The Funeral Boat [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Kate Ellis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2001

When young Carl Palister unearths a skeleton on a Devon smallholding, DS Wesley Peterson and his boss Gerry Heffernan are called in to investigate. Heffernan is convinced that the remains are those of Carl's father, a local villain who vanished from the Tradmouth area three years before. Wesley isn't so sure - he discovers evidence that suggests the skeleton is a good thousand years older than they first thought. A keen amateur archaeologist, Wesley is intrigued by the possibility that this is a Viking corpse, buried in keeping with ancient traditions. But he has a rather more urgent crime to solve-the disappearance of a Danish tourist.

At first it appears that Ingeborg Larsen may just have gone away for a few days without telling her landlady, but Wesley finds disturbing evidence that the attractive Dane has been abducted. Gerry Heffernan believes that Ms. Larsen's disappearance is linked to a spate of brutal local robberies and that Ingeborg witnessed something she shouldn't have. But is her disappearance linked to far older events? For it seems that this may not have been Ingeborg's first visit to this far from quiet West Country backwater. . .

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As in her three previous mysteries (An Unhallowed Grave, etc.) featuring Det. Sgt. Wesley Peterson and Insp. Gerry Hefferman, Ellis skillfully interweaves ancient and contemporary crimes in an impeccably composed tale. Excerpts at the head of each chapter from the chronicle of Brother Edwin, monk of Neston Minster, describe the Danish Viking raids on South Devon at the end of the first millennium and provide clues to a past injustice. In the present, after a boy discovers a skeleton on his mother's smallholding, Hefferman suspects it's that of the boy's disreputable father, who vanished three years earlier. Peterson, whose degree is in archeology, thinks it may be far older and brings in a former university colleague to see whether the remains might be those of a Viking. A series of break-ins at isolated farmhouses and the disappearance of a beautiful Danish tourist, Ingeborg Larsen, complicate matters. The author tidily brings all the solutions together, Danish Viking mixing with modern-day Devonian, while an absorbing plot smoothly blends archeology with current forensic procedures. The clear, sequential flow keeps the many characters distinct. Those familiar with South Devon will have fun recognizing Dartmouth in the author's Tradmouth, Torbay in Morbay and Totnes in Neston. Ellis hints at putting Hefferman into retirement soon, but her readers should surely object, for he's doing just fine.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Ellis' fourth book featuring Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson is cleverly plotted and competently written, providing an engaging glimpse of what life is like for the average small-town British cop. Daily life in Tradmouth, Devon, is usually relatively calm, even for a copper, but that isn't the case this summer. Identifying the skeletal remains found in a field outside town and finding the gang of thieves who are robbing isolated farms in the area are more than enough to keep Peterson and his partner, Inspector Gerry Heffernan, busy. But when a visiting Danish woman is abducted and her brother is killed, the pair really have their hands full. Fortunately, Wesley's keenly analytical mind and ability to charm confessions out of even the most reluctant perp, combined with Heffernan's experience, give the copper's all the tools they need to set matters right. The skeleton, which belongs to one of the hordes of Danes who invaded England in 997, produces the most interesting story line in pleasantly entertaining and engaging procedural. For fans of the village cozy. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 409 pages
• Publisher: Magna Large Print Books; Lrg edition (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750516577
• ISBN-13: 978-0750516570
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down, September 12, 2010

By 

Auntie Annie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Funeral Boat: A Wesley Peterson Murder Mystery (The Wesley Peterson Murder Mysteries) (Paperback)

Another in the excellent Wesely Peterson series by Kate Ellis. I read until the early morning hours, unable to put it down. A fascinating series with well developed characters, an intricate and plausable plot and a readily accessible style of writing.

4.0 out of 5 stars Archeology and murder under Ellis' deft hand - always good., November 4, 2011

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Funeral Boat: A Mystery (West Country Murder Mysteries) (Hardcover)

First Sentence: The boy's heart pounded rapidly as he searched for a place to hide.

Ingeborg Larsen, a visitor from Denmark, has disappeared from the bed and breakfast at which she was staying. Daniel Wexer encountered burglars in his home and left seriously wounded by a shotgun blast. Local farm laboror, Jack Palister, disappeared, leaving behind a wife and son on whose property has now been found a skeleton. Rather than being that of Jack, it is a thousand-year-old Viking in a funeral boat. The Tradmouth police are having a busy time with all these separate cases on their hands. Or are they all separate?

Ms. Ellis' prologue provides an opening that is both terrible and compelling. She gives you no chance to put the book down now. With the Chapter One header, we are jumping into the ancient past and are left in suspense and intrigues. Once into the chapter itself, we see the echoes to the past.

I so enjoy the ensemble cast of characters and that we get to know each of them better with every book. Here we learn more of Gerry Huffernan's past, the head of the homicide team. There is a charming scene of Huffernan and his son accidently running into one another. The characters have families, and lives and concerns beyond their roles as police officers.

The dialogue works, but Ellis does not have the same "ear" for it as for some authors. It always seems a bit stilted, rather than flowing. As a police procedural, the investigative steps are quite interesting and acceptably believable. However, I am amazed how everyone always confesses.

"The Funeral Boat" is yet another very enjoyable book in this series which deftly brings the past together with the present through fascinating historical and archeological details while still being a compelling police procedural.

THE FUNERAL BOAT (Pol Proc-Wesley Peterson/Gerry Huffernan-England-Cont) - G+
Ellis, Kate - 4th in series
Thomas Dunne Books, 2002, US Hardcover - ISBN: 0312274548