A Grave Deception - Mystery Review

Goodreads:  A Grave Deception by Connie Berry

Rating: 
Source:   Publisher

Description:  Kate Hamilton and her husband, Detective Inspector Tom Mallory, have settled into married life in Long Barston. When archaeologists excavating the ruins of a nearby plague village discover the miraculously preserved body of a 14th century woman, Kate and her colleague, Ivor Tweedy, are asked to appraise the grave goods, including a valuable pearl. When tests reveal the woman was pregnant and murdered, the owner of the estate on which the body was found, an amateur historian, asks Kate to identify her and, if possible, her killer. Surprised, Kate agrees to try.

Meanwhile, tensions within the archaeological team erupt when the body of the lead archaeologist turns up at the dig site with fake pearls in his mouth and stomach. Then a third body is found in the excavations. Meanwhile, Kate’s husband Tom is tracking the movements of a killer of his own.

With the help of 700-year-old documents and the unpublished research of a deceased historian, Kate must piece together the past before the grave count reaches four.

Genre: Mystery

Why I Picked This Book:  I have enjoyed other books in this series and the blurb really caught my attention on this one.

My Impression: I so enjoyed this mystery.  I'm fascinated by archaeology and missing persons cases and the fact that this one had both with the addition of antiques, likable main characters, and a really solid present time mystery.  The book starts off with discussions of a major discovery - a 14th century woman buried under the chapel of a village decimated by the plague.  Along with an amazingly preserved corpse is a stunning array of grave goods.  As well, the owner of the estate where the body was found is interested in not just learning more about the grave goods but wants to know more about the woman - and who she was.  The estate owner also happens to be the center of a more modern mystery as his wife disappeared without a trace several years ago.   The murder victim is the lead archaeologist and while no one deserves to be murdered Sebastian makes a pretty good case for why he needed to be removed.  And if this wasn't enough chaos, Kate's husband, police detective Tom, is busy tracking another murderer who is on the run.

This isn't the fastest paced mystery.  There's lots of details on the places and the antiquities that are woven through the book.  This wasn't one I flew through or stayed up super late to finish.  However, it was always one that I looked forward to picking up and was always a little sad to put down.  I was curious about all the different plots and wasn't quite sure what all was going to happen until the reveal.  This is part of the Kate Hamilton series and is a series best read in order. This isn't a hardship as each book has been enjoyable.  If you are looking for a solid mystery with a bit of history and a main character you can't help but like this book and this series as a whole is a great choice.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely!  I have really enjoyed every book I've read by this author and will definitely read anything I see by her.  I've read every book in this series except the first one which I'm hoping to read that one soon.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy a mystery read I would definitely recommend this book, this series and this author.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *