A Cursed Inheritance: A Wesley Peterson Murder Mystery (The Wesley Peterson Murder Mysteries) [Paperback]

Kate Ellis (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Wesley Peterson Murder Mysteries | Publication Date: August 1, 2010

The brutal massacre of the Harford family at Potwoolstan Hall in 1985 shocked the populace and passed into local folklore. When a journalist researching the case is murdered 20 years later, the horror is reawakened. Now a New Age healing center, 16th-century Potwoolstan Hall is reputed to be cursed because of the crimes of its builder, and it seems the inheritance of evil lives. As more people die violently, detective Wesley Peterson must discover why a young woman has transformed a doll’s house into a miniature reconstruction of the massacre scene. The solution seems to lie in the ruined remains of an early English settlement in Virginia, but when the truth is finally revealed, it turns out to be as horrifying as it is dangerous.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The guesswork goes on until the end in the latest of this excellent series."  —Good Book Guide

"Kate Ellis skillfully weaves crimes of past and present into a seamless narrative. . . . The plotting is intricate and the finale totally unexpected. An agreeable mystery."  —Scotsman

About the Author

Kate Ellis is the author of the Wesley Peterson Series and has twice been nominated for the Crime Writers’ Association Short Story Dagger.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Piatkus Books (August 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749936061
• ISBN-13: 978-0749936068
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 3.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #525,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ideas Are More Exciting Than the Writing-- Audio Book Review, October 22, 2008

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Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cursed Inheritance: A Wesley Peterson Murder Mystery (The Wesley Peterson Murder Mysteries) (Paperback)

A dead body is discovered floating in a river in Devonshire. At first the police consider suicide, then they discover that the body is that of a crime reporter who was doing research into a local atrocity, a horrendous murderous rampage in the 80's that wiped out almost an entire family. There is also a side order of possible Satanism in that dead crows where nailed to the front and back doors of the Elizabethan manor house where the murder occured. The historic side of the mystery involves a British archaeologist who goes to Virginia to participate in a dig at "Annetown". He also has a personal errand to carry out for his dying grandmother.

First, I was relentlessly annoyed by the Annetown references. I really wish the author had Just called it Jamestown and add a paragraph to the Author's Note explaining that liberties were taken with history for the sake of the plot. Clearly she wanted to incorporate some recent research into the deaths at Jamestown which nearly scuttled the colony.

Second the author had better ideas than her writing skills will support. The writing was mostly bland. The characters, past and present, were rather cardboard and stereotyped. The villain was predictable. I think the author could have spend more time on both the psychology of the characters and the police procedure part. I was, for instance, surprised when a policeman is made aware of the destruction of evidence which showed a character had observed a murder scene contrary to the earlier story and he doesn't even twitch, in fact he thinks it might be a good idea to get rid of the evil paintings.

Finally, the epilogue doesn't add anything to the story, it's apparently just there to add some drama. It also doesn't ring true to the character.

With regard to the narration, I wasn't particularly impressed by it. Sometimes I got confused during the narration of conversations and couldn't figure out who was speaking. However, I did get to add to my collection of bad American accents. It wss a combination of a Western drawl with some southern around the edge. Fortunately the character was not on stage much or I would have driven myself nuts trying to come up with a way that he could have acquired that particular manner of speech.

I definitely suggest that someone read this rather than listen to it. At least when you fall asleep reading the book stops at that point rather than running on to the end.