The Devil’s Priest by
Kate Ellis
pbk out August 06
(Nirvana)
at £6.99
This paperback represents an intriguing departure for Kate Ellis, as it is set in
Liverpool in 1539. The author's Wesley Peterson mysteries provide plenty of
evidence of her love of history and this novel benefits from a great deal of research
into life in a town which, nearly five hundred years ago, was relatively insignificant
compared to the city we know today. The heroine, Lady Katheryn Bulkeley, is a
figure drawn from real life, a charismatic former abbess who was forced into
retirement by King Henry VIII's purge of the monasteries. An intriguing feature of
the book is the unresolved sexual tension between Katheryn and an apothecary called
Valentine: at the end of the book it is clear that this is a relationship with future
potential if the author cares to develop a fresh series set in the sixteenth century. The
story is a convoluted affair, opening with the murders of a priest and a young novice
nun, who has been impregnated by a mystery man. There are some glitches in the
printing, which mean that the breaks between different sections are not as clearly
identified as they might be, but this does not detract from the enjoyment of a lively
tale.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
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The Devil’s Priest by
Kate Ellis
