Walking By Night by Kate Ellis

First Sentence:  Debby Telerhaye’s footsteps echoed in the fog like hammer blows as her tottering heels hit the stone pavement.

      

No one really believes the claim of an inebriated teen who claims to have seen a dead body and nun-like figure in the ruins of an abbey, except for DI Joe Plantagenet.  The story becomes more believable when a woman is reported missing.  Does it have something to do with a local play dealing the religious and sexual violence?  Or could it even connect to the death of a young nun centuries before?

      

Ellis captures our attention from the very first with the combination of a young woman, fog, an abandoned abbey, the sense of being followed, and a dead body. For what more could one ask?

Joe Plantagenet is clearly a man with a past, and it a very interesting character.  He had studied for the priesthood, married and was widowed.  Through him, Ellis paints a very realistic portrait of a man who is still grieving, even after several years.  He is also a man whose friend is a Canon and a Diocesan Exorcist.  It is a nice change to have a protagonist listen to sacred music, such as the Thomas Tillis mass for four voices, Allegri: Miserere.  In contrast, his DCI, Emily Thwaite, is a married woman with three children.  It makes for a nice balance.

One must respect an author who doesn’t make you feel as though you’ve missed something by starting with the fifth book in the series.  Still, reading this does make one want to go back and start at the beginning of the series.

“Walking by Night” contain a delicious sense of menace, a very good plot twist, and intrigue that underlies the entire story. 

WALKING BY NIGHT (Police Procedural-Joe Plantagenet-England-Contemporary) – G+

Ellis, Kate – 5th in series

Severn House/First World Publication – July 2015