Watching the Ghosts by Kate Ellis

First Lines: Tick tock. The thing had eyes. And it was watching her.

Havenby Hall is now a converted apartment building called Boothgate House. Why the change in name? Havenby Hall was once an insane asylum-- which might just put off prospective residents. Speaking of residents, one of the asylum's last was a notorious serial killer who died under mysterious circumstances shortly after the place closed. 

Now a lawyer investigating Havenby Hall is frantic when her young daughter is kidnapped. What else could go wrong? A paranormal researcher is fascinated by the building's basement and won't stay away. Or... how about a burglar who has an inventive way of insuring he has plenty of time to escape if homeowners return too soon. A Boothgate Hall resident becomes one of his victims. 

Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet thinks both the kidnapping and the burglaries may have a connection to the building's past, and the more he investigates, the more he puts those closest to him in danger.  

I enjoy this series for its lovely, atmospheric portrayal of Eborby (York). Ellis describes it so well that I get the shivers and believe that all sorts of spooky things could happen there. I love rich, textured settings like this, although you would never ever catch me moving into a former insane asylum.

The mystery is convoluted but not confusing. There are plenty of viable suspects on hand besides the actual responsible parties, but once those responsible parties begin to be uncovered, the denouement is practically incestuous. (I mean that figuratively, by the way.) There's plenty to like about Watching the Ghosts, but it isn't quite up to Kate Ellis's usual high standards. That's not about to keep me away from the next Joe Plantagenet mystery though-- she's one of my favorite writers.
     

Watching the Ghosts by Kate Ellis

ISBN: 9781780295299 

Crème de la Crime © 2012

Paperback, 240 pages

Police Procedural, #4 Joe Plantagenet mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Book Depository. 

Kissing the Demons by Kate Ellis

First Line: Death arrived at the party dressed in the traditional way.


Local Member of Parliament Barrington Jenks is suspected of having been involved in the disappearance of  two teenaged girls twelve years ago. Detective Chief Inspector Emily Thwaite and Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet are asked to investigate this allegation, and they both know they have to tread very carefully. They've barely begun when a university student living at 13 Torland Place vanishes. Emily and Joe are puzzled when they learn that 13 Torland Place is not only linked to the disappearance of the two girls twelve years ago but was also where a mass murderer killed five people in 1868. These two skilled investigators aren't about to believe that this is just a bizarre coincidence. When the university student's body is found and another woman goes missing, it looks as though the city of Eborby has a serial killer haunting its streets.

If you enjoy a good, solid police procedural with strong Gothic overtones, you should like Kate Ellis's Joe Plantagenet series. As she does with her excellent Wesley Peterson series set in the south of England, Ellis skillfully blends history with a present-day crime. Eborby (based on the city of York) has a long history which is perfect for the book's Gothic atmosphere. Thwaite, assertive, likable, and with a husband and family is an interesting pairing with the intellectual yet compassionate loner, Joe Plantagenet, who once studied for the priesthood and is much more attuned to the things that go bump in Eborby's darkness. In this third book in the series, we learn more about both characters' lives-- especially Joe's when his late wife's sister comes to town.

The story is complex and suspenseful, due in large part to the fact that there are so many people who have a lot to lose if their secrets are revealed. Although it is the third book in the series, it can be read as a standalone; however, something tells me that you'll want to go back to read the others. The atmosphere, ancient buildings and narrow winding streets of Eborby alone are well worth reading more about. Pair this marvelous setting with a strong story and characters, and you have absolutely nothing to lose!

Kissing the Demons by Kate Ellis

ISBN: 9781780290010

Severn House © 2011

eBook, 224 pages

Police Procedural, #3 D.I. Joe Plantagenet mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Amazon

Playing With Bones by Kate Ellis

Title: Playing With Bones
Author: Kate Ellis
ISBN: 9780749909338
Publisher: Piatkus, 2009
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #2 D.I. Joe Plantagenet mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Christmas gift from Denis.

First Line: The girl raised her hands in a feeble attempt to save her life.

There is so much to like about this new series from Kate Ellis. Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet is a multi-faceted character who's a bit different from your run-of-the-mill copper because he originally studied for the priesthood. His boss, Detective Chief Inspector Emily Thwaite, is a good match for him, and since she's also a wife and mother, she has a lot of history to bring to this literary plate.

When you've finished savoring the characters, there's the history of York that pervades the book (where it's thinly disguised as "Eborby"):

He walked under Canons Bar, catching a strong whiff of urine, and looked upwards at the wooden teeth of the ancient portcullis poking out of their stone slit like the fangs of some sleeping animal-- a reminder of Eborby's warlike past. When he emerged from the shadows he saw the cathedral's golden towers looming above the crazy maze of narrow medieval streets....

Is there a copycat killer on the loose in Eborby? This is what Joe and Emily have to investigate after the body of a young girl is found in Singmass Close, "a place that dogs refused to enter at night." All the evidence found at the scene shows an intimate knowledge of the murderer known as the Doll Strangler, a man who killed women in the exact same area in the 1950s and was never caught. Moreover, Joe and Emily are also trying to find a missing girl and an escaped convict. There won't be much sleep for any of the police in the area until all the cases are solved.

As in her Wesley Peterson mystery series, Ellis shows how talented she is at weaving together several plot threads and imbuing them with a sense of the history of the place. What sets this newer series apart is not just the location but a sense of the supernatural-- as if Eborby is so saturated with history that spirits of long-dead centuries still walk the streets and have a say in what happens in the present day. This sense of the supernatural is not a strong one. It's just enough to add a touch of spice, a bit of the "what if". It's the thinnest ribbon of smoke in the breeze.

Ellis's sense of place is so very strong that I feel as though I'm walking the streets of "Eborby" with people like Joe and Emily that I'm beginning to think of as friends. I also feel as though Joe is soon going to supplant Wesley in my affections.

What's a woman to do?

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Seeking the Dead by Kate Ellis

Title: Seeking the Dead
Author: Kate Ellis
ISBN: 9780749909352, Piatkus Books, 2008
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 D.I. Joe Plantagenet mystery
Rating: A

First Line: Things that frighten the devil away.

I've been a fan of Kate Ellis and her D.S. Wesley Peterson mystery series from the very first book. I love her characterizations and the blending of an old mystery with a new one. When I learned that she had begun a second series featuring D.I. Joe Plantagenet set in North Yorkshire, you know I couldn't rest until I had a copy of Seeking the Dead in my hands!

As I began to read, it was obvious to me that the book was written by Kate Ellis. Her love of history and archaeology just can't be disguised. Seeking the Dead is set in "Eborby", and the more I read, the more I was convinced that Eborby was really the city of York. When I visited Ellis's website, I saw that my guess was correct.

Joe had heard that plague victims had been buried beneath these banks in the seventeenth century and he wondered whether the mothers would have let their children play there if they'd known. Probably. The past was the past.

Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet has a new boss, Detective Chief Inspector Emily Thwaite, and they both have a very big problem: someone is binding and asphyxiating victims and leaving their nude bodies in isolated country churchyards. The ever-witty media has dubbed the killer "the Resurrection Man". On the surface the victims appear to have nothing in common except the manner of their deaths, but as Plantagenet continues to investigate, he begins to wonder if there isn't an occult connection. The clock is ticking while Thwaite and Plantagenet race to find the killer before there's another victim.

As I've said before, I've been a fan of Ellis's Peterson series from the get-go, so I was a bit surprised to realize that I was enjoying this new series even more. The characterizations seem even richer in Seeking the Dead. Plantagenet spent a year in the seminary, thinking to become a priest before he discovered that the priesthood was not his real vocation. He is an excellent listener, but doesn't divulge much of himself, so there's that air of mystery to pique a reader's interest in him. His boss, DCI Emily Thwaite is also well drawn, a woman in a difficult career position that's made even more stressful by events in her current investigation. Even when stressed, she can show more than a glint of humor:

"I had a gran like that." Emily smiled at the memory. "Expert on surveillance she was and all. I sometimes wonder whether MI5 have ever considered the effectiveness of the net curtain."

In this series, there isn't a resident archaeologist and a separate mystery involving the past, but Ellis uses the setting to such excellent effect that it is a character in itself, as when Plantagenet does some research for the case:

The city archives-- those that weren't housed in the history department at the university-- were housed on the second floor of the library, a red-brick product of Victorian civic pride built on the site of a medieval hospital whose undercroft still stood next door, all that remained above ground of a once vast complex. Twelfth-century confidence cheek by jowl with the nineteenth-century variety.

Although I had an inkling as to the identity of the killer, it didn't spoil my enjoyment of this book one jot. All the police work that went into solving the crimes, the characters, the setting... every element blended together into a truly pleasurable read. The next book in the series is Playing With Bones. I'm trying my best not to buy books, and after reading Seeking the Dead, I really feel the need for an intervention!