Book 93-94: The Shroud Maker and The Killing III
Book 93: The Shroud Maker (Wesley Peterson #18).
Author: Kate Ellis, 2014.
Genre: Police Procedural. Crime Fiction. Historical Mystery.
Other Details: Hardback. 374 pages.
A year on from the mysterious disappearance of Jenny Bercival, DI Wesley Peterson is called in when the body of a strangled woman is found floating out to sea in a dinghy.The discovery mars the festivities of the Palkin Festival, held each year to celebrate the life of John Palkin, a fourteenth century Mayor of Tradmouth who made his fortune from trade and piracy. And now it seems like death and mystery have returned to haunt the town. Could there be a link between the two women? One missing, one brutally murdered? And is there a connection to a fantasy website called Shipworld which features Palkin as a supernatural hero with a sinister, faceless nemesis called the Shroud Maker?
When archaeologist Neil Watson makes a grim discovery on the site of Palkin's warehouse, it looks as if history might have inspired the killer.And it is only by delving into the past that Wesley comes to learn the truth... a truth that will bring mortal danger in its wake. - synopsis from author's website.
Last year I read Books 1-17 of this series and so it was lovely to return to South Devon with Wesley and Company for the latest in this series of intelligent, complex police procedurals. Again, there are plenty of suspects, twist and turns, a stack of bodies and both a present day and historical mystery to solve. I continue to feel sorry for DS Rachel Tracey, who obviously still has a thing for her colleague Wesley. I really want her to be swept off her feet and happy rather than settling because the man she wants is unavailable.
Book 94: The Killing III.
Author: David Hewson, 2014.
Genre: Nordic Noir. Police Procedural. Crime Fiction. Political Thriller. TV Tie-in.
Other Details: Hardback. 417 pages.
Sarah Lund is contacted by old flame Mathias Borch from National Intelligence. Borch fears that what first appeared to be a random killing at the docks is the beginning of an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Troels Hartmann. The murder draws attention towards the shipping and oil giant, Zeeland, run by billionaire Robert Zeuthen. When Zeuthen’s 9-year-old daughter, Emilie, is kidnapped the investigation takes on a different dimension as it soon becomes clear that her disappearance is linked to the murder of a young girl in Jutland some years earlier. Hartmann is in the middle of an election campaign, made all the more turbulent because of the mounting financial crisis. He needs Zeeland’s backing. Lund needs to make sense of the clues left by Emilie’s perpetrator before it’s too late. And can she finally face the demons that have long haunted her? - synopsis from author's website.
I felt that Hewson has done another sterling job here in the print adaptation of Series 3 of the Danish cult TV show, The Killing. Enough time had passed between my watching the episodes for some details of the case to have faded, so this proved a welcome reminder and as before Hewson did introduce some sub-plots and additional characters.
Hewson didn't change the shocking conclusion though I have to admit I rather wanted him too. He did however pen a final chapter that gave some closure to those events. It felt quite an organic addition. So well done as we wave Sara Lund once more off into the sunset. As with a few books recently I part listened to this with my Audible edition but read all of the print edition borrowed from the library.
Cross-posted to 50bookchallenge.