Jan 3 - 9, 2016

 I'm finally finished with this series by Kate Ellis. Of these last five, three ended with what was supposed to be a note of suspense but just irritated me. The characters in question are never mentioned again in later books. The 20th book in the series comes out in Feb. I certainly found her earlier books more satisfying.
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The Jackal Man - the 15th Wesley Peterson novel. A teen is attacked by a man with what looks like a dog head. Soon there are a series of more serious attacks and it looks like a killer with an Egyptian obsession is at large. Meanwhile, Neil is helping a castle owner evaluate her Egyptian collection. I thought the solution was a little unfair. As always, the historical excerpts at the beginning of each chapter are almost more interesting than the main story.

3 stars
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The Cadaver Game - an unidentified woman is found dead in her cottage. And two people are killed while playing the Game. How are they connected? Neil is doing some work for a pretentious artist when a skeleton is found. Not one of the best but still enjoyable.

3 stars
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The Shadow Collector - a woman rumored to be a witch has just returned to her home after serving 18 years for the murder of two teenage girls. Now a woman has been found in a neighboring field, killed in a similar manner. Wesley has to look into the original murders to find the truth. And Neil is dealing with witchcraft in the 17th century.

2.5 stars
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The Shroud Maker - it's Palkin Festival time in Tradmouth and the police are keeping a sharp eye out, especially since a young woman went missing the previous year. When a young woman is found murdered it looks like the two cases are connected. Neil makes some discoveries that make it look like history is inspiring the murderer. And I learned that shrouds are the ropes that hold the sails to the mast.

3 stars
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The Death Season - a very convoluted story involving dead men in hotel rooms and unsolved cold cases. Neil makes a grim discovery in an old ice house. Also, the author has started minutely describing very incidental characters, almost as if she can't think what to do with the story and is filling the book this way.

3 stars