‘The Marriage Hearse’ by Kate
Ellis
Published by Piatkus
& Portrait. March 2006.
ISBN 0-7499-0783-5
Number Ten in the
Wesley Peterson saga, the set up exactly as before, a modern mystery set
alongside a parallel event hundreds of years ago.
In this
case, a local amateur drama group is performing a play by a long dead Tudor
playwright whose personal life (and death) mirrors the events taking place in
the same village today.
A bride is found strangled in her bedroom as
the wedding guests wait at the church for her arrival. The obvious candidate
for her murder is an ex boyfriend who has been stalking her - but can it
be that simple?
The true motive, which finally emerges after a
series of false trails, has been taken, I suspect, from a real life case some
time ago. However, it is a perfectly
plausible explanation and one that is not telegraphed along the way.
For regular readers of the series, the big
question is: will Wesley at last succumb to the charms of Rachel, his love struck
sergeant, as a relief from his moaning overworked wife? And will his old chum,
the boring archaeologist Neil, step in to provide that same wife with the
tender loving care that she isn’t getting from her husband who always seems to
be out on the job instead of IN on the job as it were?
Far be it from me to spill the beans except to
say events take an unexpected turn and not, perhaps, for the better. A new Kate Ellis in the Spring
makes the long winters bearable.
--------
Ron Ellis
Earlier
books in the series are: The
Merchant's House, The Armada Boy, An Unhallowed Grave,
The Funeral Boat, The
.