"The Bone Garden" continues Kate Ellis' creative mixture of concurrent archaelogical and criminal investigations in the fictional Devon town of Tradmouth. Restoration work on a late 17th century Devon garden at a country house called Earlsacre unearths the remains of a young woman, buried alive during the original construction. As the work continues, more bodies are discovered, and the archaelogical team piece together the story behind their finds with the aid of historical records. As an archaelogy graduate, Detective Sergeant Wesley Petersen has an interest in the Earlsacre finds over and above that required by his job; but his enthusiasm to be involved has to be postponed when a solicitor meets an unusual and untimely end, during the tea interval at a village cricket match in which Wesley was playing. As the investigation progresses, parallels between the murders of yesteryear and the present day begin to emerge. The fifth Wesley Petersen novel, "The Bone Garden" is the best yet. Kate Ellis is developing her main characters well, and the reader is eager to learn more about them, not just concerned with the main storyline. Above all, like it's prequels, "The Bone Garden" is a ripping yarn - or rather two yarns, as the historical sub-plot which begins each chapter is a good story in its own right! New readers will enjoy this novel, and then seek out the earlier books to find out more about Wes and co. Like me, they will then eagerly await the next instalment!
