A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs

By Ellis Peters

No case is too strange or too baffling for the policeman George Felse and his son, Dominic. Over 13 instalments and two decades, the Felse Investigations will take them from their home on the Welsh Borders to the southernmost tip of India.

While on a seaside vacation in Cornwall with his son Dominic, Detective Inspector George Felse can't help but investigate a dark mystery of smuggling, missing bodies and murder.

Jan Treverra was a legendary Cornish poet and smuggler who died two centuries ago. But when local scholar Simon Towne arranges to open Treverra's grave in search of his long-lost literary legacy, it yields not one body but two... and neither one of them is Jan Treverra. In this derelict seashore graveyard, George Felse uncovers a trail of violence in Maymouth's history that casts shadows centuries long...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Aug 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781784972820

Ellis Peters

Ellis Peters (the pen name of Edith Pargeter, 1913–1995) is a writer beloved of millions of readers worldwide and has been widely adapted for radio and television, including her Brother Cadfael crime novels, which were made into a series starring Derek Jacobi. She has been the recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger, Edgar Award for Best Novel, Agatha Award for Best Novel, and was awarded an OBE for her services to literature in 1994.

Reviews for A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This mystery, unlike Peters' Brother Cadfael series, is set in the twentieth century but reaches back a number of centuries when a medieval tomb is opened.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Inspector Felse and his wife and son are spending a holiday in Cornwall when Felse is invited to take part in opening the tomb of an 18th century poet-smuggler some of whose poems were supposedly buried with him. When the excavators open the tomb, they find neither the poet nor his poems but instead two much more recent bodies. Interesting for the Cornish setting instead of the usual fictional "Midshire." of the other Felse stories.

[stuart10er_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A little like a Hardy boy's novel - but still enjoyable if for no reason other than the fact that you are still guessing who done it until the very end.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Inspector Felse is on holiday with his wife and son. Inevitably they find themselves surrounded by corpses, although only one corpse is fresh, three mysteries need to be solved.I enjoy the Felse family and the way they interact with each other. This novel highlights families and the love and respect (or the lack thereof) between parents and children. Peters is excellent at making real characters in her books, you know these people, you could be these people. I have to say that the mystery was no stumper, but that didn't bother me, because I wanted to know about the deeper mystery being lived out between these characters. As always, the author makes the setting so real you can feel the salt spray on your face and the sea breeze in your hair.

[elliezann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Detective Inspector George Felse is on holiday and meets up with archaeologists interested in opening the grave of Morwenna Treverra. Her and, Jan, her husband's crypt is noted for its clever epitaph but when they re-open his grave, two bodies are found, neither of which are Jan nor Morwenna.Noted for her Brother Cadfael mysteries, Ms. Peters here introduces a modern policeman with family who can solve even the most mysterious crime.A grand treat from a master of suspence!

[librisissimo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pleasant but not gripping.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nice. This one sticks with me - not the modern mystery, but the old one. Morwenna. The old man is too nasty, in too many directions, to be particularly interesting, though I'm sorry for his daughter. And I'd forgotten the secret about Paddy, too, though I remembered the second half of it as soon as I read the first. There's a lot of secrets and mysteries in here, but most of them are clean - not twistiness and manipulation, just hidden things that come to light in the course of events. A lot of emotional shocks of one sort and another, a lot of realizations of motivations and intentions. It's a good story, with very solid characters and character growth. I like.