KATE ELLIS – The Bone Garden. St. Martin’s Press, US, hardcover, July 2003. Originally published in the UK: Piatkus, hardcover, 2001; paperback, January 2010.

Genre:   Police procedural. Leading character:  Sgt. Wesley Peterson; 5th in series. Setting:   England.

First Sentence:   The man stared at the shape lying beneath the faded cover on the ancient iron bed and took another sip of wine.

    Not only weeds are dug up during the restoration of a 17th century Devon garden at Earlsacre Manor, but skeletons. The first is of a woman who was buried alive, standing up.

   While not of investigative concern to the Tradmouth police, the body in the caravan is. The only clue to the identity of the victim is a link to Earlsacre. And what about the murder at the cricket pitch. Is that linked as well?

   It’s the characters that keep me coming back to Kate Ellis’s books. With each book, we learn more about the main characters and we see their lives change and develop.

   In this book, Wesley is a new father and both he, and his boss Gerry Heffernan, are promoted. Although the books are marketed as “A Wesley Peterson Crime Novel,” in some ways I find Heffernan the more interesting character, but they balance each other nicely. I love some of Heffernan’s expressions and he’s the kind of boss you’d love to have.

   Add to the characters the plot, which is well done and contains excellent twists. I am never able to anticipate where the story is going or how it will end up. That’s always a very good thing. A series containing both ancient mysteries and contemporary ones could be formulaic.

   Yes, the threads of having the present mirror the past are contrived. But they are also, beautifully woven, interesting and in this case, cleverly related to one of the principal characters.

   With each book, I look forward to learning of the murders in each time period and how they will tie together. With ten more books and counting in the series, I am a happy reader, indeed.

Rating:   Very Good.

Editorial Comment:   A complete listing of the Wesley Peterson books may be found following LJ’s review of The Merchant’s House, the first in the series.