While the case takes Wesley to Yorkshire and the Cotswolds, archaeologist Neil Watson is making a dramatic discovery of his own in the fields near the house. When a skeleton is uncovered, the pressure rises to find a killer, and Wesley and Neil realise that Serpent’s Point holds more secrets than anyone could have imagined. Kate Ellis was born and brought up in Liverpool and she studied drama in Manchester. She worked in teaching, marketing and accountancy before first enjoying writing success as a winner of the North West Playwrights competition. Crime and mystery stories have always fascinated her, as have medieval history and archaeology which she likes to incorporate in her books. She lives in North Cheshire, England, with her husband, two sons and an overweight cat called Vivaldi! To move on to Wesley’s modern day mystery, over the years I’ve been writing I’ve been in the habit of keeping newspaper reports of interesting crimes for future reference. One case that caught my attention was that of a woman and her two children who vanished without trace from South Devon in the nineteen seventies. I often find inspiration from real life crimes and this case proved that, without a body, it is very difficult for the police to obtain enough proof of foul play to obtain a conviction. Hundreds of people go missing each year and the vast majority turn up safe and well. But, inevitably, a few might have met a tragic end, possibly at the hands of someone they trusted just as in Serpent’s Point. For a long time I’ve been keen to include the discovery of Roman remains in one of Wesley Peterson’s cases but it’s always been assumed that the Romans took very little interest in the part of South West England where my books are set. Most archaeological evidence suggested that they set up a legionary fortress in Exeter (or Isca Dumnonia) in the first century AD then, faced with the need to support military campaigning in Wales and the North, the majority of troops were withdrawn and the former fort became an administrative centre for the region.

SERPENT’S POINT | Hachette UK The inspiration behind SERPENT’S POINT | Hachette UK

Serpent’s Point in South Devon is the focus of local legends. The large house on the headland is shrouded in an ancient tale of evil, and when a woman is found strangled on the coastal path DI Wesley Peterson is called in to investigate. The woman had been house-sitting at Serpent’s Point and Wesley is surprised to discover that she was conducting an investigation into unsolved missing persons cases. Could these enquires have led to her murder?