I’m so pleased to have finally continued with the second book in the Wesley Peterson crime series by
Kate Ellis. I read the first book,
THE MERCHANT’S HOUSE, last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. I wrote about it
here. I meant to move on to the next book quickly, but you know how it is. Anyway, I really liked
THE ARMADA BOY. This is not a quick-moving tale, but it was quite absorbing nonetheless. Isn’t it funny how once you start reading or watching something about a time period or an event in history, you often pick up another book that contains the same event even without knowing it? THE ARMADA BOY mentions an event during World War II in which many Americans died, Exercise Tiger. It was a practice session for the D-day landings by U.S. forces that was interrupted by an actual attack by German E boats. This same tragedy was mentioned in the last Foyle’s War episode and I know I ran across it in another book recently, maybe THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY? Kate Ellis’ books combine a current crime investigation with archeology, certainly a unique blend. I am partial to cold case mysteries and love books that smoothly combine them with ongoing investigations. Does anyone know if these books have ever been filmed for British TV? It seems to me that this is a series that would translate well to the small screen. I look forward to picking up the next in the series,
AN UNHALLOWED GRAVE.
From the publisher:
Norman Openheim, an American veteran of the D-day landings, is on a sentimental journey with his old unit to their West Country base. His body is the last one archaeologist Neil Watson expects to find in the ruins of an old chantry chapel…
Neil naturally turns to his old friend from his student days, Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson, for help. Ironically, both men are looking at an invading force—Wes, the WWII Yanks; and Neil, a group of shipwrecked Spaniards reputed to have met a sticky end at the hands of outraged locals as they limped from the wreckage of the great Armada. Local memories are retentive, and Wes is soon caught up in old accusations, resentments, and romances from fifty years before. But the coolness of Openheim’s wife, Dorinda, and her reliance on a fellow veteran in the party offer an all-too-familiar motive for murder.
As if that is not enough, a belligerent group of homeless youths are also under suspicion: then a veteran’s wife disappears. Wes’s case grows more perplexing, while Neil uncovers a tragic story from the distant past. Over four hundreds years apart, two strangers in a strange land have died violently—could the same motives of hatred, jealousy, and revenge be at work? Wes is running out of time to find out…
