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Fifty years after D Day, a group of American veterans has returned to the small Devonshire town of Bereton where, in 1944, they prepared for Normandy, amazed the local children with gifts of candy and comics, and courted the local maidens. When one of the old soldiers, Norman Openheim, is found stabbed to death in the ruins of the same chapel where the GIs and the village girls once held their wartime trysts, Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson finds his investigative attention torn between the past and the present. There is no shortage of suspects. Dorinda, Openheim's widow, is acting anything but bereaved in the company of tall, handsome Todd Weringer; a trio of post-adolescent urban urchins (Dog, Rat, and Snot) has been harassing the local merchants at knifepoint; and Norman's romance of 50 years ago produced a son with a criminal record and, just maybe, a lifetime of resentment built up against the father he never knew. More intriguing to Peterson and archaeologist Neil Watson are the parallels that exist between this murder and the murder of a sailor from the Spanish Armada in 1588. Hatred, jealousy, and revenge have cast 400-year-old shadows, and Peterson must untangle a skein of accusations, resentments, and family alliances that stretch back through the centuries.
Kate Ellis's The Merchant's House, with its blend of history and detection, moved beyond the familiar territory of the British cozy. Unfortunately, The Armada Boy falls well short: dull characters and no sense of plot cripple it from the start. One can't help but feel cheated when the solution to the murder is, literally, handed to the detectives (in the form of an ancient letter), breaking all the rules of mystery fiction. But Ellis's prose style is engagingly straightforward and sometimes lively, with an occasional dose of gentle humor. Her dialogue, though, leaves much to be desired. For the most part, her Devonshire locals sound like an unholy hybrid of BBC announcer and London beggar. Even more jarring are her Americans, who might have been plucked straight from an Agatha Christie novel: they "guess," they "reckon," and they greet novelties with: "Say, that's a mighty fine idea!" Perhaps in her next outing, Ellis's contemporary characters will receive the same attention to detail as their historical counterparts. --Kelly Flynn --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
When American WWII veteran Norman Openheim gets stabbed to death while visiting a ruined chapel late one night outside Bereton, England, Det. Sergeant Wesley Peterson has no lack of leads in this absorbing police procedural. First on the suspect list is Norman's wife, Dorinda. It's no secret that she's been having an affair with another man among the group of U.S. army veterans and their wives who've traveled to the south coast of England for a reunion. Norman himself, it turns out, left behind a pregnant girlfriend and possibly some resentment in 1944. As Peterson and his colleagues delve ever deeper into the past, they learn that another reunion group member, Litton Boratski, was accused of raping a local girl, but U.S. authorities squelched the investigation shortly before D-Day. And what is the truth behind the tale of an American soldier shooting dead an Englishman caught rabbit-hunting in an off-limits area? Guidebook extracts that head each chapter give the sad history of shipwreck survivors from the Spanish Armada, who formed another kind of invading army in 1588. The murder of a young Spanish sailor, buried in the Bereton chapel, tragically parallels criminal events centuries later. Though this is only her second novel (after Wesley Peterson's debut in The Merchant's House), Ellis unfolds an intricate yarn of misdirected revenge with all the assurance of a seasoned veteran of the genre. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The sins of the father...,
By
This review is from: The Armada Boy: A Wesley Peterson Crime Novel (Hardcover)
First Sentence: Norman Openheim lit a forbidden cigarette and inhaled deeply.The Americans have come back to Devon in tribute to the time spent there preparing for the Normandy Invasion. The reunion does not go without incident when Neil, an archeologist and friend of DS Wesley Peterson, find the body of a murdered veteran at the chantry chapel ruins, the site where sailors of the Spanish Armada are said to be buried and where, in more recent times, couples went for a bit of privacy. The only thing better than discovering a new author I like, is when they have a backlist for me to read. Kate Ellis is such an author. It is nice that this book is set in the fictional town of Tradmouth in Devon. From the author's website, I learned that she used Dartmouth as her guide. But it is nice to be outside a major city. Providing a stronger sense of place would have been appreciated, particularly as I am completely unfamiliar with this area. Thank heaven for the internet. I cannot, however, fault her for character creation. Although this is billed as 'A Wesley Peterson Crime Novel,' it read more as an ensemble cast, and a good one. Again, quoting the website, 'Each story combines an intriguing contemporary murder mystery with a parallel historical case.' Wesley received his degree in archeology prior to joining the police force and, therefore, provides the bridge through his archeologist friend, Neil. Where he is polished and university educated, his superior, DI Heffernan, with whom I am delighted to say he gets on well. To this pair, add a bright, ambitious police woman, a young detective who'd really like the action of London, Wesley's archeologist friend and an unseen psychic who calls telling them to look for the Armada Boy. What I particularly appreciated was that the background all the characters is provided in bits throughout the story. The story's plot is so well constructed. It is intricate and filled with red herrings and twists but never feel contrived or manipulative. The clues are revealed to the reader as they are to the characters. The past is a critical element of the story as it relates to both location and motives. Ellis skillfully blended the historical information, particularly as this is a region with which I am unfamiliar, into the plot even enabling a particularly poignant thread to the story. Ellis is an intelligent writer excellent at the blending the past and the present, her use of allegories and understanding the impact of the sins of the father. She has definitely joined my 'must read' list. THE ARMADA BOY (Pol Proc-DS Wesley Peterson-Devon, UK-Cont) ' VG+ Ellis, Kate ' 2nd in series Thomas Dunn Books, ©1999, US Hardcover ' ISBN: 031225198X
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful characters and British description,
By booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Armada Boy: A Wesley Peterson Crime Novel (Hardcover)
Somebody has killed an aging American veteran and Wesley Peterson has to find out who--and why. Old animosities between the U.S. soldiers and the English people uprooted from their homes come into play, but a psychic claims that the Armada Boy--a survivor of the Spanish Armada is the one to ask.Kate Ellis writes a fine mystery but what makes this book so compelling is her descriptions of the people and countryside of England. Wesley Peterson, with his pregnant wife suffering from hormone overload, Detective Inspecter Heffernam, with is love for sailing and his need to escape from people yet desire to bond with them, and Detective Constable Rachel Tracey with her ambition, all make sympathetic characters you'll root for as they struggle forward. The mystery is sufficiently complex and interesting. Ellis's approach of weaving the three eras together proves effective and, ultimately, the fabric of the story proves to be woven together more closely than would at first appear. This is an excellent novel.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Firing a warning shot across the pond,
By Paul Kellaway (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Armada Boy: A Wesley Peterson Crime Novel (Hardcover)
In Kate Ellis, British literature has a champion to contend with the commercial american heavyweights churning out their tuppenny paperbacks. In the Armada Boy, Ellis successfully produces three narratives of different periods of time, all around the same West Country area. She interweaves these timeframes in a refreshing fashion that rather than slowing and disrupting the flow and pace of the story make the novel flow seemlessly and intelligably between ages. The author maintains the characters from the previous novel but manages to find the right blend of introduction and continuity meaning no readers are alienated in terms of character development. The novel's star characters would appear to be the Americans who I assure you, after spending several hours in the presence of some American Vets. on Christmas Eve are spookily realistic. The interaction amongst the detectives is impressive, with real depth and life which adds to the novel rather than drawing away from the pace of the book.Bottom line: A great read as either a stand alone novel or part of a sucessful series.
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