| Publisher | Crème de la Crime |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 31 March 2015 |
| ISBN-10 | 178029073X |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1780290737 |
| Format | hardcover |
| Pages | 224 |
| Price | £ 19.99 |
Walking By Night
by
A young woman insists she has seen a dead body down an alleyway – but when police investigate, there’s nothing there. DI Joe Plantagenet is inclined to believe her, though.
Review
Kate Ellis seems to go for solid and reliable cops – and to add to her south coast DI Wesley Peterson series, we also have DI Joe Plantagenet, an angsty soul in a foggy northern town. It’s not a grim oop norf setting, but one oozing history from every pore.
The fictional setting of Eborby has oodles of historical buildings and narrow alleyways for the obligatory nefarious goings-on. And there’s a particularly creepy opening scene where a drunk girl on her way home makes an unpleasant discovery. And she claims that a spooky hooded figure was watching her.
When police investigate further, there’s no sign of a body in the alleyway. And they’re not very inclined to believe the girl, given the fact she’d been drinking. Sensible DI Joe thinks there may be something in her story, though. Then a woman’s body is found – and police start to wonder what the links are with a rather fruity play being put on at the city’s theatre. The Devils is guaranteed to offend almost everyone with its emphasis on sex and religion!
Walking By Night is five books into the series, but it’s not a huge disadvantage if you haven’t read the earlier ones. Ellis has a couple of intriguing leads in the shape of Joe and his practical, rather rumpled DCI Emily Thwaite. Joe clearly has enough past baggage to keep a team of sherpas out of mischief for a few years. He gave up a career in the priesthood, is wracked with guilt over the death of his wife, and has a former girlfriend on the scene. Emily juggles family and work, and keeps a faintly maternal eye on her angsty DI.
There’s a cast of oddballs, including an exorcist, a dodgy psychic, the drunk student, her deeply weird potential love interest, her oblivious mother and obligatory nasty would-be stepfather. And the cast of the play appear to have emerged from the ‘avoid at all costs unless you’re desperate’ section of the actors’ casting directory! It’s certainly a varied collection, but they don’t quite gel or convince.
Walking By Night is an undemanding read, and one that cries out to be read in front of a roaring fire with all the lights on. Ellis is very strong on spine-tingling, particularly when it comes to old buildings – one or two scenes in the theatre and one of the characters’ rather unorthodox home had me looking nervously at shadows on the wall.
It’s rather like Ellis’s other series – competently written, worth a look, but it doesn’t quite grab me. And despite all her efforts, I rather think it’s because her lead cops both up north and down south are the sort of chaps you hope would turn up if you needed the police, but when it comes to keeping a story ticking over are actually rather dull.
The fictional setting of Eborby has oodles of historical buildings and narrow alleyways for the obligatory nefarious goings-on. And there’s a particularly creepy opening scene where a drunk girl on her way home makes an unpleasant discovery. And she claims that a spooky hooded figure was watching her.
When police investigate further, there’s no sign of a body in the alleyway. And they’re not very inclined to believe the girl, given the fact she’d been drinking. Sensible DI Joe thinks there may be something in her story, though. Then a woman’s body is found – and police start to wonder what the links are with a rather fruity play being put on at the city’s theatre. The Devils is guaranteed to offend almost everyone with its emphasis on sex and religion!
Walking By Night is five books into the series, but it’s not a huge disadvantage if you haven’t read the earlier ones. Ellis has a couple of intriguing leads in the shape of Joe and his practical, rather rumpled DCI Emily Thwaite. Joe clearly has enough past baggage to keep a team of sherpas out of mischief for a few years. He gave up a career in the priesthood, is wracked with guilt over the death of his wife, and has a former girlfriend on the scene. Emily juggles family and work, and keeps a faintly maternal eye on her angsty DI.
There’s a cast of oddballs, including an exorcist, a dodgy psychic, the drunk student, her deeply weird potential love interest, her oblivious mother and obligatory nasty would-be stepfather. And the cast of the play appear to have emerged from the ‘avoid at all costs unless you’re desperate’ section of the actors’ casting directory! It’s certainly a varied collection, but they don’t quite gel or convince.
Walking By Night is an undemanding read, and one that cries out to be read in front of a roaring fire with all the lights on. Ellis is very strong on spine-tingling, particularly when it comes to old buildings – one or two scenes in the theatre and one of the characters’ rather unorthodox home had me looking nervously at shadows on the wall.
It’s rather like Ellis’s other series – competently written, worth a look, but it doesn’t quite grab me. And despite all her efforts, I rather think it’s because her lead cops both up north and down south are the sort of chaps you hope would turn up if you needed the police, but when it comes to keeping a story ticking over are actually rather dull.
Reviewed 26 September 2015 by Sharon Wheeler
