The Mermaids Scream is the third book I have read in this series and since this is book 21 have I missed a couple. However, they are perfectly alright to read stand-alone. The cases are closed after each book and the private lives of the characters are easy to figure out and follow.

In this book must DI Wesley Peterson try to figure out why someone would want to kill a young writer, Zac Wilkison, who was writing a biography of the legendary recluse author Wynn Staniland. As that is not enough is Wesley caught up in the case when he and a young friend stumbles over the dead body of Wilkison.

The Mermaids Scream plot sounded more interesting than it was. To be honest, was I not sure that I could finish this book because I found the story to be a bit slow. However, I decided to keep going and see if it would get better. But, alas, this is a story that just never got either really interesting nor thrilling. However, I did find the ending to be OK. And, that is at least something that the book was wrapped up nicely. The historical flashback to the murder of Mary Field through diary notes also something I found more in the way rather than a gain to the story. It felt more like an unwelcome interruption to the story. Personally, I think my biggest problem is that I have a hard time connecting to the characters in the books, which is strange since the first book I read in the series, The Death Season, was fabulous. The two after (including this) has just interested me as much as that one did.

Hopefully, the next one will be better!

I want to thank Piatkus for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
( )

The Mermaids Scream is the third book I have read in this series and since this is book 21 have I missed a couple. However, they are perfectly alright to read stand-alone. The cases are closed after each book and the private lives of the characters are easy to figure out and follow.

In this book must DI Wesley Peterson try to figure out why someone would want to kill a young writer, Zac Wilkison, who was writing a biography of the legendary recluse author Wynn Staniland. As that is not enough is Wesley caught up in the case when he and a young friend stumbles over the dead body of Wilkison.

The Mermaids Scream plot sounded more interesting than it was. To be honest, was I not sure that I could finish this book because I found the story to be a bit slow. However, I decided to keep going and see if it would get better. But, alas, this is a story that just never got either really interesting nor thrilling. However, I did find the ending to be OK. And, that is at least something that the book was wrapped up nicely. The historical flashback to the murder of Mary Field through diary notes also something I found more in the way rather than a gain to the story. It felt more like an unwelcome interruption to the story. Personally, I think my biggest problem is that I have a hard time connecting to the characters in the books, which is strange since the first book I read in the series, The Death Season, was fabulous. The two after (including this) has just interested me as much as that one did.

Hopefully, the next one will be better!

I want to thank Piatkus for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
( )

She's done it AGAIN!!!!

I had all the clues, fairly laid out in front of me; I had clues from the historical tale along side the crime story... un yet, un yet, Kate Ellis neatly sidestepped my theories. She leads me down the garden path and I dutifully follow, only to be saying, "Of course it was ....." (You didn't think I'd divulge the perpetrator, did you?

Excellent, excellent crime writing; on to the next tale... I'll beat you yet!!! ( )

When it comes to blending history, mystery, and two complimentary timelines, few can do it as well as Kate Ellis. In The Mermaid's Scream, readers solve murders in both past and present: the murder of Mary Field in the Victorian era and the murder of writer Zac Wilkinson in the present. Alternating chapters from the journals of John Lipton and Mary Field provide clues to both murders because, as we all know, the present is always tied to the past. Ellis also shows us how popular the topic of death was in Victorian England with its murderous traveling puppet shows and high attendance at public executions.

As always with any Wesley Peterson mystery, the characters' lives are important. This time around, Wesley's boss Gerry Heffernan is faced with a surprise, Pam is recuperating from a health issue, and Pam and Wesley's son Michael proves that teenagers' judgment isn't always the best. Ellis has one of the best "families" of characters to be found in a long-running mystery series, and this is the major reason why I never miss a book. She even makes characters who have small "walk on" parts (like community support officer Barbara Smith) memorable.

But Ellis's talents with history and mystery are huge draws, too. There are two houses involved in mystery: Newfield Manor where legend has it that Mary Field was murdered, and Addersacre-- what a sinister name!-- the house where recluse Wynn Staniland lives with his daughter. I found the character of Staniland to have touches of both J.D. Salinger and Ted Hughes. All that being said, however, I do have to admit that I didn't find the mystery to be quite as satisfying in The Mermaid's Scream, although it's still a cracking good read that makes you want to turn the pages faster and faster. By book's end, there are so many people who aren't who they claimed to be that I needed a scorecard as I tried to sort them all out.

Still, that's a minor quibble when I think of the rest of the book and its characters-- and the consistently high quality of this remarkable series. If you haven't sampled one of Kate Ellis's Wesley Peterson mysteries, I highly recommend them. It is possible to read them as standalones, but since the characters' lives are integral to the books, I do suggest that you begin at the beginning with The Merchant's House. ( )