An Unhallowed Grave
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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 and well-liked. She seems to have had no real enemies. And yet someone killed her. Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson is determined to discover the truth and, once again, it is history that provides him with a clue. His archaeologist friend, Neil Watson, is excavating on the site of a proposed holiday development nearby when he discovers an ancient corpse. Local legend has it that many centuries ago a young woman was hanged from the yew in the churchyard. Has Neil discovered her body buried at the crossroads in an unhallowed grave? Why was she hanged? And why is she sharing her last resting place with a set of rare medieval statues? It seems an unlikely coincidence - two women hanged from the same tree many centuries apart. Wesley is forced to consider the possibility that the killer also knows the tree's history. Has Pauline Brent been "executed" rather than murdered? And if so, for what crime? As Wesley tries to discover as much as he can about the victim, and the dark history of the village, the case becomes more intriguing. Pauline Brent appears to have been a woman with few friends, no relatives...and a past she has carefully tried to hide!
Published by Piatkus Hardback £16.99 (ISBN 0749904984) Paperback £6.99 (ISBN 0749937009) Click here to order An Unhallowed Grave in paperback from Amazon.co.uk Click here to order An Unhallowed Grave in hardback from Amazon.co.uk Reviews "Nicely paced detective yarn with the added fascination of an historical mystery tangled with a modern murder." South Wales Argus "Peterson links up events...to find a chilling solution." Gerald Kaufman, The Scotsman "This novel is fantastic. It keeps you hooked to the story from the beginning." Bradford Telegraph and Argus "Kate Ellis is a fine story-teller, whose characters are well realised, and this one gripped me to the end." Shots Magazine "In her third mystery...Ellis proves herself once again adept at linking a contemporary British police procedural to a crime from centuries in the past. Besides providing a clever dual mystery, Ellis humanizes her characters... This is a series that just gets stronger with each new book. With its appealing cast of police officers, its English village setting and ingenious plot..., this series would seem a natural for TV adaptation in the author's native Britain." US Publishers Weekly "Addictive Series - an excellent mystery ." Nottingham Evening Post |