Two people are shot dead in a field. An MP's daughter has gone missing. Wesley investigates while dealing with a crisis on the home front. Meanwhile Neil investigates an automaton buried near a local church.

It all came together nicely but although the extracts from Alcuin's thesis were interesting and kept my attention they did not convince as a piece of doctoral academic writing rather than a popular account of his research. ( )

Beat me again!

Kate Ellis tells us, from early on, the proponent of the crime: she gives the reader all they need to know about the secondary characters and STILL, she manages to fool me completely.

This is exactly what I look for in a crime novel. No cheating, the main characters are all introduced at an early stage, they all reveal their relationship to the crime and then, the author's magic turns the ingredients into a recipe that one could never have imagined. A thoroughly good read! ( )

This is a long-running series that I have loved since the first book. Granted, a few books aren't as strong as the rest, but that's to be expected. I always learn something when I read a Wesley Peterson mystery. This time it was Neil Watson's search for medieval graffiti and early automatons. Scattered throughout the book are excerpts from the unfinished doctoral thesis of a history student who died twenty years ago. As always, these excerpts shed light on one of the mysteries. And while I'm thinking about it, make sure you read the Author's Note in the back of the book, especially if you're the type of reader who likes to know how writers come up with the ideas for their books.

There is some excellent misdirection in the main mystery, but I felt that there might have been too many subplots, in particular, the one involving Belinda Crillow, the woman Wesley helped in a previous investigation. It was all too easy to deduce what was going on, and the only thing it seemed to be good for was to show how overloaded Wesley was and how many demands there were on his time.

I'm almost caught up with this series, which makes me happy. I'm not sure how I got behind! There's been a long-running subplot about one of Wesley's team and her wedding that feels as if the planning and preparation have been ongoing for at least a decade. But on the whole, I love the cast of characters in this series. Otherwise, why would I have lasted through twenty-two books?

If you're thinking about trying this series but are daunted by its length, I think you can jump in with this book (or the previous two which are excellent) without feeling lost. But if you're a character-driven series reader who loves a bit of history thrown in with your mysteries, this is a wonderful series to read. Go for it! ( )