The House of Eyes (Wesley Peterson) by Kate Ellis

The House of Eyes (Wesley Peterson) by Kate Ellis
Buy The House of Eyes (Wesley Peterson) by Kate Ellis at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: The twentieth book in the series lives up to expectations and I was quite shocked by whodunnit! Recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 384	Date: February 2016
Publisher: Piatkus
ISBN: 978-0349403083
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D I Wesley Peterson wasn't too worried when Darren Hatman reported his daughter missing. She'd been working at Eyecliffe Castle and it wasn't difficult to sense that she'd been annoying the other staff with the stories of what she'd be doing when she got her modelling contract. There was just one point which left Peterson uneasy: Hatman claimed that Leanne had been stalked by a photographer and the case was obviously worth an enquiry or two. Eyecliffe Castle had been home to the wealthy D'Arles family, but was now a luxury hotel and spa, with the last remaining member of the family living in the Dower House in the grounds. Then Darren was found brutally murdered in the grounds of the castle: was it possible that Leanne had met a similar fate, and if so, why?

The Wesley Peterson series is one that I return to over and over again and one of the reasons is Peterson himself. He's a husband, father, police officer and, oh, yes, he's black, but it's not a story about how a police officer copes with being black. It's a story about a detective doing his job, who - incidentally - is black. His family came over from Trinidad, but they're not living on benefits or doing menial jobs: the family business is medicine. His sister is a GP. They're a successful family and the colour of their skin is irrelevant - and that is such a relief. I love books which reflect the communities we live in. Right. I'll get down off my soap box!

It's a good story: to begin with we don't know if there is a crime. The concensus of opinion is that Leanne has got a modelling contract and gone off without bothering to tell anyone. That doesn't really change until Darren Hartman's body is found. Peterson does have his eye on the ball, but there's a nagging worry that there's something wrong at home. His wife, Pam is awfully quiet and when she does tell him he has even more reason to feel that he should be at home despite the fact that work takes his mind off the problem. Unusually for him he can't even confide in his best friend, Neil Watson, who's just back from a trip to Sicily, where he met the photographer who is accused of stalking Leanne Hartman. Peterson's boss, Gerry Heffernan is sympathetic to Wesley's plight, but even he gets a bit cross when Peterson seems to be concentrating on two disappearances which happened in the fifties and another mystery which happened back in the mists of time. There's plenty to think about and a lot of strands to keep track of.

I had someone chalked in for the murder of Darren Hartman and my own ideas about how the Leanne Hartman mystery would resolve itself. I was soundly wrong on both counts, which does make for a good police procedural. I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series, as there's an ongoing problem - and I must know how it's resolved.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

The book reads well as a standalone but you will get more out of it if you've read earlier books in the series. We can recommend The Death Season, The Shadow Collector and The Shroud Maker.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The House of Eyes (Wesley Peterson) by Kate Ellis at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The House of Eyes (Wesley Peterson) by Kate Ellis at Amazon.com.

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