3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ellis has become a favorite author of mine, 5 Jan 2011
This review is from: The Skeleton Room (A Wesley Peterson murder mystery) (Hardcover)
First Sentence: 20 July - The woman in the red T-shirt lay on the sharp gray rocks far below; distant and tiny, like a small fish caught in the teeth of some gigantic sea creature.
Murder past and present. In renovating Chadleigh Hall, a former girl's boarding school, a secret room has been found holding a secret of its own; the skeletal remains of a woman tied to a chair. Was the murder related to the school or older and associated with the town's history of causing ships to wreck on its coast, murdering survivors and plundering the ships contents? And how, if at all, does this relate to the woman's body dragged from the sea who had been pushed from a nearby cliff?
In a few words, Ellis conveys the horror the victim would have experienced of being walled in a room and left to die. Ellis' descriptions, whether of such terror or of living in a village where most everyone could walk to work, is part of her appeal. She is a wonderfully visual writer, whether it is of places, situations or people.
Regarding people, she has created a diverse and interesting cast of principal characters. Gerry Heffernan, the boss, is somewhat old-fashioned in his views on women and technology while being an experienced cop who leads his team. Wesley Peterson is the intellect, somewhat put down for his education, dealing with racism due to his color, but respected by his boss. In every ointment comes a fly in the shape of DC Steve Carstairs who is bigoted, sexist, lazy and not overly bright. He is offset by Rachael and Trish, the very capable women on the force. It's the wonderful, diverse ensemble cast rounded out with non-police characters which gives a very real feeling to the story.
And what a good story it is. The plot is very well done. There are several threads which intersect, and very effective plot twists which never feel contrived. With each thread, I wanted to know more while being unable to predict where the story was going and certainly didn't predict the resolutions presented. I did enjoy the nod to the movie "Charade."
Ellis has become a favorite author of mine. Her books have never disappointed me, and "The Skeleton Room" stands well among them. They are more than a standard police procedural, blending the personal lives of the characters, archeology, English history and murder.
THE SKELETON ROOM (Pol Proc-Peterson/Heffernan-England-Cont) - VG
Ellis, Kate - 7th in series
Piatkus, ©2003, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 0749906200
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A skeleton in a hidden room and a body in the sea, 3 Sep 2011
A body is pulled out of the sea by the team led by archaeologist, Neil Watson, who is investigating the wreck of a ship. The body is modern. But in the meantime a skeleton is discovered in a bricked up room in a nearby country house when builders are converting it to a hotel and leisure complex. But that is not the end of the story and there are many more twists and turns before Wesley Peterson and Gerry Heffernan finally unravel all the crimes involved.
This is one of the best books in this series of the ones I've read so far and the connections between all the various crimes are ingenious. It kept me guessing until almost the last few pages. The historical background involving the wreckers who lured the ships onto the rocky coast in order to plunder them is intriguing. Neil Watson is not so much in evidence in this book as more of it is devoted to the modern crimes involved.
All in all this is an excellent read and I read about half of it at a sitting because I had to know what happened.
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