Wesley Peterson Series by Kate Ellis

A black policeman from the Met might expect to meet some resistance, when he's transferred to a West Country seaside town—but, for DS Wesley Peterson, it's like coming home. One of the first people he bumps into is an old friend—Neil is heading an archaeological dig at a Tudor merchant's house, and Wesley has to tear himself away to become involved in a major search for a missing child... moreA black policeman from the Met might expect to meet some resistance, when he's transferred to a West Country seaside town—but, for DS Wesley Peterson, it's like coming home. One of the first people he bumps into is an old friend—Neil is heading an archaeological dig at a Tudor merchant's house, and Wesley has to tear himself away to become involved in a major search for a missing child. The tension is mounting when a body is found—but to Wesley's relief it is turned up at Neil’s dig and is more than 400 years old. It seems to be a tragic murder nonetheless, for the bones are those of a strangled young woman and a newborn baby. When another, more recent body is found, the circumstances surrounding the child's disappearance become more complex, and Wesley is increasingly convinced that the age-old motives of jealousy, sexual obsession, and desperate longing for a child are behind the crimes—ancient and modern—that he must solve soon if further tragedy is to be averted. less

Norman Openheim is an American veteran of the D Day Landings 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 student days, Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson, for help... moreNorman Openheim is an American veteran of the D Day Landings 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 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 another veteran's wife disappears. Wes's case grows more perplexing, while Neil uncovers a tragic story from the distant past. Over four hundred 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... less

When the body of a middle-aged woman is found hanging from a yew tree in Stokeworthy Churchyard, the police suspect foul play.But the victim is an unlikely one.Pauline Brent was the local doctor's receptionist, respected and well liked.She seems to have no real enemies - and yet someone killed her... moreWhen the body of a middle-aged woman is found hanging from a yew tree in Stokeworthy Churchyard, the police suspect foul play.But the victim is an unlikely one.Pauline Brent was the local doctor's receptionist, respected and well liked.She seems to have no real enemies - and yet someone killed her.Detective Sargent Wesley Peterson, a black detective recently transferred to the quiet, West Country English village, is determined to discover the truth and, once again, it is history that provides him with a clue.For Wesley's archaeologist friend, Neil Watson, has excavated an ancient corpse at a nearby dig: a woman that has been buried at a crossroads, on unhallowed ground. It appears that the body is that of a woman whom local legend has it was publicly executed in the churchyard centuries before.A chilling echo of the fifteenth-century lynching, Pauline Brent's death forces Wesley to consider the possibility that the killer also knows the tree's dark history.Has Pauline been "executed" rather than murdered - and if so, for what crime?To catch a dangerous killer Wesley has to discover as much as he can about the victim.But Pauline Brent appears to have been a woman with few friends, no relatives, and a past she has tried carefully to hide.... AUTHORBIO: Kate Ellis was born and raised in Liverpool, and studied drama in Manchester.She has worked in teaching, marketing, and accounting, and first enjoyed literary success as a winner of the North West Playwrights competition.Keenly interested in medieval history and "armchair" archaeology, Kate lives in north Cheshire with her husband and two young sons. less

'The chilling plot will keep you spooked and thrilled to the end' CloserWhen a skeleton is discovered on a Devon smallholding, DS Wesley Peterson, a keen amateur archaeologist, is intrigued by the possibility that it is a Viking corpse buried in keeping with ancient traditions. But he has a rather more urgent crime to solve, when a Danish tourist is reported missing.Wesley finds disturbing evidence that the woman has been abducted... more'The chilling plot will keep you spooked and thrilled to the end' CloserWhen a skeleton is discovered on a Devon smallholding, DS Wesley Peterson, a keen amateur archaeologist, is intrigued by the possibility that it is a Viking corpse buried in keeping with ancient traditions. But he has a rather more urgent crime to solve, when a Danish tourist is reported missing.Wesley finds disturbing evidence that the woman has been abducted. His boss Gerry Heffernan believes that Ingeborg's disappearance is linked to a spate of brutal robberies and that she witnessed something she shouldn't have.But is her disappearance linked to far older events? For it seems that this may not have been Ingeborg's first visit to this far from quiet West Country backwater . . .Whether you've read the whole series, or are discovering Kate Ellis's DI Wesley Peterson novels for the first time, this is the perfect, gripping mystery if you love reading Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves. less

'A beguiling author who interweaves past and present' The TimesAn excavation at the lost gardens of Earlsacre Hall is halted when a skeleton is discovered beneath a 300-year-old stone plinth - the remains of a woman who was buried alive.But even when more skeletons are found in the walled garden, DS Wesley Peterson has more pressing matters on his hands... more'A beguiling author who interweaves past and present' The TimesAn excavation at the lost gardens of Earlsacre Hall is halted when a skeleton is discovered beneath a 300-year-old stone plinth - the remains of a woman who was buried alive.But even when more skeletons are found in the walled garden, DS Wesley Peterson has more pressing matters on his hands. A man has been stabbed to death at a holiday park and the only clue to his identity is a newspaper cutting about the restoration of Earlsacre Hall gardens.Local solicitor Brian Willerby is eager to talk to Wesley about the case, but before Brian can reveal his secret he is killed.What is it about Earlsacre Hall that leads people to murder? And what is the sinister secret of the bone garden? For someone close to Wesley, time is running out . . .Whether you've read the whole series, or are discovering Kate Ellis's DI Wesley Peterson novels for the first time, this is the perfect, gripping mystery if you love reading Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves.PRAISE FOR KATE ' I loved this novel . . . a powerful story of loss, malice and deception ' Ann Cleeves'Haunting' Independent'Unputdownable' Bookseller'The chilling plot will keep you spooked and thrilled to the end' Closer'A fine storyteller, weaving the past and present in a way that makes you want to read on' Peterborough Evening Telegraph less

The brutal massacre of the Harford family at Potwoolstan Hall in Devon in 1985 shocked the country and passed into local folklore. And when a journalist researching the case is murdered twenty years later, the horror is reawakened. Sixteenth century Potwoolstan Hall, now a New Age healing centre, is reputed to be cursed because of the crimes of its builder, and it seems that this inheritance of evil lives on as DI Wesley Peterson is faced with his most disturbing case yet... moreThe brutal massacre of the Harford family at Potwoolstan Hall in Devon in 1985 shocked the country and passed into local folklore. And when a journalist researching the case is murdered twenty years later, the horror is reawakened. Sixteenth century Potwoolstan Hall, now a New Age healing centre, is reputed to be cursed because of the crimes of its builder, and it seems that this inheritance of evil lives on as DI Wesley Peterson is faced with his most disturbing case yet.As more people die violently, Wesley needs to discover why a young woman has transformed a dolls house into a miniature reconstruction of the massacre scene. And could the solution to his case lie across the Atlantic Ocean, in the ruined remains of an early English settlement in Virginia USA?When the truth is finally revealed, it turns out to be as horrifying as it is dangerous. less

The brand new mystery in the bestselling DI Wesley Peterson crime series!'A beguiling author who interweaves past and present' The Times __________________On a summer evening, Robert and Greta Gerdner are shot dead at their home in the Devon countryside... moreThe brand new mystery in the bestselling DI Wesley Peterson crime series!'A beguiling author who interweaves past and present' The Times __________________On a summer evening, Robert and Greta Gerdner are shot dead at their home in the Devon countryside.DI Wesley Peterson suspects the execution-style murders might be linked to Robert's past police career - until Robert's name is found on a list of people who've been sent tickets anonymously for a tour of Darkhole Grange, a former asylum on Dartmoor.Wesley discovers that other names on the list have also died in mysterious circumstances and, as he is drawn into the chilling history of the asylum, he becomes convinced that it holds the key to the case.When his friend, archaeologist Neil Watson, finds the skeleton of a woman buried in a sealed chamber dating back to the fifteenth century at his nearby dig, Wesley wonders whether there might be a connection between the ancient cell and the tragic events at Darkhole Grange.With the clock ticking, Wesley must solve the puzzle, before the next person on the list meets a terrible end . . .Whether you've read the whole series, or are discovering Kate Ellis's DI Wesley Peterson novels for the first time, this is the perfect page-turner if you love reading Ann Cleeves and Elly Griffiths.PRAISE FOR KATE ELLIS:'Clever plottinghides a powerful story of loss, malice and deception' Ann Cleeves'Haunting' Independent'The chilling plot will keep you spooked and thrilled to the end' Closer'Unputdownable' Bookseller'A fine storyteller, weaving the past and present in a way that makes you want to read on' Peterborough Evening Telegraph less