DI Wesley Peterson is summoned to investigate a possible murder in a hotel room. It looks like routine matter, but then it is revealed that the man used a fake name and the man in question is linked to a cold case; the murder of a child in 1979.

This is the first book I have read by Kate Ellis and I admit that starting with book 19 in a series doesn’t feel like a perfect start. But I never really had a problem with that because I was so enthralled with the story and the characters that I never had any real problem with not having read the previous books. Sure there is a lot of back history, but instead of being hindered by that I just found myself more curious about reading the previous 18 books.

The plot was really good, there were lots of different things going on at the same time, the cold case murder, the murder at the hotel and an archaeological dig at a ruined village that tumbled in the sea during WW1, but all these happenings had connections to each other and let to a thrilling ending.

I liked Wesley Peterson, he is a good police that knows he is spending too much time working and too little with his family and feeling guilty about it. I'm looking forward to seeing how it will go for him in the future, especially since he is working with a DS Rachel Tracey who has feelings for him. He seems to be happily married, but a close working relationship with a woman attracted to him can be dangerous, especially since his wife seems to be a bit jealous of Rachel… no smoke without fire...

I'm really looking forward to reading the previous books in the series since I want to know more about his past and how it must have been coming to a little community as a black police after working at the MET. This crime novel was terrific, great story, great characters. Couldn't find anything with it that I didn’t like!

Thank you Piatkus for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! ( )

This is the 19th book in the series. I have read the previous 18: you'd think that I'd be in tune with Kate Ellis' mindset and would guess the villain well in advance. I didn't see this one coming.

I do not want to say too much: both in case someone reads this prior to reading the book and so that if I check before re-reading, I do not give myself too big a clue. I did, however, find it rather clever, the way in which the perpetrator was always a rather unsettling character. In the usual run of detective fiction, this rules them out immediately: the guilty party will appear whiter than white, until the last few pages.

I did not see the denouement coming, until it did!

GREAT crime writing! ( )

Wesley Peterson investigates the suspicious death of a man in a hotel room while Neil Watson appears on a TV archaeological programme excavating the remains of a village most of which was swallowed up the sea towards the end of WWI.

Ingenious parallels between past and present. ( )

I have long been a fan of Kate Ellis's Wesley Peterson police procedural series which is set on the Devon coast. Ellis always has two timelines in each book, one historic and one present day, and they always tie together in some way. Moreover, this author is a triple threat. She can bring little-known chapters of history to life, she can create absorbing mysteries, and her characters are so well drawn that I feel as though they've been friends for years.

Everything comes together perfectly in The Death Season. Trying to deduce whodunit was complicated by the fact that so many characters in both timelines weren't whom they appeared to be. The murderer in the present day is one of Ellis's best and will probably give readers chills down the spine. And then there are the characters' lives to be considered.

Wesley's boss, Gerry Heffernan, is still recuperating from what happened in the previous book. He's been given cold cases to review and feels as though the higher-ups are trying to put him out to pasture. Wesley is still trying to be Super Cop, Super Husband, and Super Dad-- with mixed results. I've had a rocky relationship with Wesley's wife Pam since the first book in the series. She's one of these women who marry a police officer and then can't understand why he works such long hours. I keep trying to second-guess Ellis on how that marriage is going to turn out, but I haven't been right yet. What pleased me the most in The Death Season is that archaeologist Neil Watson actually gets some well-deserved love. Normally the poor man just gets clunked in the head with a blunt instrument and left in one of his trenches.

If you like British police procedurals with strong mysteries, a sense of history, and an excellent cast of characters, I highly recommend this series. You should be able to read The Death Season and not be confused by the characters or their lives, but don't be surprised if you find yourselves looking for the very first book in the series, The Merchant's House. These books are addictive. ( )

From Amazon:

When a middle-aged man is found dead in a hotel room, it seems like a routine matter—until it becomes clear to DI Wesley Peterson that it is a case of cold blooded murder and that the identity the victim has been using isn't his own. Then DCI Gerry Heffeman, frustrated at being given only cold cases during his recovery from being shot in the line of duty, discovers from a DNA review that Wesley's mystery man was responsible for the murder of a child back in 1979. But soon, as Wesley delves in to the events of the past more people die. Meanwhile archaeologist Neil Watson is investigating a ruined village that tumbled into the sea during a storm at the time of World War I. Events take a cryptic turn when he encounters a 100-year-old mystery with echoes in the present. As a terrifying truth is revealed, Wesley has to face a great danger, especially if he is to save someone very precious to him.

My Thoughts:

The Death Season is actually three different stories. There are extracts from a diary that a girl wrote during WWI at the beginning of each chapter. Then in present day, there was the murder in the hotel that seemed to be linked to a cold case from the seventies and then, there were the excavations in a ruined village engulfed by the sea during WW1. There is a lot going on but never does the reader feel that it was too much. The transitions from one story to the other are very clear and soon you begin to see how all of them were linked together. Even though it is number 19 in the Wesley Peterson series, it is undoubtedly Kate Ellis strongest book to date. I highly recommend this series to anyone that enjoys reading and attempting to solve a good mystery. ( )