At the Stroke of Midnight

Finished September 7

At the Stroke of Midnight by Jenni Keer

This historical mystery is a fun and suspenseful read. It is 1923 and Pearl Glenham lives with her accountant father in a small town in England. He mourns his wife, and is fixated on the time she supposedly died, four minutes past ten, and doesn't seem to be interested in anything but his job. Pearl does all the domestic chores, submitting to his demands, and leads a quiet life. But her best friend Harriet is more adventurous and has always encouraged her to rebel against her father's expectations. Pearl also has a secret, that she also has developed a secret compulsion regarding time, and has a collection of timepieces that she has stolen over many months. She also has an obsession with water, and has taken up swimming, becoming quite competent.

Her father tells her that they have been invited to Highcliffe House, a country house on the Dorset coast for the weekend, and must go. He plans for them to travel there in two days so they arrive fresh, and seems to know how to get to the house, although he claims that it is for business and that he doesn't know the house or the host. The owners of the house, the English woman who grew up there, Lenora, and her husband, an American named Virgil Brockhurst haven't been seen in twenty years. They had spent time traveling when they first married, and had returned with a young child, saying that they intended to stay for some years, but disappeared again shortly after their arrival. 

Pearl had come across the invitation her father received before they left home and suspected that the contents implied blackmail coerced her father to accept the invitation. So she is watching what happens carefully. Once they arrive at the house, it soon becomes apparent that he has met the other two guests, although they all pretend they haven't. Besides the guests, one of them has brought her husband, an Italian man who knows no English, and there are two temporary servants, a young man named Ellery Brown, who is rooming offsite, and an older woman named Mrs. Dawson who is doing the cooking. After lunch, Pearl is able to escape the house and go down to the beach for a swim in the ocean. While there, she sees an unusually dressed man go to a cave she hadn't noticed before and then return to the path to the house. When she enters the cave she notes many odd items, seemingly overflow from the many strange collectables she'd seen in the house itself. As she investigated a curious clock with funnels that seemed to run it, she tripped and fell and a drop of the liquid in one of the funnels spilt and ran into her mouth. She immediately returned to the house and after an uncomfortably tense afternoon and dinner, retired to her room, awakening later to find smoke at her door and unable to escape the fire in the house. But after succumbing to the smoke she finds herself back in the cave in the afternoon, replaying the day she just went through. 

As she goes through this again and again, trying to change the outcome of the day, escape the fire, and make sense of what is happening, she is joined by someone else who gets caught in the same repetitive time period and the two join forces to find answers. 

This is a story of a young woman finding her independence, a story of romance and intrigue, death and second chances. Very enjoyable and I found myself eager to see what each new iterance of the day brought and what the truth of the circumstances was. 

The Christie Affair

Finished August 26

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

This novel takes the real eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie that was never explained to a reimagined version that completely captivated me. Some elements of the disappearance were kept, but most names have changed and some people characterized differently than they were.

This novel is told from the point of view of Agatha's husband Archie's mistress, here named Nan O'Dea. Nan grew up in London, but spent summers at the home of her father's sister in Ireland and grew close to a young man there. The first world war upended her life, and after losing a family member she remained in England until after her young man Finbarr returned home. There was an event following this that determined her actions going forward and had a large effect on her state of mind.

Meanwhile Agatha had become a successful author, earning enough to support herself and it is implied that her husband may have resented her attentions to her craft rather than himself. Agatha was determined to save her marriage after she learned of his betrayal, but he finally made the decision to divorce. They argued and he left to spend the weekend with his mistress. Agatha disappeared late that evening, with her car found in strange circumstances the next day, sitting on the edge of a quarry. 

As the novel progresses, Nan tells the story from a variety of points of view, with explanations of how she knew what happened with these others, from Agatha herself, to Archie, to police officials. The crossing of paths between Nan and Agatha is interesting and well-thought-out. 

A large portion of the novel takes us through Nan's past and what led her to the affair with Archie. This portion of the novel is entirely fictional and takes us through other serious issues, mostly in Ireland. 

I enjoyed the way this novel humanizes Agatha and we see her vulnerability, and how she took the time to understand that she had limited choices going forward and had to accept the end of her marriage. A very engaging read. 

A Legacy of Murder

Finished June 23

A Legacy of Murder by Connie Berry

This is the second book in the Kate Hamilton mystery series, set around American antiques dealer Kate as she visits the United Kingdom. Here, she is visiting her daughter Christine. Christine is starting an internship at the estate of Finchley Hall in Long Barston, where she will be organizing the archives. Kate will also be visiting with Tom Mallory, a policeman she met on her recent visit to Scotland.

Kate begins her visit with a tour of the estate, but the tour begins late, and ends abruptly when one of the tour attendees, a young boy, discovers a body in the lake. The body is one of the other interns and Kate's observant nature and curious mind have her giving tips to Tom, who is in charge of the investigation, and digging deeper herself. 

She gets to know local antique dealer Ivor Tweedy, who proves very helpful, and becomes friendly with the owner of the estate, Lady Barbara. There is an odd collection of items known as the Finchley Hoard, that was buried to protect them from theft and then rediscovered more than a century later. This collection will be on display for the first time during an upcoming ticketed event at the estate. Lady Barbara's butler Mugg is worried about the possibility of theft and security for the event is ramped up due to the recent death. 

There has also been mention of a 'strange foreign gentleman' hanging about nearby and rumours link him to Lady Barbara's missing son. Christine, Kate's daughter, is also having relationship issues, something common for her, but these issues bleed into other happenings at the estate and bring Christine under suspicion in the investigation. Kate is now motivated more strongly to get to the bottom of things.

I like this series, finding the antique aspect interesting and I like Kate's character for the most part. She is relatable and interesting. 

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons

Finished April 28

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari

This debut novel is the first in an historical mystery series, Saffron Everleigh Mysteries, and I love the environment she's built here. The time is 1923 and the place is London. Saffron Everleigh works as a research assistant at University College London. Her late father came from a wealthy family but made a career in botany and she is following in his footsteps. Her grandparents aren't supportive, and her mother is barely scraping by, but Saffron shares a flat with a good friend, and works for a professor, Dr. Maxwell, who is very supportive. She's faced some pushback and some harassment from others in the department, including the chair, but she is good at her science and determined to make her way. 

As the book opens she is about to attend a gala for an upcoming expedition to South America and the Amazon in particular, which her department is participating in. While there she runs into a new professor at the university, Alexander Ashton, overhears some gossipy news about other professors personal and professional activities, and witnesses a possible poisoning. With the victim unconscious in hospital and the police are looking at motives and means, Saffron is aghast when Dr. Maxwell is arrested. She knows he would not have done this, and she is determined to clear his name. She takes risks, from scientific experiments on herself to breaking into gardens and offices. Her knowledge of botany shows here, and Alexander finds himself drawn into helping her as well as drawn into feelings for her. 

This was a great start to this series, which I found both entertaining and interesting. The author brings the time and setting to life, and we get a real sense for Saffron's situation. Her personality really comes through here as well, and we see both strengths and vulnerabilities. I was on her side in every way.

A Collection of Lies

Finished April 8

A Collection of Lies by Connie Berry

I read the first book in this series, A Dream of Death, recently and now seem to be reading them out of order, which is fine. Here, Kate Hamilton and Tom Mallory are newly married and on their honeymoon, but their future hasn't been entirely decided yet. They know where they will live in England, and one of their tasks on this trip is to do a piece of investigative work for a friend of Tom's who runs an investigative agency out of Canada. Tom is undecided whether to quit his job in the police and work for his friend or not. Kate had worked as an antique dealer in Ohio before she met Tom, and was a widow with grown children. 

Their task is to visit a museum in Coombe Mallet, Devon to look at a blood-stained dress recently received as a donation and to trace the provenance of the dress to verify, if they can, whether it actually belonged to Nancy Thorne, a Victorian lacemaker who returned home one day covered in blood with no explanation. Some suspected that she had killed someone, but no body was found, nor was anyone reported missing. Nancy lived with her sister, Sally Tucker, a dressmaker. 

The dress was donated by a man named Gideon Littlejohn, who although he makes his living in IT security, dresses and lives in his home as if he were a Victorian gentleman. So he's a bit eccentric, but seems like an intelligent man. The museum director Hugo Hawkes is eager to get the dress authenticated as it will be the star of a new exhibit at the museum, and he has recently hired a new textile conservator, Julia Kelly, to work on the piece and others that will be part of the collection. 

Kate and Tom attend a gala at the museum on their first evening there and a shot is fired, grazing Gideon. Most believe that the bullet was meant for the local MP, a reformed criminal named Teddy Pearce, who is determined to root out corruption locally. The local police, DCI Okoje and officer Varma O'Brien gladly ask for Tom to help them in the investigation. When Gideon is found dead in his home soon after, they find themselves helping in a murder investigation. There are plenty of suspects, and the couple find themselves digging into the past as they try to find motive and opportunity for the crime.

I liked the way Kate and Tom work together and value each others' knowledge and opinion. Kate's expertise in antiques and Tom's knowledge gained through his police work make them a great team. 

This case was interesting and really digs into history and makes me think of another series also based in Devon, the Wesley Peterson series by Kate Ellis, where there is an archaeological aspect to the cases.  

The Shining Skull

Finished March 19

The Shining Skull by Kate Ellis

As usual in this series, there are both historical mysteries that Neil, the archaeologist comes across, and modern day ones that have some relation to the historical ones.  

In 1976, Marcus Fallbrook, a seven-year-old boy, son of a well-off man, was kidnapped. His family was asked for ransom and it was paid, but he was never returned. Thirty years later a middle-aged man knocks on the door of his home looking for Marcus' father, who has passed away, and says that he is Marcus. He explains that a recent accident to his head has caused him to start remembering. In the house are Marcus' younger half-brother Adrian and his wife. As they go through confirming his identity and catching up with events, Adrian is pleased to meet his brother and connect with him.

Meanwhile a teen pop-star who lives in the area is kidnapped, and some parts of her case show similarity with that of Marcus's. 

There is also an odd case of a man, who changes appearances with each contact, impersonating a taxi cab and picking up fares of blonde women, taking them to a more private location, and cutting off most of their hair. He doesn't seem to want anything else of them. 

In terms of the historical case, Neil is supervising a relocation for graves and their inhabitants to make way for the building of a church hall. Some are quite old, and the coffins aren't in good shape. One breaks apart as they move it, and everyone is surprised to find that it holds two bodies: a young woman and a young teen boy. It is her grave, and Neil is determined to discover his identity and work out why he is there. He is also intrigued by a singular marking on some of the graves that indicates they belonged to a group that followed a woman who called herself The Shining One and who predicted a major event when her child was born. 

As the police and Neil separately research their cases and mysteries, the connections begin to be shown and the parallels are, as usual, very interesting. 

I really like how this series brings in history to current cases. It is also interesting to see how the personal lives of some of the characters develop. From Wesley's boss trying to support his woman-friend through moving her mother into dementia living to Pam's teaching to Rachel's moving out of her family home, we see changes in their lives. 

A Detective at Death's Door

Finished February 6

A Detective at Death's Door by H.R.F. Keating

This is the fifth book in the Harriet Martens mystery series, but the first in the series that I've read. Harriet is a Detective Superintendent for the Greater Birchester Police, and as the book begins, she awakens in a hospital with some memory loss, wondering how she got there. As she fades in and out of consciousness she overhears her husband John and a doctor discussing her close call with death. 

She learns that she has been poisoned with aconitine, a derivative of the wolfsbane plant, and part of her survival is due to the face that John Piddock had been reading an Agatha Christie novel with the same poisoning and forced her to vomit as soon as he returned to her side. The two were enjoying a hot day by the pool at the Majestic Insurance Company Sports and Social Club, with the insurance company being John's employer. She'd been drinking Campari and soda and fallen asleep as John went to the bathroom. When he returned she awoke and saw him coming toward her and picked up her drink and took a swallow, to find that it didn't taste right. 

One of her colleagues, DS Pat Murphy is in charge of her case and eager to speak to her as soon as she's well enough, which is days later. She becomes eager to get home and despite her still weak condition, John agrees as long as she follows the conditions he sets. She agrees, and she does try, but her instinct to solve the case gets her out of bed long before she should and sets back her recovery. When she hears that there have been more poisoning victims after her, and they didn't survive, she becomes determined to try to stop the killer. She reaches out to people who might help, grasping at straws as she trusts her instincts and as she goes against the new London-based police officer who has taken over the case. 

Harriet is a strong-willed woman, with a good marriage and a strong reputation at her workplace. She is not about to let her health set her back, but she isn't in control of that and finds that, if she doesn't want to suffer a fatal setback, she must take better care of herself. 

I enjoyed this mystery, both the skills that Harriet displayed as she followed the case and the plot overall. A very interesting read.

Ghost of a Chance

Finished October 15

Ghost of a Chance by Cate Dean

This is the first novel in a series featuring antique and collectable shop owner Maggie Mulgrew. As a child, Maggie came often to visit the small town of Holmestead, England to stay with her Aunt Irene who had an antique shop. The two bonded and became very close. When Irene died, Maggie found that she'd inherited everything from Irene's house to her shop with the flat above it. She was able to leave the U.S. and her overbearing parents and create the life she wanted, which wasn't that different from Irene's. 

Now, Maggie finds some of her stock at estate sales and auctions, and near the start of the book she attends a nearby sale and finds a few things, including a dirty, but interesting-looking box. She leaves Spencer, her best friend and employee in charge of the shop while she is away. 

Meanwhile, at Oxford, professor of archaeology Pembroke Martin has discovered that his student assistant Ken has sold the rare apothecary jar that Martin had recently acquired after a years-long search. The jar is special as a piece, but Martin wanted this particular jar because of a ghost story associated with it. Digging out the details from Ken, Martin tries to get to the auction before the jar is sold, but is too late. 

Maggie has done well at the auction, and has seen a couple of other local collectors, another dealer and the curator of a local museum. She also met Edward Carlisle, a seemingly wealthy man who made no secret of his interest in the jar, but was unsuccessful in obtaining it. 

As Martin's search leads him to Maggie, she agrees to help, but the two discover the new owner dead, and Martin is now a suspect. 

Maggie finds herself drawn to Martin, a man she has already respected and admired from his reputation and television appearances. But Martin has ties to several other people involved in the case, and she isn't entirely sure whether she should trust him.

I enjoyed the amateur investigation Maggie takes on, trying to not only find the murderer, but also to clear Martin so that she can pursue the friendly feelings she has towards him. 

She's smart, and observant, but also impulsive, and this seems like a promising start to the series. 

The Marriage Hearse

Finished July 13

The Marriage Hearse by Kate Ellis

This is the tenth book in the series featuring DI Wesley Peterson. Here the book opens with a crime scene, where we see a young woman, dead and in a state of undress, be staged for a misdirection as to her death. We then jump to a wedding scene, at the registry office. The registrar is Joyce Barnes, a middle-aged motherly woman who notices an unusual emotion in the bride's eyes, fear. The reader is moved again, to a different wedding scene, opulent and formal in a church, where things are not going well. The bride, Kirsten Harbourn, is late, and her father finally appears, but instead of walking her down the aisle, he is alone and announces that she is dead, murdered. 

This is one of the cases that Wesley is now engaged in, as they endeavour to discover who killed the bride-to-be and why. The situation is a little unusual, with the bride preparing for the wedding on her own, instead of with friends and female family members, and this raises the question of whether she had planned on meeting anyone during this time.

Kirsten worked as a secretary at a local ESL school where European students came to board and learn the language. Wesley and his team take a look at the situation there, as some people close to Kirsten have mentioned that something odd was going on there, and that she may have endangered herself if she discovered something. 

When a local man with a metal detector investigates a field with permission from the farm owners, he finds jewelry, but also human remains. The police are called in and Wesley calls Neil as the bones look as if they've been there for some time. As he learns more, Neil is determined to solve the riddle of who this woman was, and enlists the help of an archivist friend. 

Wesley's archeologist friend Neil Watson is in charge of a dig at local Tradington Hall, where discoveries have been minimal to this point. 

On the personal side, Wesley's sister Maritia is about to get married to the new vicar of Belsham, and the couple and friends, including the best man who is visiting from London, are working on the vicarage which has been neglected for some time. Meanwhile, she is staying with Wesley and his wife Pam and their kids, and been helpful with the kids as well. 

The local theatre group is putting on a play, newly discovered, but dating back to the late 1500s. The playwright, Ralph Strong, was born locally, and went to London to further his prospects as an actor and playwright. This is the only one of his plays to survive, and is titled The Fair Wife of Padua. Each chapter is introduced with either lines or programme notes from the play, and we begin to see how it aligns with different parts of the many plotlines. 

I always enjoy the way the various plotlines link in Ellis's books and how there is an historical story that has things in common with the current day crime. 

This was an engrossing read that I finished quickly. 

Safe House

Finished May 18

Safe House by Jo Jakeman

This suspense novel follows Steffi Finn as she starts a new life under the name Charlie Miller. Charlie for a girl in school who always seemed to have it together, and Miller for her mother's maiden name. The plot moves back and forth in time, but every chapter is dated and titled with the character it focuses on. 

After Steffi's boyfriend Conor started work in London, their long-distance relationship didn't work as well, and they split up. Shortly after that she met Lee Fisher, a charming and handsome man who swept her off her feet. He soon moved in with her, although he had frequent absences as he worked as a pharmaceutical salesman and had a lot of travel as part of his job. He asked her to stop drinking alcohol and he agreed to give up smoking in return. She stuck to that until a leaving party for a co-worker, where she drank a few and he got angry when she came home. She went to bed and he went for a drive to cool off, but it is only a couple of weeks later when she is approached by police about that evening and whether he was with her all night. After talking with him, when he told her he was only gone for a short while and slept in the spare room, she gave him an alibi, and the missing young woman is found dead shortly after. 

When she showed up to a conference he was attending to surprise him, both of them are surprised, him at her presence, and her at his absence from the hotel and his condition when he reappeared. When she hears later about another woman found dead after a similar situation she retracts her alibi and tells the police after his latest trip and what she saw. When he is arrested, he tries unsuccessfully to blame her, but she is charged with giving a false alibi, and serves time in jail. Many people are mad that another woman died because of her earlier alibi, and a lot of them think she must have known of her partner's crimes. When the courts decide she doesn't need protection after her release, she takes matters into her own hands. 

Conor helps her find a new home, one that is dilapidated and needs a lot of work, which she is willing to do, and she takes her new name of Charlie Miller. She finds herself making friends quickly, taken under the wings of a group of women that regularly meet for a book club and other outings. She also meets a older neighbour and finds herself making another unexpected friend. But she has enemies too, one that already knows where she is, and one that is determined to find her. 

Her new home and community may not be as safe as she had hoped. 

I really enjoyed this book, finding myself reading it all in one sitting. I just had to know what happened. The character of Steffi/Charlie was interesting and complex, and truly sorry for what she'd done. The plot was also well done, and left me guessing until the end. You got a real sense of Charlie's fears as well as the things that brought her some moments of content. A great read. 

A Cursed Inheritance

Finished April 7

A Cursed Inheritance by Kate Ellis

This is the ninth book in the Wesley Peterson mystery series set in Devon, a series that I'm gradually making my way through. Wesley is a senior police officer in Devon, England. He has a degree in archeology and is also Black. All of these things bring a unique aspect to his cases. 

Here, there is a new case of a freelance journalist who is found dead in the river. Luckily, he hadn't been in the water a long time, so once they identify the body they are quickly looking into what he was doing in the area and what may have led to his death. At the same time, a case where a man has been serving time for years is reopened after a woman who has been living abroad since the crime gives him an alibi. As the police take another look at the evidence and case notes, they must ask themselves why the previous investigation didn't get it right. 

The journalist had been looking at a crime from 1985 where nearly the whole Harford family and their staff at their sixteenth century house, Potwoolstan Hall, had been killed. At the time, it was determined that the young housekeeper had killed everyone and then herself. The police have to ask themselves whether maybe this case was solved with too little questions being asked as well, given that the journalist is also now dead. The house has been transformed into a wellness center offering lodging and treatment for guests willing to spend the high fees for the New Age treatments on offer. 

Wesley's archeologist friend Neil Watson is part of an exchange program, where he is off to Virginia in the United States to visit a dig there at a settlement founded by people who took a ship from this area of Devon centuries before, including one member of the original family of Potwoolstan Hall. Neil also has a personal task he has been given by a family member. 

As some of these cases converge and the historical dig gives uncovers interesting information about some deaths back then, we can see elements of similarity in some of the stories. 

I enjoy seeing Wesley's personal life as well, here with his wife Pam in the later stages of her second pregnancy, which is putting stress on their relationship as well. 

The Plague Maiden

Finished March 29

The Plague Maiden by Kate Ellis

This is the eighth novel is the Wesley Peterson mystery series set in Devon, England. As is typical, there are two storylines, a historical event brought to light through archeology and a modern-day crime that parallels the historical story. 

When a letter arrives addressed to a past police leader about a crime committed more than a decade earlier, one that someone is already in prison for, clearing him, the police have to face questions about their work in the past, and need to look at the crime again to see who else could have done it. The crime in question is the murder of a local pastor, one that seems to be a burglary gone wrong. The man in prison references a statement he made at the time about a youth he saw hanging about the area, that seems to have never been followed up on. 

An archeology dig in a nearby field, known as Pest Field, is happening, looking for a leper church that is rumoured to be located there. The field is the site for a new branch of a supermarket chain, and there is pressure to do the work within a certain time frame. When the archeologists, led by Wesley's old friend Neil, begin to dig up human remains, the police and coroner become involved. While most of the remains seem centuries old, perhaps those of plague victims buried in a common pit, one found closer to the surface is more recent and may relate to the newly opened case. 

I enjoy the puzzle of the two parallel events, with the historical ones loosely based in real history, and the more recent ones in which Wesley, with a background in archeology uses that and his police skills to connect them. 

I also like that the series includes both the police officers relationships with each other and attitudes, as well as some family life that varies in focus from book to book. Here we see many of the officers in action, and we see Wesley's wife in the later stages of pregnancy and the couple's interactions. I admit that with this and the previous book, I'm starting to rethink my impressions of one of the police officers in their personal life. 

Skin Deep

Finished March 17

Skin Deep by Peter Dickinson

This is the first book in a series, featuring DS James (Jimmy) Pibble. I read the third book about thirty-five years ago, but don't remember much about it. This book, first published in 1968, is set in London, in a Victorian terrace house occupied by a small tribe of people from New Guinea. The book doesn't age all that well, in my opinion. 

The name they call themselves is Ku, and they are now using it as a last name. They came here after World War II, during which the rest of their tribe and the missionary and his wife who lived in their village were killed by the Japanese. The organizer of them here is Eve Ku, the daughter of the missionaries, who married one of the tribe, and went on to get to get a doctorate in anthropology based on her study of their customs and beliefs. Outside of her and her husband Paul, an artist, who have their own room, and the chief, who has his own room, the men and women live separately in large rooms they refer to as tents. 

Dr. Ku describes them as primitive compared to other New Guinea tribes. Their rituals and behaviours are described with detail as they arise in the novel. 

The story begins with the murder of their chief Aaron. He is an elderly man in poor health, but the death is obviously through violence, and since they keep their house door locked, and the death is outside of the actions expected from any tribe member, they are at a loss as to who would have done it.

As Pibble digs into the case, he takes in a lot of information on the tribe's activities, and even attends some of their ceremonies. 

All of the tribe members speak or understand English to some degree, some of them very well, and they have biblical names, presumable given to them by the missionary. They speak to each other in their own language, and are close to a couple who have a flat next door, as the man came into their lives back in the war. 

Some of the way the police and their neighbours talk about them uses language and attitudes that we find offensive now, but that was more commonly used at time of the writing of the book. It was an odd book to me, and I couldn't help wondering whether the author researched New Guinea culture or made it up. With the primitive beliefs and habits of the tribe juxtaposed against the educated speech of Eve and Paul, it just felt off. 

A Cotswold Killing

Finished December 2

A Cotswold Killing by Rebecca Tope

I've read a later book in this series, but this is the first book in the series featuring widow and amateur detective Thea Osborne and her dog Hepzibah. There is a map in the front that shows the locations of the first eleven books in the series, so you can see how they relate to each other geographically. I would have liked it more if they had also included Thea's town of Witney. She also has a note at the front that indicates that her settings are real places, including the churches and pubs (which are describing in enticing ways as the main character visits them). More personal places like farms and houses are imagined by the author. 

As the book opens, Thea is preparing to go to her first house sitting commission, looking after a small sheep farm in Duntisbourne Abbots, the home of Clive and Jennifer Reynold. The couple are headed off on a cruise. Thea has been widowed just over a year and is still grieving in many ways as we see through the course of the novel. 

When one of her neighbours is murdered on the farm she is looking after on her first night there, Thea finds herself drawn into the life of this secretive village, looking for information on the young man who was killed, his connections, and her other neighbours. 

It helps Thea that her brother-in-law, James, is a superintendent in the West Midlands police. This gives her a helpful reference for her house sitting commissions, and a link to police investigations. She finds that this connection also has benefits for James and his fellow police officers. 

The character of Thea is built with depth here, as we see both her strengths and weaknesses appear as the mystery unfolds. Her dog is a comfort and a companion, a calm presence in most situations. I liked seeing her come to life for me, and found the mystery intriguing

Unholy Dying

Finished October 6

Unholy Dying by Robert Barnard

This is the seventh novel in a series featuring an English police officer, Charlie Peace, but the first that I've read. There are several characters whose viewpoint we can see things from. One is a journalist, Cosmo Horrocks. Horrocks is a journalist with an eye out for a story wherever he goes, who uses any situation for gain, and has no respect for anyone else. It is the last characteristic that has been limiting in his career, and we can see that no one around him likes him, not his coworkers or his family. He is married, with two daughters. On a train he overhears a conversation between two men, Con and Derek, that piques his interest, about an investigation into the actions of a priest regarding one of his parishioners, a young single mother. 

Another is Julie Norris, the mother in question. She was pregnant at sixteen, kicked out of the house by her parents, and soon after living in a small home on a council estate in Shipley. She aims to be a good mother to both her toddler and the second child she is expecting. She found the priest, Father Pardoe, a good listener and a good adviser. He had been able to help her get some basic items for her home, such as used furniture and appliances. 

We also see Father Pardoe. He has been sent away, boarding with a middle-aged woman in a nearby town, awaiting the investigation, but is growing impatient as the bishop hasn't answered any of his inquiries about the status. 

We also see Mrs. Knowsley, the woman Pardoe is boarding with, and she provides an ear for him, and a source of unexpected comfort. 

Another set of voices are several female parishioners of Father Pardoe, including Miss Preece-Dembleby; Mary, the wife of Con; and Janette, the wife of Derek. These women are also wondering about the inquiry, and want to provide support for the priest, who they believe is innocent of the things he has been accused of. 

I really enjoyed how the story unfolded, moving through different characters multiple times, so that I could see the nuances of the situation and the lives affected. 

There are a couple of themes present as well. One is the role of the Catholic Church both in the lives of these people, and in its secrets. Another is the role of women, in society and in domestic life. Some women have breakthroughs in their lives, while others continue in their expected roles. 

A very interesting read that has me interested in others in the series. 

Big Sky

Finished August 6

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson

There was a long gap between the publication of the previous book in the Jackson Brodie series and this one. 

The book opens with a scene of Jackson helping a bride escape her wedding, It then jumps to events from a couple of weeks earlier, with two young Polish women being brought into what we can see is a human trafficking situation. It moves quickly on from there into the main body of the story which begins a week after that. 

Brodie is living in a seaside village in North Yorkshire and has his son Nathan staying with him for most of the summer as Nathan's mother Julia is busy on set for her television series, Collier's. He's also looking after Julia's aging Labrador, Dido. At the moment Brodie is working on a case where he is gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for a client, but he has a couple of encounters rescuing people from risky situations that bring him into contact with a darker criminal situation. 

There are parallel plots that end up intersecting at various points in the novel.

Four men who know each other, some better than others, play golf together and sometimes more. Thomas (Tommy) Holroyd runs a good transportation company, Andrew Bragg runs a travel agency, Stephen Mellors is a corporate lawyer, and Vincent Ives is a telcom-equipment area manager. Vince is a more recent member of the group, but he knew Steve years ago when they were young and saved Steve's life.

Tommy is married to his second wife Crystal, after his first wife died in a supposed accident falling from a cliff. His son Harry, from his first wife, is an interesting teenager who plays a key role in the plot, and daughter Candace is an infant. Andrew is married to , and they run a B&B together. Steve is married to Sophie and has two children, a teenage boy Jamie, and teenage girl Ida. Vince is married to Wendy and has a daughter Ashley who is on her gap year. Wendy has also recently asked Vince to move out as she doesn't want to be married to him anymore and he is now living in a pretty awful apartment on his own. Steve acted as his lawyer, but doesn't seem to have done a good job for Vince. 

Two young, but very capable female officers digging into old case files and notes about a man who is already serving time in a pedophile case. There was long suspicion that there was another man that they didn't get at the time, and DCs Reggie Chase and Ronnie Dibicki are thorough and persistent in their review of material and interviewing of potential witnesses. 

I really liked the Crystal who we see a good deal of. She's not well-educated, but she's smarter than she thinks, and a really good mom to both kids. I also liked Harry. He's got an interesting job that opens him up to different life experiences and a world he'd never imagined. He's younger than his age in some ways, and older in others. Vulnerable, with a hidden strength of character. 

The novel kept me wanting to read late into the night, and I loved how the plots developed and abutted each other on occasion before coming together dramatically near the end of the book. Well worth waiting several years for. 

A Painted Doom

Finished July 11

A Painted Doom by Kate Ellis

I was so enjoying the last Kate Ellis that I read I decided to immediately read the next one in the series. As is usual for this, there is an historical plotline that is gradually revealed through the archeological work that occurs in the novel and through letters or other writings that are given at the beginning of chapters. Here the historical is about the Merrivale family, a well-off family of the late 1400s that had links to the Earls of Devon, and who were loyal supporters of the House of Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses of that time. Recently, a skull was discovered when digging was done in an area of land not built on for some time, where a new town hall is planned for. Neil thinks that they may be excavating the foundations for a manor house of the Merrivale family. 

Meanwhile, in the present, farmer Terry Hoxworthy is preparing an old barn on his land for possible sale. He has roped his teenage son Lewis into helping him, and Lewis makes a discovery in the old barn's loft that comes into play later in the plot. He also sees a large wooden panel with a disturbing scene painted on it that he recoils from. The following day, when the local planning agent comes by, he brings Neil with him to check for any historical significance relating to the old barn. Neil also discovers the panel, which he soon identifies as a 'painted doom', a panel often displayed prominently in churches to depict the horrors that awaited those who weren't destined for heaven. 

Terry also finds something else on the property, a man's body, apparently a victim of murder. As the modern story unfolds, we get stories of the more recent past, the death of a minor celebrity, and, excitingly, a new coroner, a competent and confident young woman, Laura Kruger. We also see a different side of Gerry Heffernan, Wesley's superior, on both personal and professional levels. 

I enjoyed seeing the development of the different repeating characters in the series, and seeing them in lives beyond the professional. 

I liked learning about 'painted dooms' and their history. Bringing in the personal correspondence of the Merrivale family brought aspects of the story a more personal slant, and as always there is a modern day parallel to the story of what happened in the Merrivale family. 

Altogether, a satisfying read.

The Bone Garden

Finished July 8

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. 

The Funeral Boat

Finished July 4

The Funeral Boat by Kate Ellis. 

This is the fourth book in this series, set in Devon, and featuring police officer Wesley Peterson. 

A smallholding farmer finds a skeleton when he does some digging for a project, and some of the items around the remains indicate it might be a Viking burial. Neil Watson is called in for a closer look, and begins to do some research at a local museum as part of that. 

Meanwhile, a Danish woman visiting the area disappears, with her car left empty and unlocked on a quieter road in the country. While the police are looking into her disappearance, they are also dealing with a series of confrontational farm robberies happening in the area. When the Danish tourist's brother arrives to help, things seem to be escalating. 

Again, I like how old papers help connect the theme between the past and the present, in a number of ways. I also likes seeing Wesley's wife Pam in a new light as she uses her knowledge of Old English to translate the papers they find, and bring the old story to life. 

The way the story unfolds brings in the real life of the people involved. From the medieval fair that Pam participates in as a volunteer, to the connections between local farmers, we see how people are connected beyond their jobs. 

An Unhallowed Grave

Finished April 16

An Unhallowed Grave by Kate Ellis

This book continues the Wesley Peterson mystery series. Here we have a woman found hanging from a tree, staged to look like a suicide. As the police begin to uncover her history, they find that she has connections to others in the area from deeper in her past. 

An archeological team is working in the area, and uncovers a body nearby that is from five centuries before. As the team makes other finds, connected with the change in religion from that earlier time, there is also a more personal story about a local family and the larger community that worked for and interacted with them. 

I really enjoy having the archeological finds mirror the case that the police are working on. Here, we have the young woman working for the wealthy local family, looking after their children, and being blamed for something that may or may not be their fault. There are also elements of infidelity in both timelines, and a tragedy. 

I also liked how Wesley's personal life had a relation to the story as his wife looks for a child care provider that she can trust as she prepares to go back to work. 

This is a slower-paced mystery, and there are many small side plots that are interesting as well. I like seeing the various reappearing characters develop through the books.