Walking by Night

After an evening drinking with friends, a teenage girl takes a shortcut through the ruins of an old abbey and stumbles across a body. She immediately reports the incident to the police, along with the claim that she saw the shadowy figure of a nun nearby. When police search the abbey, they find neither body nor spectral nun and put the whole thing down to the ramblings of an inebriated teenager. But DI Joe Plantagenet is not so sure. He’s investigating the disappearance of a woman and her connection to the production of the play The Devils. Is the play somehow connected to the disappearance? And what about the death of a young nun at the abbey hundreds of years before?

When I see Kate Ellis’s name on a book, I know I’m in for not just a mystery, but a fascinating lesson in history, with just a bit of the supernatural thrown in

This is the 5th book in the Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet series but the first one I've read. Death stalks the theater and the byways of the most "haunted" town in England.

When an actress who is appearing in a local play, THE DEVILS, is killed and her body is found in an ancient abbey, DI Plantagenet is flummoxed by a witness's report of having seen a nun in the fog. The young woman who discovered the victim has ties to an old case, that of a kidnapped boy, her little brother. In addition, there are other suspicious characters who are all connected in very interesting ways. Then another murder takes place -- disguised as a suicide, and another...who is killing these people, and why?

The fog that cloaks the valley each night plays a role in the developing suspense and sense of the supernatural in this story. For the fog hides those that walk along the old streets and begs the question -- who is watching whom?

The narrative is police procedural and flows smoothly. I would have liked to know more about the main character, Joe, who obviously has some issues and flaws that weren't explained in detail. I'm sure it would have helped me enjoy this book more if I had read the previous books in the series.

I enjoyed the book, I'd read another. I liked the setting, the main characters, and the lack of a romance.

A dark and foggy night in Eborby. Debby Telerhaye is already terrified that her mother’s partner is stalking her, but a walk home through a ruined abbey leads to the appearance of both a shadowy nun and a dead body. But when DI Joe Plantagenet arrives on the scene, the body has gone...
Soon an actress from the nearby Playhouse is reported missing. Is there a link between the ghostly nun, said to haunt the theatre, and the performance of The Devils being staged there? But as the other ghost that haunts the theatre makes an appearance as well, things become more complicated. As a case from the past comes into focus, and the bodies begin to pile up, it seems that something very dark is beginning...
Book Five in the Joe Plantagenet series from one of my “regulars”, Kate Ellis. I thought I’d have to wait awhile for my next fix of Kate’s work, as I’ve caught up with the Wesley Peterson books, but had forgotten about this other series. Luckily the nice folks at Severn House let me review a lot of their new releases and when this appeared on the schedule, I couldn’t say no.
I’ve missed two books in the series – Seeking The Dead and Playing With Bones have been reviewed a while ago, but you’ll have to wait a bit for Kissing The Demons and Watching The Ghosts – but there’s nothing lost by jumping ahead. While Kate’s leading characters’ lives do move on, nothing tends to happen that could really be described as a spoiler.
The structure shares a lot with Kate’s other work. The main characters/suspects seem to be moving in separate plot threads which cross over each other more and more until they knot together completely, making a satisfying whole. Everyone is generally hiding something, some of which are to do with the central plot and some that have a life of their own. Of course, working out which is which is part of the fun.
The spooky atmosphere is all part of the fun, although it’s not really taken as seriously as in the earlier books, where there was a feeling that there might have been something supernatural in the background, whereas here, we’re looking at a very human killer or killers – it doesn’t stop there being a very dark atmosphere to the story. Joe is a thoughtful lead, a man with secrets in his past (not sure these have been revealed yet) and the main focus of the book. In fact, that’s a difference between this and the Wesley Peterson series – there, the supporting cast get more of a look in, whereas here, they seemed to get less page-time. That’s not a problem, just an observation.
Plot-wise, it’s more of a “what makes sense of the facts” rather than a clued mystery, although the “makes sense” part is a little stretched due to a mild case of looniness. But it’s a gripping, page-turning read, nonetheless.
It’s a little pricey, due to Severn House catering primarily to libraries, so I suggest you start stuffing the suggestion box already and get your hands on a copy as soon as you can. Highly Recommended.

Kate Ellis is a master story teller. Set in the fictional historical city of Eborby the events begin with a young woman leaving the pub on her own and fearing she is being followed, she slips into an alleyway near the cathedral ruins, where she believes she saw a body and the ghostly figure of a nun. From then on the pace does not slow down.
The scene is set perfectly with the thick fog settling in the city covering up people and a multitude of sins and giving an eerie and supernatural feel. On the one hand there is the history of the city and the ghost stories from the past and on the other the modern day of the tourist industry and beliefs in clairvoyants.
Joe’s character is interesting with the changes he has made in life and he seems to have secrets of his own yet to be exposed. There isn’t a huge amount of police investigative work with the reader having gradual bits of information to be the detective themselves. The dialogue is unforced and there isn’t a single word wasted. I found myself getting really caught up in the atmosphere and the human element of this novel.
Thank you to Severn House Publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read “Walking by Night”.

Walking By Night (4 stars) by Kate Ellis

An atmospheric read, filled with fog and ghostly apparitions; perfect for a stormy night by the fire.

The police are sceptical when Debby Telerhaye reports finding a dead body on her way home from a drunken night out, especially given her troubled past. But Detective Inspector Joe Plantagenet isn’t so quick to dismiss the teenager, and soon enough the body of a young actress is found, brutally murdered. Is her death linked to her starring role in a controversial play? Or is it much more sinister than that? Could it be that she suffered the same fate as a sinful nun centuries earlier?

The story opens with Debby stumbling through the fog, convinced she is being followed by a malevolent character and, taking shelter in the ruins of an abandoned abbey, she sees what she thinks is a bundle of rags… Immediately my heart was in my mouth: I was hooked. The captivating narrative is complimented by a number of equally interesting sub-plots: Debby’s missing brother; her malevolent step-father; Joe’s relationship with his estranged girlfriend and the guilt he still feels from his wife’s death. Kate Ellis has knitted them all together so artfully that none felt overbearing or detracted in any way from the main storyline.

The menacing pace never surrendered and yet somehow Ellis managed to build, in Joe Plantagenet, a thoughtful, dignified detective with such complexity in his history that I’m doubtful any reader will ever truly understand him. He put me in mind of Lewis’s Sergeant Hathaway, and not just because of his abandoned career in the priesthood. The contrast between Joe and his DCI, Emily Thwaite, who is an extremely grounded married mother of three, made for an interesting interplay and I am keen to see how their relationship develops in coming books.

Overall, this is a brilliant mystery story that seamlessly draws in elements of history and religion. A walled city enveloped in fog, ghostly apparitions and a disappearing corpse – what more could we really ask for?
~Anouk

Walking By Night has proven to be just what I needed, a break from heavier things with a British procedural, set in a foggy Yorkshire town full of history and unexplained death. I haven't read any of the books of this series before but that did not seem to interfere with understanding the characters or the essentials of their histories. I find that I have read a couple of books in another of Ellis' series and have others on my tbr and would definitely read more of this Joe Plantagenet series.

The mystery itself is complex from the start with multiple leads, multiple directions of inquiry. And the narrative itself follows more than one character's voice. I enjoyed the chase, not allowing myself to become too worried about red herrings. Instead, I simply read on---wondering who, in the end was responsible. Enjoyable--except for the victims.

Rating 3.5*

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.