Monday, January 6, 2014

My Lady of The Bog


My Lady of The Bog (Archeo-Forensic Mystery)
By Peter Hayes
ISBN #978-1579623548
Permanent Press www.permanentpress.com
278 Pages
Price $28.00
Rating 5-Stars

Xander Donne, an American anthropologist, a visiting fellow at Exeter University in England, is called to the scene of a body discovered buried in the bog. The body is that of a beautiful woman, and she is staked to the ground with four posts, buried in peat. The police believe it is a young girl who was recently reported missing, but Donne immediately tells them the body is centuries old. The corpse has merely been preserved by the conditions in the bog.  When the woman is lifted from the grave, they discover a treasure underneath.

Also discovered with the treasure is a book written in an old language, which Xander secretly sends to his mentor to translate. The book becomes part of Xander as the story unfolds, and more murder occurs, and doubt is placed upon the new bride of his mentor. And it appears there are strange happenings between the young bride and the woman found dead in the bog. Was she a witch, or fairy? The writing on the pegs holding the body warns not to release the witch back to the living. Does she have something to do with the new murders? Has a supernatural element been released on the English countryside, and does the ghost of the dead woman now possess the young bride accused of murdering her husband?

This was a well-written mystery tale, set in modern times, but has a Victorian feel: though that may merely be because of the setting. Although I found it moved slow; nevertheless it held my interest from beginning to end. The author makes the reader imagine ghosts, goblins, witches and fairies. And in the end you may be left wondering if there might have been a supernatural setting after all? Highly recommended, and I was surprised by the ending.

Tom Johnson
Detective Mystery Stories

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