THE SHROUD MAKER

THE SHROUD MAKER by Kate Ellis

Pages: 370

Date 08/06/2014

Grade: 4

Details: no. 18 Wesley Peterson

            Received from Piatkus

            Through Nudge

Own

The blurb:

A grisly find . . .

A year on from the mysterious disappearance of Jenny Bercival, DI Wesley Peterson is called in when the body of a strangled woman is found floating out to sea in a dinghy.The discovery mars the festivities of the Palkin Festival, held each year to celebrate the life of John Palkin, a fourteenth century Mayor of Tradmouth who made his fortune from trade and piracy. And now it seems like death and mystery have returned to haunt the town. 

A faceless enemy . . .

Could there be a link between the two women? One missing, one brutally murdered? And is there a connection to a fantasy website called Shipworld which features Palkin as a supernatural hero with a sinister, faceless nemesis called the Shroud Maker?

Will history repeat itself once again?

When archaeologist Neil Watson makes a grim discovery on the site of Palkin's warehouse, it looks as if history might have inspired the killer.And it is only by delving into the past that Wesley comes to learn the truth . . . a truth that will bring mortal danger in its wake.

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My thoughts:

I’ve read most, although not all, of the previous Wesley Peterson mysteries and have to admit that even after almost twenty books I’m still intrigued with these stories. The way in which Kate Ellis manages to combine historical mysteries with present day crimes never fails to impress me. Of course it is a stretch of the imagination that every crime this police force investigates happens to bear striking similarities with crimes committed in the past but it is a conceit that works very well and gives the story added interest.

The mystery in this book intrigued me and kept me on the edge of my seat although I have to admit that there were times when the sheer number of characters and suspects confused me. In fact, even now that I’ve finished the book I have to think long and hard before I’m able to explain exactly what happened and why. In fact, it almost feels as if the author went a bit too far when she plotted this story. There are too many different angles that are too similar to each other. I’d like to expand on this point but since I’m unable to do so without spoiling the story for others I’ll refrain. Having said that, while the resolution may have been convoluted, it did work and fit the story perfectly. My issue is not with an unsatisfactory ending rather than a not clear cut enough one.

One of the things I enjoy about long running series is the opportunity they give the reader to really get to know the characters and watch them as time passes. Having said that, some plot points have been dragged out a bit too long for me by this stage. I just don’t buy Rachel still being obsessed with Wesley after all this time and while I appreciate it gives the story added spice I really think that particular storyline has been milked for all its worth.

I do appreciate Kate Ellis painting a more or less realistic picture of police work and the frustrations involved. While the mysteries are solved and the reader is given all the answers, it doesn’t always mean that those who need to be punished are also caught. And I like the way these books are written. The style is unhurried, almost leisurely, and yet there isn’t a boring or uninteresting sentence in the book. The star attraction in these books has always been and still is the very clever link between past (be it distant or recent) and present.

I am still glad I discovered this series several years ago and know that I will continue reading these mysteries for as long as the author continues to write them.

THE BLACK COUNTRY

TITLE: THE BLACK COUNTRY

AUTHOR: ALEX GRECIAN

Pages: 416

Date: 15/10/2013

Grade: 4+

Details: no. 2 The Murder Squad

            Received from Penguin

            Through Nudge

Own

The year is 1890 and three people have gone missing from Blackhampton, a miner’s village in the Midlands. Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Hammersmith from London’s Crime Squad are sent to the remote village to investigate the disappearances and are given only two days to solve the mystery.

Once the two investigators arrive in Blackhampton they find a closed and rather hostile community. The local policeman may have asked for their assistance but even he seems reluctant to share information or offer real assistance.

As Day and Hammersmith start their search for the missing adults and their young son they are amazed that even the child’s siblings seem uncurious about what has happened and are determined not to tell them anything useful.

And while Day and his companion are unaware of it, the missing locals are not the only problem they are facing. There are other dangers out and about. There is the mysterious guest sharing the guesthouse they’re staying in as well as somebody hiding in the woods who seems to have an agenda of his own.

As the spring weather reverts to snow storms, even the village itself seems to conspire against our investigators as it subsides deeper and deeper into the mine shafts underneath it. The odds are stacked against Day and Hammersmith and solving the mysteries may be the least of their problems as staying alive suddenly becomes an issue.

The Black Country is a very appropriate title for this book. Not only does Blackhampton sound like a dark place, it is literally dark due to the mining activity there and the smokestacks that are constantly spewing smoke. But there is more; the locals are hostile, uncooperative, superstitious, and appear to be going out of their way to make the investigation as difficult as possible. In fact, the whole story, including the solution to the various mysteries, is dark. There is some relief to all the darkness in the form of the interactions between Day and Hammersmith, a short visit from Day’s wife and the arrival of Dr. Kingsley and his kind but slow-witted assistant, but the overall tone of this story is as gloomy as the title suggests.

That is not to say this isn’t a good book. This is in fact a very well plotted mystery and a fascinating read. I’m very impressed with the way in which Alex Grecian managed to tie three, apparently completely unrelated, story threads together in what was a gripping finale. I am fascinated with the time in which these books are set. The police force in London has been reformed after the debacle that was the investigation into Jack the Ripper, resulting in the new Murder Squad which Day and Hammersmith are part of. Forensic science is slowly emerging as Dr. Kingsley uses new and unconventional techniques to find answers to some of the questions the investigation gives rise to. Combined with an intriguing story, all these aspects serve to give the reader a book that is almost impossible to put down.

This is a book that will be appreciated by any reader who enjoys a good mystery, a fascinating historical novel, a true page-turner or all of the aforementioned.

SEDUCTION

TITLE: SEDUCTION

AUTHOR: M.J. ROSE

Pages: 386

Date: 17/05/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: Reincarnationist Series # 5

          Received from Atria

          Through NetGalley

Own / Kindle

Blurb from the author’s site:

"A gothic tale about Victor Hugo's long-buried secrets

and the lengths we go to for love...

In 1843, novelist Victor Hugo's beloved nineteen-year-old daughter drowned. Ten years later, still grieving, Hugo initiated hundreds of séances from his home on the Isle of Jersey in order to reestablish contact with her. In the process, he claimed to have communed with Plato, Galileo, Shakespeare, Dante, Jesus—and even the Devil himself. Hugo's transcriptions of these conversations have all been published.

Or so it has been believed...

Recovering from a great loss, mythologist Jac L'Etoile thinks that throwing herself into work will distract her from her grief. In the hopes of uncovering a secret about the island's mysterious Celtic roots, she arrives on the Isle of Jersey and is greeted by ghostly Neolithic monuments, medieval castles, and hidden caves.

But the man who's invited her there, a troubled soul named Theo Gaspard, hopes she'll help him discover something quite different—transcripts of Hugo's lost conversations with someone he called the Shadow of the Sepulcher. Central to his heritage, these are the papers his grandfather died trying to find.

But what neither Jac or Theo anticipate is that the mystery surrounding Victor Hugo will threaten their sanity and put their very lives at stake."

Before I start on my thoughts about this book I should probably point out that I only read one previous title in this series: The Reincarnationist.  Although it is quite possible that I missed connections because I didn’t read all the previous books, I can safely say that I didn’t feel as if I was missing out on vital information. While I can’t be sure that reading all the books in sequence wouldn’t have increased my enjoyment of this book, I can safely say that this book can be read and is very enjoyable as a stand-alone title.

“Every story begins with a tremble of anticipation. At the starting point we may have an idea of our point of arrival. But what lies before us and makes us shudder is the journey.”

This book gives the reader a perfect combination of straightforward thrills and supernatural elements. It doesn’t become clear where the story is taking the reader until the very end of the book. But, while the resolution comes as a surprise, it does come as a logical, yet unexpected, conclusion of the narrative.  

When Jac discovers a letter addressed to her from Theo, a man she hasn’t seen or heard from since she was fourteen she jumps on the opportunity to travel to Jersey and help him unravel a mystery linking back to the time of the Celts and Druids. But when she and Theo first met, both teenagers had big issues and Jac can’t quite remember the events leading up to the moment when they were suddenly and seemingly permanently separated.

Reunited, despite strong opposition from the man who treated them when they were teenagers, both Theo and Jac are once again struggling with traumatic personal issues. Searching for the mystery manuscript, allegedly hidden on the Island by Victor Hugo, provides them with an opportunity to concentrate on something other than the losses they have suffered. But all is not well; Theo appears as troubled as he ever was and Jac, once again, finds herself haunted by visions she can’t control.

“Now he was thirty-three and seemed almost ruined.”

Solving this mystery will not only answer questions about Victor Hugo’s time on Jersey, it will also provide both Jac and Theo with answers they need in order to move forward in their life.

The story in this book is told in two, alternating, storylines. We get an insight to Victor Hugo’s time and struggles on Jersey through his (hidden) notebooks. The story about Jac, Theo and the quest they’re on links into Hugo’s story but goes much further because their mystery has roots in more ancient times. The combination of history, mystery, supernatural occurrences and human relationships make this an intriguing, fast moving and multi-layered story. And I haven’t even mentioned the links to perfume and scents yet.

“Her father always used to talk about how scent connects us to a past we can’t always see, that seems lost but can so easily be conjured up and found.”

M.J. Rose writes beautiful books. Her writing is thoughtful, descriptive and clear. It is easy to see the landscapes she describes and it is almost possible to smell the scents from their descriptions. She manages to give her readers a fascinating and thrilling story without ever compromising on background in favour of shocks. Too often these days it seems readers have to choose between beautiful and descriptive writing and thrilling adventures. Mrs. Rose manages to give her readers both without compromising on either, which means we are treated to reading enjoyment on every level. On a personal note it means that this reader will now have to go back and read all the books she has managed to miss in this series; something I look forward to with delight.

THE TWELFTH DEPARTMENT: ARC REVIEW AND GIVE-AWAY

TITLE: THE TWELFTH DEPARTMENT

AUTHOR: WILLIAM RYAN

Pages: 466

Date: 08/04/2013

Grade: 5+

Details: no. 3 Captain Korolev mystery

            ARC received from Mantle

            Release date: 23/05/2013

Own

Captain Korolev of the Moscow Militia is supposed to have a week off when his son Yuri comes to visit him. Unfortunately arrangements like that are never certain in Moscow in the 1930’s and the day after his son’s arrival Korolev finds himself ordered to investigate the murder of an eminent scientist. Because the murdered man had close connections to those in power this is going to be a sensitive investigation, but it doesn’t become clear how sensitive until Korolev and his Sergeant, Slivka, are called off the case again within 24 hours. Korolev’s opportunity to spend time with his son doesn’t last very long though. Yuri and Korolev have only enjoyed one day in the country together when two State Security agents come to pick him up and bring him back to Moscow. Yuri flees from the threatening looking and sounding men and Korolev is brought back to Moscow not knowing where his twelve year old son is or whether he is safe.

Back in Moscow Korolev discovers that a second man has been murdered, the assistant of the first victim, and that he is back on the investigation. This time though he’ll be working for State Security rather than the Militia. With two competing State Security departments having a vested interest in the investigation and the outcome, Korolev finds himself a pawn in their power-struggles. With Yuri now captured by one of those departments, it seems that our investigator has no choices if he wants to see his son again. Korolev finds himself breaking his own rules, fighting his conscience and depending on questionable allies in order to bring the whole affair to a conclusion he can live with.

Wow, all I can say is ‘wow’! This is an amazing book with a fascinating story.

As he did in his two previous Korolev books, William Ryan has managed to impress and captivate me. He writes wonderfully plotted mysteries but it is the setting and the historical detail that make these books true works of genius. This is a mystery/thriller so you’d expect the tension that results from the crimes under investigation and the intrigue around who might be guilty of them. But with the story set in Moscow in 1937 where Stalin’s Great Terror is in full swing, there is a lot more suspense. There is the constant menace and fear resulting from the characters living in a society where nobody is innocent of anything, a place where a good man is afraid to do an honest job because the results he may come up with might not satisfy his superiors. And William Ryan does a brilliant job showing this underlying threat in all its horrifying glory. All Korolev wants to do is solve the crimes he’s ordered to investigate. He doesn’t want to get involved in politics and yet finds himself, time and again, trying to balance his conscience with the safety of those around him and himself.

A lesser author might have taken this setting to write a story in which the fear and suspense are unrelenting. Ryan however knows that life and people don’t work that way. Even in a totalitarian society, where danger lurks around every corner and the wrong expression on your face could get you arrested, people have to live their lives; they still fall in love, make jokes and worry about the little stuff. The fact that Korolev does just that, even while his whole life is in turmoil, makes this character and his story more realistic and captivating. In the midst of all the tension there are lighter moments such as:

“If murders could be committed without producing corpses then he’d be a happier detective.”

Picture taken from author's Facebook page

Or there is the chapter set in Moscow Zoo. While it plays an important part in the overall story, it also gives us a nice insight into Korolev’s private life and his feelings. I loved the scene involving the elephant and the children’s fascination with the lions and their feeding habits is something every parent will recognise. But most of all I loved that the Zoo Keeper mentioned in the story, Vera, is a real person, who lived and worked there at the time.

There is a wonderful balance as far as the characters in these books are concerned as well. We get our fair share of scary party officials, which is to be expected given the setting of the story, but we also encounter Count Kolya, the Chief Authority of the Moscow Thieves and his niece, Sergeant Slivka who is Korolev’s colleague. And the relationship that is slowly developing between Korolev and Valentina, the woman he shares an apartment with, is a delight to watch.

I could go on gushing about this book indefinitely but I won’t. I’ll end this review with this advice: Go and get the book, read it and be enthralled. If you haven’t read The Holy Thief and The Bloody Meadow yet I’d advise you to read them first. Having said that, it isn’t necessary to have read those two books in order to enjoy The Twelfth Department.

ARC give-away:

Because I managed to end up with two ARC copies of The Twelfth Department I find myself in the fortunate position where I can give one of them away. If you are interested just leave a comment below. I will pick a winner at random on the 23^rd of April, exactly one month before the book will be released.