It’s
festival time in Tradmouth and the streets are filled with
people in mediaeval costume, while out in the bay floats the
replica cog, Maudelayne. The reason for the annual festival
is 14th century John Palkin, successful merchant, several
times mayor of Tradmouth and reputed to have been a pirate.
A year ago, Jenny Bercival vanished at this time, and now
a young woman has been murdered, found wearing a mediaeval
dress and adrift in a boat. Meanwhile, many people are into
the website, Shipworld, which features a fantasy version of
events with Palkin as the hero and a mysterious masked creature
known as the Shroud Maker?
Reading the next in this series is a treat I look forward
to every year. There are many reasons for this, not least
the thrilling plots where suspects change from page to page
as the detectives uncover more clues, the well rendered background
of my own county of Devon, the frisson of eeriness as past
and present collide, and the mix of police work and archaeology.
There is a lot to like in short, and all of it well done and
innovative. As with any series, part of the pleasure each
time I open the latest title is to see how the characters
are getting on: Wesley with his family, Rachel with her impending
wedding, Gerry with his new lover, are as much a part of the
enjoyment as the setting and story. Ms Ellis has the length
exactly right, as well, with all the many parts of the tale
in balance and nothing dragging or seeming rushed. Long may
this excellent series continue, and may it never be televised!
An
Hallowed Grave #3
The
Bone Garden #5
A
Perfect Death #13
The
Flesh Tailor #14
The
Shadow Collector #17
The
Shroud Maker #18
House
of Eyes #20
The
Mechanical Devil #22
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