Dead Man's Lane: Book 23 in the DI Wesley Peterson crime series

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Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. Then there are usually extracts from a diary or suchlike from hundreds of years ago which are supposed to tie up old threads with current ones, but in fact rarely shed any light on the matter. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality. During the Great Plague of 1665 the area of Derby, England, fell victim to the bubonic plague epidemic, with many deaths.

The road follows its current course from the A6178 Sheffield Road towards what is today a steel refinery. Now, decades later, Strangefields is to be transformed into a holiday village, but the developer’s hopes of its dark history being forgotten are dashed when a skull is found on the site. The usual mixture of an old historic case, a modern series of crimes and the discovery of a diary which explains the historic case. Country florists don’t get murdered gruesomely; they’re sweet, innocent and kind, but Kate Ellis’s latest DCI Wesley Patterson mystery novel breaks that axiom, like snapping the stems from a multi-coloured bouquet.I have really enjoyed DI Wesley Peterson's books previously, especially when they are full of archaeological finds from his friend Dr Neil Watson. Having only read a couple of earlier Wes Peterson books, I was pleasantly surprised at how much better this later one is. The killings at the old communal farm, and the doubtful guilt of the long incarcerated Temples, really grabbed my interest and I was a bit less intrigued by the old diary entries, though they did provide a satisfactory tie-in to the title of the book. Grace, an architect for the Strangefields development, has seen someone from her past who she wants Wesley to investigate; a man she thought was dead. I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group Ltd for a review copy of Dead Man’s Lane, the twenty third novel to feature DI Wesley Peterson of the Devon police.

There were many persons to interview each revealing a minute clue that usually seemed to go nowhere. This idea of a Revenant seems mirrored in the present story as various characters have seen people they believed to be dead in Tradmouth. It is the combination of a fiendishly difficult puzzle to solve running alongside a historical mystery that pulls me in every time. Breakfast between us, the tea growing cold as my grandmother chatted quickly, and us two children sat listening, still half asleep. The girl would’ve walked away too, moved on, leaving the hilltop behind, knowing that no matter what changes, the same sun will bath this place in light.I can't believe that Kate Ellis is up to number twenty-three already in her excellent Wesley Peterson series and, happily, she and her lead detective show no signs of flagging! Notoriously renowned for it's sinister haunted history, Strangefields Farm was used by a Jackson Temples, who lured young women there to model for disturbing works of art.

A series of gruesome murders in the town adds to the burden already felt by Wesley's boss, the Chief Inspector. However one of the young victims was never found and Jackson Temples has throughout his imprisonment always refused to confess his guilt. Any easier as the route to Netherbury’s graveyard, where they would usually go, was blocked off by the neighbouring villagers, people with staves and hay forks, desperate to protect their own. I had my suspicions as to who the murderer was and it was confirmed, but it was interesting to see how the author gets us to that conclusion. It was previously the site of brutal murders of attractive females who all modelled for the artist who lived there and was convicted of the young women’s murders.Now, decades later, Strangefields is to be transformed into a holiday village, but the developer's hopes of its dark history being forgotten are dashed when a skull is found on the site. It is wide ranging and with no immediate suspects or motive Wesley grabs any loose thread until a more coherent picture starts to emerge. The murders are in the style of an artist who was found guilty of the murders of several young woman who were strangled and had their faces mutilated after death. As always, the Devon countryside and the town of Tradmouth were both definite highlights of the novel and it was nice to feel that, at last, the long-running Wesley/Rachel storyline may finally have been resolved. When the plague struck Mapperton - noone is sure whether it was during the 14th century plague or the one that struck in the 16th century - the villagers of Netherbury blocked the way so the plague victims didn't get buried in their village - for fear of infection.

Wesley's boss, Gerry Heffernan, worked on that case and remains convinced that Temples is guilty as sin. Dead Man's Lane" follows the established formula for this series in that a modern day investigation plays out alongside a historical one but this time I preferred the former to the latter (usually it is reversed). The author doesn’t batter the reader with fast violent action, enthusiastic love links, or frantic car chases; instead she gradually develops scenarios that excite and cajole until there is no escape. The detective Wesley Peterson, his family, his friend Neil Watson, the archeologist, and his colleagues in the police once more feature in a baffling mystery. Some areas of Derby still carry names that record the 1665 visitation such as Blagreaves Lane which was Black Graves Lane, while Dead Man's Lane speaks for itself.K. /Piatkus for an eARC via NetGalley of Kate Ellis’ ‘Dead Man’s Lane’ in exchange for an honest review. Quite important when most of the land was owned by our peers - many of them not wanting the hoi poli passing through their estates! Market stones took many forms, here we see the stone placed at Friar Gate (formerly Nuns Green) at the northern road into Derby (England).