Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A Perfect Death by Kate Ellis

Title: A Perfect Death
Author: Kate Ellis
ISBN: 9780749909260
Publisher: Piatkus Books, 2010
Paperback, 432 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #13 Wesley Peterson mystery
Rating: A-
Source: purchased from The Book Depository

First Line: "This is the place."

While on vacation in the south of France at Carcassonne, Detective Inspector Wesley Peterson and his wife Pam meet someone Wes went to university with but hasn't seen since those days. The man, acting cloak and dagger, says that he's worried about a woman in the Tradmouth area, but when he asks for a private meeting with Wes, he doesn't show up. Wes, marking it down to the man being as unreliable now as he was in university, tries to put it out of his mind. For some reason however, the whole thing has caught the imaginations of both him and his wife.

When they return home, Wes is immediately drawn into the murder of an unidentified woman who was burned to death in a field-- which ties into a local legend of a woman who was burned to death in the same area in the thirteenth century. An archaeological dig was conducted there twenty years ago, but all the records of it have disappeared. Now another dig must be done before a housing development can be built. Slowly but surely, all the threads of secrecy and murder are drawing together in one dangerous knot that Wesley Peterson has to untie before anyone else dies.

Having been plagued with reading some mediocre books in the recent past, I turned to Kate Ellis to bring me out of my mini-slump. My ploy worked like a charm. Through thirteen books in this series (I'm lagging two books behind-- on purpose), I've come to know and care for these characters, and I always love Ellis's trademark blending of an ancient mystery with a present-day one.

It was good to see a copper actually take a vacation, and what made the vacation even more special was the fact that Wesley's wife, Pam, was drawn into the investigation. Pam has always been the character that I've liked the least due to her seemingly willful misunderstanding of her husband's job. But in A Perfect Death, she was interested in what her husband was doing, and I'm hoping that her fledgling understanding will continue to grow in future books.

The only thing that was a bit off for me was the length. Even though the plot kept my interest and the pace maintained a steady flow, the length of the book just felt a bit too long. It could be residual funk left over from the bloated books I've read recently, but I don't think so.

Even with that one small complaint, I greatly enjoyed this book and consider the entire series to be one of my favorites. The characters do evolve, and none of them are bullet-proof, so if you're wondering if you can read them out of order, the answer is yes, but you're going to miss out on the full effects of Ellis's well-drawn characters.





4 comments:

  1. I'm also reading this series, very slowly. I'm only up to #3, but I'll eventually get along. I like the melding of an past crime and a present one. Guess that holds through in each book? I've not been very fond of the wife either, but this book gives me hope. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds like a page turner! The French setting is a bonus to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. gosh, another one well along in the series...but it sounds good, so I am tempted.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kay-- Yes, all the books have an old crime and a new crime. History repeats itself, don't ya know? Ah yes. The Wife. She does something extremely stupid in one of the books-- to the point of making me want to shake some sense into her. Then she fades into the woodwork a bit in shame. It was good to see her in a more positive light this time 'round!

    Kathy-- I thought of you as I read it!

    Caite-- What else can I do to tempt you into reading one??? :o)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!