‘Coffin Island’ by Kate Ellis

Published by Piatkus,
1 August 2024.
ISBN: 978-0-349-4317-2 (HB)

Situated just off the Devonshire coast, the small island of St Rumon’s is known locally as Coffin Island. Although most people insist it is called this because of the shape of the island, others claim there is a more sinister reason behind the name.

Until the Reformation, the island had housed a Roman Catholic priory, but when Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries the monks were driven away and the prior was killed. It is rumoured that the memory of this death is the reason that the island pub is named The Hanging Man. During low tide the island is accessible by a causeway but at other times it can only be reached by boat, which means the vicar who serves five parishes, including St Rumon’s Church, has had to learn how to handle a small motorboat.

The day after a severe storm the vicar approaches the island and sees that part of the cliff that borders the churchyard has broken away and, to her horror, she sees that two skeletons are lying on the shore. When she gets near enough to see properly, she discovers that there is also a third, far more recent body, half-rotted, and wrapped in a purple nylon sheet.

Detective Inspector Wesley Peterson achieved a degree in archaeology before he entered the police. When he and his superior officer, Detective Chief Inspector Gerry Heffernan, arrive on the island they realise that the skeletons had been buried outside the church wall and Wesley wonders about the reason for this unsanctified burial, however it is the fate of the third body that they must investigate. They can tell that the corpse is that of a woman who had died in the last few years, but the body is too badly decomposed to be identifiable. However, the sheet in which she is shrouded is in the style of the 1970s, which means it was fashionable long before the victim’s death. It is evident that she was unlawfully buried, and it seems probable that she was unlawfully killed. Neil Watson is an eminent local archaeologist who has been a friend of Wesley since their university days and Wesley asks him if he can arrange for a facial reconstruction of the dead woman. Neil becomes fascinated by the destroyed priory and arranges an archaeological dig on the site.

The largest house on the island is Coffin House, which is owned by the author and self-styled academic Quentin Search, who lives there with his troubled daughter, Ginevra, and his assistant-cum-mistress Jocasta. Search’s wife no longer lives there, and he claims that she has left him and has travelled abroad but that he does not know her current whereabouts. Wesley and Gerry suspect that Search is lying but they know they are prejudiced against him because of his offensive arrogance. Search claims to be an academic but Neil has warned Wesley that he is a charlatan who falsifies history and makes up dramatic, untrue stories in order to sell his books. In order to publicise his books, Search mounts a vendetta against Neil, claiming that he and his fellow archaeologists are denying the truth of Search’s claims because they work for the establishment. Neil is upset and angry but he knows that he cannot afford the financial output to sue Search for slander and so he concentrates on his archaeological work and on arranging the facial recognition for the police. At the same time, Neil’s lover, Annabel, assists him by researching sixteenth century church records and she uncovers the diary of a vicar of St Rumon’s parish that reveals the identity of the two skeletons and the reason why they were buried outside the churchyard.

Wesley and Gerry question everyone on the island, including the residents of Coffin House and the local cottages, the team of visiting bell ringers and Search’s ubiquitous builder. Despite all their efforts, the death toll continues to rise and it is not until Wesley links the story in the five-hundred-year-old diary to their current investigation that the truth finally becomes clear.

Coffin Island is the twenty-eighth novel featuring Wesley Peterson and it lives up to the high standard of its predecessors. It is a fascinating mixture of contemporary crime and historical records and the historical diary both explains and anticipates the main contemporary story. The scene setting is superb, the central characters are engaging, and the plot is complex and well-constructed. Coffin Island is a compelling read, which I recommend.------
Reviewer: Carol Westron

Kate Ellis was born in Liverpool and she studied drama in Manchester. She worked in teaching, marketing and accountancy before first enjoying writing success as a winner of the North-West Playwrights competition. Crime and mystery stories have always fascinated her, as have medieval history and archaeology which she likes to incorporate in her books. She is married with two grown up sons and she lives in North Cheshire, England, with her husband. Kate's novels feature archaeology graduate Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson who fights crime in South Devon.  Each story combines an intriguing contemporary murder mystery with a parallel historical case. She has also written five books in the spooky Joe Plantagenet series set up in North Yorkshire as well as many short stories for crime fiction anthologies and magazines. Kate was elected a member of The Detection Club in 2014. She is a member of the Crime Writers Association and Murder Squad, and Mystery People. Her most recent series is set post WW1.  The third and latest book in this series is The House of the Hanged Woman. 

www.kateellis.co.uk   

Carol Westron is a successful author and a Creative Writing teacher.  Her crime novels are set both in contemporary and Victorian times.  Her first book The Terminal Velocity of Cats was published in 2013. Since then, she has since written 8 further mysteries.

Carol recently gave an interview to Mystery People. interview

www.carolwestron.com
To read a review of Carol latest book click on the title
Death and the Dancing Snowman