Coffin Island by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by FernDespite many years living in South Devon, DI Wesley Peterson has never visited the tiny island of St Rumon’s. That is until erosion from a storm reveals three bodies buried outside the local churchyard.
Two are ancient skeletons, but one is far more recent, and Wesley realises he has uncovered a case of murder. But whose remains are they? And who killed them?
The island has only a small number of inhabitants. Yet one resident keeps cropping up in Wesley’s investigation: the author and self-styled academic, Quentin Search.
Meanwhile Wesley’s friend, archaeologist Neil Watson, becomes fascinated by the remains of the island’s old priory. His discovery of a journal, written by a sixteenth century cleric, reveals an eerie tale of strange rituals and disturbing deaths.
As Wesley begins to wonder whether the past might be repeating itself, another murder occurs . . . There is a calculated killer on the island – one whose grip is as deadly as the rising tide.
DI Wesley Peterson and his team are called out to Coffin Island when heavy rains and local cliff erosion uncovers some bones from the church’s cemetery – and a rather recent corpse that shouldn’t be present in that area. While Wesley and his team try and identify the unknown woman, Neil Watson and his archaeology team are called to investigate the skeletal remains and assist in a dig at the local priory. Can they each find answers for their questions?
I have enjoyed this long running series for quite some time. I have always found these books to be a good blend of a British style police procedural mystery and an archaeological based mystery – usually one that winds the two storylines together in some way. This book was exactly that. While I do feel readers might have a stronger emotional attachment to both Wesley’s and Neil’s characters having read some of the previous books, this story really does stand very well by itself and I feel the book can easily be picked up and thoroughly enjoyed just be itself to new readers.
The murder mystery was quite well paced and a fair bit of the book was spent trying to identify the woman found. I thought this was well explored and while I could understand if some readers might find this not a fast paced or more action orientated style of mystery I enjoyed the police procedural aspect to it. I also thought this was well balanced with the more historical and the archaeology plot that was woven into the story in the same small island setting. I thought this was a good balance and readers who are new to this series can get a good understanding of what they can expect from most of the other books in this long running series.
While I admit readers looking for a fast paced or action style of mystery might not find this book really suits their needs, I enjoyed the slower pace to this murder mystery. I also greatly enjoyed the historical aspects and archaeology base to the secondary plot for this book. Readers who enjoy a slightly different police mystery should find this an interesting and refreshing read and good exposure to this series and all it has to offer. An enjoyable read and one I can definitely recommend.
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