Customer Reviews

The Merchant's House

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Well executed tale about Wesley Peterson, a black English detective in an interracial marriage, who moves his wife Pamela and his job from London to the English countryside. His first day on the Tradmouth police force presents Wesley with a gruesome murder and a seemingly unrelated case of a missing child. On the other side of town his long time friend and archeologist Neil (who happens to be Pamela's former lover) has unearthed an unidentified skeleton from what used to be a 17th century merchant`s house. Little does Wesley realize that the skeleton may be the key to solving his murder case, as well as the case involving the missing child.

Also intriguing is the 17th Century diary of John Banized, the merchant whose home Neil is now excavating. We are greeted with excerpts from John's diary at the beginning of each chapter, and this creates a whole other story line that is just as compelling and suspenseful as the main plot.

I was fascinated by the multi layers of this novel. Ellis very deftly draws the reader into two story lines simultaneously. The medieval plot of John Banized's infidelity and his ominous secret is unfolding just as rapidly as Wesley Peterson's missing child and murder cases. There is also a premise that evolves around children...infertility, greed and desperation. But I won't say too much about that here. Just suffice it to say that this is a very well written and enjoyable mystery with unrelenting suspense. I consider it one of those rare finds that you always look forward to discovering on a rainy day.

Enjoy.

In this debut mystery, Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson has recently transferred from London to the port town of Tradmouth. Just prior to his transfer, the Tradmouth police are faced with a kidnapping of a small boy by person or persons unknown. On Peterson's first day on the new job, a woman is found brutally murdered in the local park. The first thing the police must do is identify her. Also, archaeologists working on a dig of an Elizabethan merchant's house find a skeleton in what they think is the cellar. Finally, Peterson's wife begins visiting a local medical clinic in an effort to get pregnant and he must be present at several appointments. Peterson had expected a laid back kind of life in the countryside, but Tradmouth's criminals keep him and his colleagues busy.

In the hands of a lesser writer, juggling four distinct stories might turn into a confusing morass. Ellis, however, pulls it off and keeps the readers' interest sustained in all three stories. She is able to deftly pull the stories together at the end. Peterson is an interesting and likable character - well rounded with interests (archaeology to be specific) other than police work. The minor characters are also likable, and one hopes that they will be fleshed out in future books.

While not strictly a historical mystery, one of the four stories is set in Elizabethan Tradmouth and adds piquancy to the modern-day stories. This has all the potential of being a first-class series - part procedural, part historical, part cozy. This is an excellent start.

This story satisfied both my tastes for a great whodunit and a historical read. The characters are an interesting and believable mix. The plot is wonderfully woven, and the author keeps you guessing throughout the main story as well as throughout the historical insets, which were a great complement to the main story. I look forward to more "Wesley Peterson Mysteries" from Kate Ellis!

"Each of my Wesley Peterson stories combines an intriguing contemporary murder mystery with a parallel history case," declares Kate Ellis on her website. Ellis, an "armchair" archeologist, has written fifteen of these mysteries. THE MERCHANT'S HOUSE (1999) is the debut novel and introduces archeology graduate Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson, who with his wife Pam, a supply teacher, has left London to accept a position with the police of the fictional seaport town of Tradmouth in South Devon.

Booklist calls THE MERCHANT'S HOUSE a strong police procedural featuring some distinctly interesting characters...vivid scenes of southern England and the sea...and difficult mysteries.

Indeed, when Peterson arrives at the station his first day, the police are called to investigate the body of a young woman found near a carpark on a seaside cliff. The bloke from London soon becomes involved with discovering the woman's identity and the connection with a child gone missing several weeks earlier.

In the centre of the old town, Peterson runs into a college friend, Neil Watson, who is excavating a seventeenth-century merchant's house. Two skeletons have been discovered in the ruins, and Wesley becomes interested in the grisly secrets of the house's cellar.

The descriptions of the surrounding villages enhance the storytelling. Peterson rides the Trad River ferry over to the narrow streets of Queensbury filled with tall stuccoed houses painted "in pastel pinks, greens amd cream." Another interview takes Wesley and fellow squad member Rachel Tracey out to the resort town of Morbray, once the pinnacle of respectability, now showing wear like "an elderly lady wearing too much makeup." They round down a suspect in a caravan midst a traveller's site in nearby Neston with its "New Age bookshops, healing centres, and occult emporia."

The MERCHANT'S HOUSE is an easy and fascinating read. The Tradmouth police methodically step-by-step close the contemporary cases. Wesley and his friend Neil find the merchant's 1623 journal that explains the skeletons found in the cellar. For this reader, it's on to The Armada Boy: Wesley Peterson Mystery #2 and its investigation of the murder of a visiting American WWII vet that parallels the mystery of a group of Spanish sailors killed as they limped from the wreckage of the great Armada in 1588.

Come join me!

I like this series immensely. There are three books out so far (the
last one "Unhallowed Grave" has only recently been published
in the UK); and in all three mysteries, Kate Ellis blends a
contemporary mystery with that of a historical one. And she does it
brilliantly. You know that the solution to one will link you with the
solution to the other, and it makes for an enjoyable and interesting
read to see if you, the reader, can see the solution before either Sgt
Wesley Peterson of the Tradmouth CID, or Neil Watson of the County
Archaeological Unit.

In this instance, Tradmouth CID is stretched
thin trying to find a missing child and solve the murder of an
unidentified young woman whose face has been horribly
disfigured. Meanwhile, the County Archaeological Unit while escavating
a 17th century house make a grissly find: the skeletons of a baby and
an adult from that period. The intuitive reader will at once realise
that both mysteries are linked in some way. But how?

The central
motif of this mystery in that of the relationship between mother and
child. What a woman feels at her failure to conceive a child; the fear
of losing a child; and how she copes with the death of a child.

This
is a really good series with great characters. My only complaint is
that with all these interesting personalities-- Patterson, Watson et
al-- the book seems hardly long enough to give them each the focus
they deserve. However this series is a winner and I recommend all the
three books.

A most enjoyable murder mystery/historical novel which held the readers attention throughout. The characters were readily brought to life by the author's descriptive text, and the story was cleverly interwoven by the historical flashbacks. A really good read and can be highly recommended to all.

Wesley Peterson is the new Detective Sergeant in Tradmouth having transfered from London. The town is near his wife's, Pam, family.

On his way to work the first day, Wesley comes across Neil who is directing a dig on an old house. The two studied archaeology together before Wesley decided on police work.

Once at work, Wesley learns that a 7-year old boy was kidnapped earlier and the body of a woman has just be discovered. He has to hit the ground running.

There is an interesting parallel between the modern mystery and the past one that unfolds during the dig. The past being told in chapter heads from the journal of John Banized who's merchant house is the subject of the excavation.

The book is nicely paced and the two stories do draw together toward the end. There isn't really a twist at the end but it is a satisfying conclusion and I enjoyed the company.

Ellis has gathered some interesting characters in the people. They are people I would enjoy knowing. And the town of Tradmouth is as much a character as the people shaping the way people live their lives. The person that seemed least developed was Pam, Wesley's wife. She was not shown very positively but maybe as the series progresses, we will learn more about her.

Usually I dislike stories that jump back and forth between times or main characters but this was done so well and didn't drag, it was hard to put it down. Also I really liked the pacing of the story because the author played fair, supplying characters and clues in a timely manner. Since it involved murder, there were bodies but there was no graphic violence or sex for the plot to get mired. I think I would enjoy rereading it and I look forward to reading the next one in this series.

First Sentence: The child flung his tricycle aside and toddled, laughing, toward the basking cat.

A university graduate in archeology and the first black police officer in Tradmouth, DS Wesley Peterson begins his first day at work with a murder. The body of a young woman has been found off a cliff path, the damage to her face rendering her unrecognizable. Wesley's university friend, Neill, is heading a team of archeologists on the site of a 17th century merchant's house in town when the skeleton of a child is found. A fellow officer is dealing with the mother of a missing toddler who is adamant her son is still alive in spite of a lack of clues. Can a clue from the past solve a crime in the present?

To find a book which is a skillful combination of archeology and police procedure is definitely in my `happy-reader' zone. Ms. Ellis does just that and much more. Although the locations are fictional, I was ready to pack my back and go. Those who are familiar would know the differences, but for those who don't the locations are visual and real.

Not only is there a nice introduction to Wesley, but to all the book's major characters. One thing particularly refreshing is that the police officers all like one another and work as a team. There is an odd man out, but you don't feel he'll be there long. It's not just the primary characters Ms. Ellis brings to life, but the secondary characters as well. I never had to question who a character was or why there were there.

It can be a tricky business, bringing together four plot lines, but it works. The information from the 17th century is provided in diary excerpts as chapter headings, while fascinating, does not intrude on the present-day investigations. The dig at the merchant's house plays to Wesley's background and as an escape from issues at home.

The kidnapping is being primarily investigated by another team, and the murdered girl is Wesley's primary investigation. Yet Ms. Ellis cleverly designates Wesley as the hub which brings together the various spokes of the wheel in a way I didn't predict until it was revealed.

"The Merchant's House" is a very good police procedural in which the plot unfolds not by flash, but bit-by-bit, following the clues. It is filled with great characters, dialogue, humour, and a plot that kept me reading. Happily there are many more books ahead in this series.

THE MERCHANT'S HOUSE (Pol Proc-Wesley Peterson-England-Cont) - VG

Ellis, Kate - 1st in series

Piatkus, ©1998, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 0749904542

I've read the first four books and look forward to finishing the series. I'm a history/genealogy buff and read mystery books almost exclusively (especially enjoy "cold case" mysteries) so I find these books a pleasure to read.