Mystery Book Reviews

Book Review: An Unhallowed Grave by Kate Ellis

By Angela Youngman Oct 22, 2006, 21:35 GMT

Murder is immediately suspected when the body of doctor's receptionist Pauline Brent is found hanging from a tree in a local graveyard. Initially appearing as an inoffensive woman with few friends; it soon becomes clear her past is not all it seems. Is the past mirroring the present?

A female corpse has been discovered at an archelogical dig taking place close by - and legend has it, that a young woman had been publically hanged from the same tree five centuries ago. DS Wesley Petersen has his work cut out trying to unravel the various strands, particularly when they become twisted in other directions with sub plot after sub plot. There are protesters sitting in trees trying to prevent a new development; family disputes and numerous hidden secrets all coming to the surface.

A good convoluted plot line, which keeps you reading until the very end. Characterization is good, with Wesley and his colleagues developing and becoming even more rounded than they had been previously. This is proving to be a very good series of books featuring this intelligent detective with a taste for archeology.