just been transferred from London to Tradmouth, an ancient coastal town, has a degree in archaeology, and is black. His boss is D.I. Gerry Heffernan, an affable widower. Wesley and his teacher wife Pam have arrived at a stressful time in the village. Two-year-old Jonathon Berrisford has been missing for days and, almost as the Petersons arrive, the murdered body of a young woman is discovered by Dorothy Truscot on her daily walk to Little Tradmouth Head. A more cheerful event is Wesley's meeting with old friend and classmate Neil Watson, working for the County's Archaeological Unit on a nearby dig. He and his team have already unearthed two skeletons--one infant, one adult--from what was once the cellar of a 17th-century house. Meanwhile, Wesley and D.C. Rachel Tracey, searching for the identity of the murder victim, have settled on local model Karen Giordino--until she turns up very much alive after a trip abroad. There's more success when the name of Shirley Carteret surfaces and proves to be the one they're seeking. Why had she deserted her apartment in the house of elegant Mrs. Hughs? Where is the steady boyfriend who wears an earring? Who was paying into Shirley's bank account every month, and what was her connection with Mowbray Clinic and its Dr. Downing? A flood of questions with intriguing answers--all made more meaningful by excerpts from a 17th-century journal heading every chapter. A lively, unfancy prose style, an absorbing story, and believable characters make for a praiseworthy debut. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson transfers from London to Tradmouth in Devon so his wife can be closer to relatives. His first day on the Tradmouth force brings a murder, a missing child, and a medieval skeleton unearthed by Peterson's archaeologist friend. As he investigates, Peterson learns that the skeleton offers a clue to both the murder and the missing child. Ellis' first novel is a strong police procedural featuring some distinctly nonstereotypical characters. Peterson, for example, is a black detective in rural England who is in an interracial marriage and enjoys archaeology as a hobby. Ellis' scenes of southern England and the sea are vivid, and the mysteries are difficult. This novel will appeal to fans of Triss Stein's Digging Up Death [BKL Ap 15 98] or Beverly Connor's Lindsay Chamberlain series. --John Rowen
Library Journal Review
An exciting blend of historical and present-day police procedural, this first novel stars Wesley Peterson, a black British detective who majored in archaeology. Newly transferred to Tradmouth, Peterson chances upon a university buddy whose excavations at a building site have yielded a victim of Elizabethan murder. Up in the hills, meanwhile, the discovery of a grisly murder sends police off in the wrong direction until the supposed victim turns up alive. And elsewhere a little boy has disappeared. Peterson's skill and intuition make this is an involving, adventurous, nicely detailed work for all collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.