A promising series debut. Ellis combines a 15th century archaelogical mystery with a contemporary murder investigation to good effect, the one thematically mirroring the other. The parallel (which emerges at the end of the book) may appear to be a little contrived, but it works nonetheless. The book cetainly improved as it went on: initially, the prose seemed a little stilted and the characterisation rather shallow. At times, it felt lacking in depth compared to some other comtemporary crime writers; by the end, however, I was absorbed and engaged.
