Dead Man’s Lane by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Some paths lead only to the grave . . .

Strangefields Farm is notorious for its sinister history ever since artist Jackson Temples lured young women there to model for disturbing works of art. Some of those girls never left the house alive.

Now, decades later, Strangefields is to be transformed into a holiday village, but the developer’s hopes of its dark history being forgotten are dashed when a skull is found on the site. And when a local florist is found murdered in an echo of Temples’ crimes, DI Wesley Peterson fears that a copy-cat killer is at large. Especially when another brutal murder in a nearby village appears to be linked.

As Wesley’s friend, archaeologist Dr Neil Watson, uncovers the secrets of Strangefields’ grisly past, it seems that an ancient tale of the dead returning to torment the living might not be as fantastical as it seems. And Wesley must work fast to discover who’s behind the recent murders . . . before someone close to him is put in danger.

Decades after Strangefield’s Farm became infamous as the place where Jackson Temples lured many women to be his disturbing works of art – and a number of the young women were never seen or heard from again – it’s dark history is once more coming into focus. A skull is found in the cellar floor as building works begin, only for two more skeletons to quickly be unearthed. DI Wesley Peterson is curious but not overly concerned until a local florist is found murdered in an eerily similar style to that of Temples’ victims. Is a copy cat killer among them, or is something far more sinister at play here?

This is a long running series I have been enjoying and while I don’t feel this is the strongest book in the series it is still a very well written and I found it to be a highly enjoyable British Police Procedural. A few of the main themes have been thoroughly explored in previous books so at times I felt a little like this book was a rehash of previous novels.

I think possibly if it had just been one theme I might have overlooked it, but Della, Wesley’s mother in law, was being a bit of a pain, and then Rachel and Wesley spent a night in a motel for work and came close – again – to crossing the professional line, and then add in a woman from Wesley’s long distant past caught up with him for lunch and his wife, Pam, misread the signals she saw all happening within the space of the one book really made me feel as if the author was somewhat padding out the story. I would have honestly much preferred to have had another link in the historical/archaeology excavations and Neil’s plotline rather than all three rehashed Wesley’s personal life storylines, had the word count been a little low and the author needed to add in a few extra chapters.

That said, I did honestly find the main murder mystery and the current day police investigation was quite well written and I thoroughly enjoyed the twists revolving around Grace – the very long distant friend/girlfriend of Wesley’s – and her re-meeting the dead ex-lover. I thought that aspect to the plot, along with the incarcerated Jackson Temples was very well paced, well written and deeply interesting. I also enjoyed how, as usual, the book itself can be fairly easily picked up with little or no previous knowledge of this cast of characters and this world and still highly enjoyed.

While not the strongest book in the series this is still an enjoyable British police procedural style of murder mystery, and I enjoyed it.

The Mechanical Devil by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Secrets never stay buried for long . . .

When archaeologist Neil Watson unearths a long-buried mechanical figure in a Dartmoor field, he is determined to discover the truth behind the bizarre find.

Soon, however, the sleepy village becomes the focus of press attention for another reason when two people with no apparent connection to each other are found shot dead in nearby Manor Field, seemingly victims of an execution-style double murder.

DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate, but the two murders aren’t his only problem. The daughter of a local MP has gone missing and the pressure is on to find her, especially when it’s revealed that she has a connection to one of the murder victims. And Wesley’s own life is thrown into turmoil when a woman he helped on a previous investigation finds herself subjected to a campaign of terror . . .

Is there a link between the double murder and the accidental death of a young history student in Manor Field twenty years ago? And just what is the true identity of the Mechanical Devil?

Archaeologist Neil Watson unearths a strange, long buried mechanical figure. But soon the area is overrun with press attention for a very different reason – two locals with no apparent connection are both found murdered in what appears to be an execution. DI Wesley Peterson and his team are trying to uncover what has really gone on – but Wesley also is juggling the increasing demands of a previous victim he’s helped when she’s the new victim of a terror campaign. Can Wesley and Neil each solve their respective puzzles?

I found this to be a very interesting and well plotted murder mystery novel. While I thoroughly enjoyed the interweaving of the historical mystery along with the modern day murder investigation I found it really added a sense of tension and atmosphere to the whole book. I enjoyed trying to work out which pieces of the plot were red herrings and which pieces were connected.

I must admit, I was a little disappointed that Wesley took so long to catch on to what was really going on with the previous victim and her many phone calls. I connected those dots what felt like very early on – pretty much after the character’s first few mentions – so it really surprised me that a detective as seasoned and intelligent as Wesley didn’t even seem to wonder or question what popped into my head very early on. It made him appear fairly silly to me to have missed something this obvious and I feel that was a bit of a disservice to the character really.

That said I found the main two plot mysteries – that of the missing teenage girl and the two murdered locals in the field really was a far more interesting and well written plotline. I thought this was handled very well and I enjoyed these two plots as well as Neil and his historical puzzle. I definitely thought this whole book stood very well on it’s own – I don’t think readers really would have needed to read anything previously written by this author to thoroughly enjoy this novel and aside from the blind spot of Wesley with his previous victim I felt this was a very well encapsulated story that can definitely be enjoyed on it’s own merits.

Readers who enjoy a British Police procedural mystery with quite a bit of history interwoven into the plotline should find this an enjoyable read.

The Shroud Maker by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A year on from the mysterious disappearance of Jenny Bercival, DI Wesley Peterson is called in when the body of a strangled woman is found floating out to sea in South Devon.

The discovery mars the festivities of the Palkin Festival, held each year to celebrate the life of John Palkin, a fourteenth-century Mayor of Tradmouth who made his fortune from trade and piracy. It seems like death and mystery have returned to haunt the town.

When archaeologist Neil Watson makes a grim discovery on the site of Palkin’s warehouse, it looks as if history might have inspired a killer. It is only by delving into the past that Wesley can come close to uncovering the truth . . .

One year after Jenny Bercival disappeared, a young woman is found strangled and floating out to sea in South Devon. Young and beautiful, the woman was dressed in mediaeval dress like so many others celebrating the Palkin Festival – an annual event held at this time. There are many similarities between Jenny and this young dead woman and Wesley, and his team can’t help but wonder if this had been Jenny’s fate the previous year – only her body had been taken out to sea for good. Can Wesley sort out what’s going on?

Yet another good addition to this series, I was pleased that the historical and archaeology of this book was very well woven into the main plotline of the mediaeval festival going on while the killings occurred. Quite a few plots and sub-plots wove around together, including a number of the usual cast of secondary characters. I enjoyed there being some forward motion with the DCI and his grown children, as well as DS Rachel and her planned nuptials. And as always, I enjoyed Wesley and Neil working back and forth together, each finding small nuggets that the other could use to further their own investigations.

This book is well contained and while I feel readers who pick this up not knowing any of the characters might have to catch up a little on how everyone is linked together the actual plots are very well encapsulated within this story and should be very easy to follow. I do admit to getting a bit annoyed with Rachel’s character – she’s had a low-key crush on Wesley pretty much since the first book and it’s no secret to anyone who has read almost any of this series, but for quite some time now it’s been virtually non-existent and I felt it a bit annoying that the author flared it back to life somewhat after such a long dormancy, especially considering how close to her own wedding Rachel is right now. It felt a little cliched to me and a little bit like a low blow. This part was extremely brief and minor – but I couldn’t help but cringe a little when it did happen.

That said I was fairly pleased both with the unique twist to the main murder plotline that happened right at the end – that did take me by surprise, and I found it quite refreshing – and I was also pleased the murders weren’t as clear-cut and simple as I had expected them to be either. So, the murder plots themselves were exceptionally well handled I thought and this more than made up for the cliched “getting cold feet” and boozy embarrassing moment that occurred with Rachel.

A solid British police procedural murder mystery with a good amount of historical archaeology.