The Bone Garden by Kate Ellis
This is book five in the Wesley Peterson series. This book is set around an excavation of a Renaissance era garden at an estate called Earlsacre Hall. The property was recently bought by a trust and they are restoring the main building as an arts centre and having the gardens brought back to what they were once. Local archeologists are working first to see what they find, and under a stone plinth that held a sundial they discover a body. While the local pathologist agrees that the body is likely hundreds of years old, it does look like it was a murder victim that was buried alive. When more bodies appear, the work gets delayed a bit, and things look for complicated for the historical situation.
In the present day, a body is found in a nearby holiday park and the only clue that Wesley and his time can find is a newspaper cutting about the restoration at Earlsacre. Wesley has also had a call from a local lawyer requesting advice on a personal matter that he hasn't disclosed. They agree to meet at a cricket match they are both playing in, but the lawyer disappears and is later found murdered.
Neil appears here as well, coming in to assist with the archeology work at the site.
Rachel, another police officer, also takes a role here both professionally and personally as she is part of the murder investigations, and finds a new attractive man that seems to be interested in her.
I really enjoy this series, seeing how the different central characters react, and how they are changed by the experiences they have. I also like how the police characters lives are rounded out by there personal lives, whether is is Wesley's wife Pam preparing to return to teaching, or Wesley's superior talking about his choir rehearsals.
The archeological story is also interesting, especially as it might have a personal connection to Wesley's family. The bodies date back to the struggle between the York and Lancaster lines of the royal family, which is a time period I find interesting.
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