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From Publishers Weekly
In her third mystery featuring Trinidadian police sergeant Wesley Peterson (after 2000's The Armada Boy), Ellis proves herself once again adept at linking a contemporary British police procedural to a crime from centuries in the past that neatly parallels the present-day murder. When the body of Pauline Brent, a doctor's receptionist, turns up hanging from a yew tree in Stokeworthy churchyard, Wes and his colleagues of the Tradmouth (Devon) police soon determine that she was initially strangled. But who would want to murder Pauline, who by all reports had led a blameless life? While Wes and his team interview people who knew the victim, who mysteriously doesn't have much of a past, an archeological dig unearths the 500-year-old skeleton of a young woman whose broken neck suggests that she was hanged. As the police draw closer to identifying Pauline's killer, 15th-century legal documents just as suspensefully reveal an ancient miscarriage of justice. Besides providing a clever dual mystery, Ellis humanizes her characters with glimpses into their reassuringly ordinary personal lives. (Wes's wife, Pam, for instance, worries about finding child care for their newborn son.) This is a series that just gets stronger with each new book. (May 14) Forecast: With its appealing cast of police officers, its English village setting and ingenious but not overly complicated plot, this series would seem a natural for TV adaptation in the author's native Britain.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Review
'Chilling' - Scotsman 'This is a series that just gets stronger with each new book' - Publishers Weekly
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Murder: past and present,
By
This review is from: An Unhallowed Grave: A Wesley Peterson Crime Novel (Hardcover)
First Sentence: The girl looked out of the window.Pauline Brent, a nice middle-aged lady about whom no-one speaks badly, is receptionist to the local doctor. She is also found hanged from a tree in the churchyard. A local archeological dig turns up a 500-year-old skeleton of a woman who was also hanged. Can clues from one case help solve the other? I know; it's an older book. Being one who prefers to read a series in order, I finally found this third book in the Wesley Peterson series. That said, I feel their being touted as 'A Wesley Peterson Crime Novel' is something of a misnomer. To me, Ellis has created very much of an ensemble cast with my personal favorite being DI Gerry Heffernan, Wesley's boss with his wisdom and humor. Ellis has done such of good job of making her characters real, I feel invested in their lives almost as if I were watching a series'who will find a girlfriend, who will get promoted, will a certain marriage last'because the characters' lives progress with each book. It's not an easy trick for an author to manage. The reason the books marketing of the books is focused on Wesley is that he is the link to the second thread in the stories, which is the archeological and historical mystery. I am fascinated by English history and cannot imagine the thrill of discovering something hundreds of years old. Ellis conveys that excitement to the reader, educating and skillfully linking the present and the past. Occasionally, she I feel it unlikely a character wouldn't know a bit of information being related, but it's necessary to the story that the reader understand. The dialogue could have been better. It's not bad, but it doesn't completely flow. The plot was constructed with an unexpected revelation. The climax was a bit abrupt and partly offstage, but final ending was very satisfying. This is a traditional police procedural without graphic violence but with excellent characters, and a bit of history. It is a series I recommend reading from the beginning, which means you have quite a bit of good reading ahead of you as the 15th book in this series is due out next year. AN UNHALLOWED GRAVE (Pol Proc-Wesley Peterson-England-Cont) ' G+ Ellis, Kate ' 3nd in series Thomas Dunn Books, ©1999, US Hardcover ' ISBN: 0312274602
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clever story, good incorporation of history and archaeology.,
By
This review is from: An Unhallowed Grave: A Wesley Peterson Crime Novel (Hardcover)
I love it when I pick up a book by a new author who I have not read before, and find that the author is capable in character and plot development. Ellis is a good writer at both of these particulars, not great, but definitely so good at what she does that her mysteries deserve a five star rating. For those readers who enjoy intelligent mysteries, her books will be a nice addition. Her Wesley Peterson, a black detective, seems to be an intelligent fellow with a different background in archaeology. This background comes of some use (and brings him in contact with hilarious 'tree-huggers' and friends from universities with agendas of their own) in a mystery involving two women separated by centuries who are hung for crimes they didn't commit. Nice to see we Americans are not the only ones who lynched first, and asked questions (or not!) later.Ellis' characters are definitely characters. I love Wesley's boss, a lonely widower who is looking for friends. Part of the ability to draw realistic characters is the ability to observe real human beings and their reactions to normal life, which includes loved ones dying from cancer and the subsequent need of those left behind to find something to do with themselves besides work. If the reader can sympathize with the character, then the author has done a good job. As always, I enjoy reading British writers and really enjoy reading mysteries with a historical bent. I had no idea about the existence of art called "Jesse Trees" which are an artistic rendering of the geneaology of Jesus. I am so intrigued by this I plan to look up some more information on these 'trees'...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent parallel development of history and mystery,
By booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: An Unhallowed Grave: A Wesley Peterson Crime Novel (Hardcover)
Kate Ellis has developed an approach to mystery that parallels a historical event (in AN UNHALLOWED GRAVE the historical event is the lynch execution of a woman for murdering a child) and a current mystery (in this case the death by hanging of Pauline Brent). Sergeant Wesley Peterson, together with is boss, sex-starved Steve, and competent Rachel try to find motive for killing Pauline--a woman who fit into the background so well she shouldn't have been able to make any enemies.As the mystery unfolds, Wesley discovers Pauline's secret. Now, rather than to few people with motive, there are too many. It turns out that relying on the historical parallels (being dug up by archeologist-buddy Neil) is key to solving the murder. I enjoyed Ellis's earlier book THE ARMADA BOY but found AN UNHALLOWED GRAVE even better. Ellis writes well--definitely English but with little enough dialect that the novel is approachable by an American audience. Better yet, she doesn't write down to the reader, yet brings a thoughtful approach to both the mystery and the characters. Somewhere between a cozy and gritty urban mystery, Ellis writes of bucolic but dangerous small-town England. Excellent.
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