The Cadaver Game

Wesley Peterson #16

by Kate Ellis

When the decaying body of a murdered woman is discovered in a suburban house following an anonymous tip off, DI Wesley Peterson has problems establishing her identity. But as he digs deeper, he has another more disturbing case to investigate - the naked bodies of two teenagers have been found with shotgun wounds at the foot of a cliff.

Both cases become stranger when Wesley realises they are linked to a sinister manhunt, mirroring events from the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Why did the teenage victims take part in an online game called Blood Hunt, which they were eventually persuaded to play for real?

Then a skeleton is found near the place where the dead teenagers were last seen alive and Wesley finally has to face a terrible truth . . . and a hunt to the death.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Procedural, Detective

384 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2012

About the author

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 is married with two grown up sons and she lives in North Cheshire, England, with her husband. Kate was awarded the CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY award in 2019

Reviews

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by this author and I was very pleasantly surprised as to how entertaining it was and how well written. I was riveted by the story and on this basis I am now desperate to read the previous ones in the series and any further work by this author.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read in the Wesley Peterson series, and bits of history thrown in. As usual, completely mystified until the end!

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book someone has taken a killer of a video game and turned it into a reality. Meanwhile the corpse of a woman has been found in a local house, and a weird concept art involving archaeology is also underway.

Eventually the disparate threads of these crimes weave into a shocking story.

Fantastic and macabre read.

Highly recommended.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book I have liked least in this series. The two historical diaries seemed unlikely. The hunting had no basis in history and it was almost impossible to believe it would carry on unchecked in the 19th century. The denouement also seemed an unlikely action.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellis weaves a tale of events in the era of Napoleon with modern day strange behavior in this 16th of her Wesley Peterson series. Some Devon history is included in the telling with brief reference to Napoleon's boat passing the terrain dotted with sightseers curious to catch a glimpse. Old stories of hounds in the area such as cited by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle make their presence known in this tale of hunting prey at night. In this case two young people are hunted in the nude and shot, and Wesley and team have a puzzling job assigned to them in the search for truth. The action is centered around old estate where its history included such hunts historically and Neil is at work on a strange dig on behalf of an artist with money to finance this unpleasant work.
This one is rather challenging to solve with so many story threads and unusual characters.

[Larraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

While so much attention has been on the book and film, The Hunger Games, having just finished this lastest in the Wesley Peterson series, I'm thinking that an equally chilling and interesting film could be made of this fascinating book. This is actually the 16th in the series. Like other series, I've started reading the newer books after discovering a copy in the library.



Wesley Peterson is an urbane, university educated cop who also happens to be black. His father is a well known cardiac surgeon. Peterson originally went to college to become an archaeologist, but somehow found police work to be more interesting. However, he still keeps his hand in occasionally, and maintains a close relationship with a friend who is a teacher and archaeologist at a nearby college. Ellis' books are interesting because, in addition to the current murder, there is an old murder that is unearthed during a dig.



The naked bodies of two teenagers are found on an isolated beach at the bottom of a cliff. At first there is suspicion of a suicide pact, but the facts don't add up. At the same time, a woman's body is found in a cottage. She's been dead for a week and the body has deteriorated badly in that short period. We also read the journals of a 19th century steward with a conscience and a squire's "fool" who keeps his master supplied with young men for his "hunts."



Happily these "hunts" are only in the author's imagination as she says in the "Historical Note." This one kept me guessing throughout with an ironic twist at the end. I've added Kate Ellis to my growing pantheon of "favorites!"

[Valerie Campbell Ackroyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of her best

I found this installment of the Wesley Peterson series quite slow and confusing. As always, Ellis has interwoven an old story—of an early 19th century Squire and his “Jester” who liked to hunt naked human beings—with a modern one of a similar hunt that ends in two teenagers being killed. At the same time, a woman’s body is found in a cottage, badly decomposed. It takes Wesley and Gerry several chapters to identify the woman; I got tired of all of the red herrings and subplots.

Hope the next one is better.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this series, so I don’t feel bad about rating this one 3*. This isn’t bad, I just mean it wasn’t as good as the others I’ve read. It was a bit slow to start. Also, when interviewing a suspect, they failed to mention, or even refer to, some key evidence pertinent to that person. That just seemed odd. Especially as, later, it became key to solving the whole thing.

[Val Asker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second Wesley Peterson murder mystery I’ve read. Like ‘The Flesh Tailor’ it was an enjoyable book, fast paced and with several different story strands. At first the murders that occur seem unrelated and it is only right at the end of the book that the connections became clear. I like the way Kate Ellis links the past and present as the current squire of Catton Hall researches his ancestors after the discovery of diaries from the Napoleonic era.

There was an interesting sub plot about a group of artists who had buried a picnic years earlier and now as a piece of ‘performance art’ were paying an archaeological team to dig it up, whilst filming the entire event for an exhibition in London. This was all taken very seriously! This provided some light relief and also linked well with the main story.

I was kept guessing until the end and there was also an unexpected twist that I did not see coming. I liked the way the author used some documented historical events, such as the young lady posing as an exotic foreign princess and Napoleon’s visit to Devon in 1815 and wove them into the story.

The Devon setting also works well, with the action taking place against a backdrop of holiday makers enjoying the seaside while the local police have their work cut out to solve the frequent murders in the locality. It rather reminded me of Midsomer Murders with its traditional English setting and high mortality rate!

An ideal holiday read!

[Callystar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just couldn't get in to this book. Couldn't even finish it.

[Catherine Burbage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't believe how many of these I've read as not my favourite! They're ok but formulaic but because of that good for middle of the night or waiting for something when I need to distract myself. And I always like a nice dog to be involved 🐕

[Karen M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Police procedure , rather badly written , with ‘medieval ‘ pieces tacked on in for ‘evil across time thread ‘ which seemed improbable to be polite about it.
Maybe I read a different book from many other reviewers .

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

#16 in the Wesley Peterson series. When I do not have a new book that must be read, I go to my ebook library and read the next in this series. I think this will be a proper Xmas treat for me. Mystery, crime, and archaeology. Perfect mix....

Really enjoyed this book. It was the right mix of Wesley and Neil and archaeology and police work and family, but the background included the 'excavation' of an 'art' piece from several years prior when a picnic feast was buried underground and was now to be freed to appear on exhibit at the Tate Museum. At the same time the deaths of two young people known to play an online game, Blood Hunts, as well as the discovery of a woman dead for a week, and other deaths which were linked to a contemporary live version of the Blood Hunts which dated from 1815 when the Squire in that neighborhood had a taste for violence. The Steward who served that Squire had kept a diary which was part of the current property owner's library. The story moves back and forth between the diary and the contemporary events. There are a lot of moving parts, but Ellis manages them all deftly as usual.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many dead bodies!! From modern-day teenagers to a couple of skeletons how old??? The living humans (particularly those teens!!) are harder to "crack" for clues than the skeletons. I always love this series because of the history included and this one even has three different periods--1815s, 1968 and current. Love how it all entwines! The personal stories of the detective team brings in another aspect. Wesley's family and the tension between him and his wife because of their dedication to their careers adds a reality check. And, in this story, one of the detectives is directly involved when it's his niece who is a murder victim. I never mind the slow accretion of clues which lead up to the ultimate denouement.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cadaver Game was a 3 star for me. I found this one just kind of meh, I didn't hate it but I didn't really enjoy it either. Was a slow burner for me from the start and I just couldn't get into the story.

[Cidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, I've read one of her Wesley Peterson books before. I have a copy with an older cover design. DI Peterson is called out to a dead body found in a house rented by a Tessa Trencham. Her business partner insists she is in France and has spoken to her recently, however the body seems to have been there for at least a week.

All plots thicken as Wes and Gerry are also called out to the find of two naked teenage bodies on a beach below a cliff who've been shot. The fact that there were naked was a puzzle. Not any more as it transpires that an online game has been turned into a real game in that naked teenagers run through the woods acting as prey for people to tag them with collars and gain points. The teens are paid £100 each for this. Catch me running naked through a wood pursued by mad people trying to take my collar off, no matter how much they paid me. There's some amazingly gullible folks out there. Anyway just to add to his workload, his best friend Neil, an archaeologist, is being paid by an artist to dig up the remains of a feast he had for friends 16yrs before (fear not the food was broken down into the soil but the crockery remains), and now he wants to pour plaster of paris I think it was all over it and film it and take it to an exhibition in London, but when he digs up the remains he also digs up a skeleton in a black bin bag. The artist swears he didn't murder anyone at his feast.

The strands begin to pull together nicely, and although I would like Wes to show a bit more gumption he's not that bad a policeman, just not really a go-getter is he our Wes. However all plots, murders, intrigues, mysteries are solved in the end and that's nice.

What I didn't like was the odd page interspersed throughout the story with details of a 200yr old chase through the woods exactly as described in an ancient manuscript. For the want of an odd page I stopped being bothered by it and ignored them, I don't think by missing them out you lose any of the story.

[Grass_Vibes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't know a book with so many murders could be so boring and unfeeling. I felt next to nothing while reading this book. The characters had zero personality and for the first half it was very difficult to remember which was which, because they all talked the same way and played the same role in the investigation. This might be partly because this is many books into the Wesley Peterson series, but it is still a series of standalones and I should be able to feel connected to the characters. I don't think it was because I was missing context either, because there were only a handful of mentions of past experiences of the characters and everything that happened was very much just describing current actions and going from one part of the crime scene to another. I was mildly impressed at the end by just how many mysteries were enclosed in this one book, and they did fit together in a way that made sense, but that's honestly the bare minimum for a mystery book. I didn't guess the killer or the motive, but the reveal didn't shock me at all, I don't even think I really reacted, just kept reading. I think it might have been more interesting if the blood hunt itself had been the reveal later on, instead of just searching for the killer what if the mystery had been uncovering the cruel game and the people running it? I don't even think the game was stopped by the end of the book, because the murders actually had nothing to do with it, which is strange because the title of the book and the journal entries suggested that that would be the main plot. If it was, that might have set this book apart from your average murder mystery, but it ended up being relegated to a simple side plot, which was disappointing. Actually I don't know if I can say disappointing if the book didn't really give me a reason to expect or want better.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, Buonaparte did visit Devon on his way to St. Helena, viewing it from a Royal Navy battleship. The historical mystery in this double story is whose bones were found in a very peculiar art installation, no connection to the defeated emperor, although the fort Neil is properly involved in excavating is partly of the Napoleonic era. The action in both periods is very unpleasant. A local squire of that earlier era was involved in human hunting. There are diaries of the time and a local man became enamored of the idea and thought to start the activity in modern times, using older teen boys as the quarry, paying them 100 pounds a time. In both time periods the quarry run naked.
The modern police are quite rightly disturbed by the activity, although there is nothing in the activity the participants could be charged with as it's on private land. Except that two students are found dead at the bottom of a public cliff and they have obviously been shot during one of these hunts.
The story is very complicated in the modern story and includes a side look at prostitution. The Napoleonic era hunt is just thoroughly unpleasant.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story rattled along quite well. The plot was quite involved yet easy to follow. In some ways it was a little too intricate with perhaps just too many links between the potential suspects and victims. I liked the connections between the past and present which were cleverly done.

What I didn't like so much was the general writing which I found very flat. I didn't feel I ever got to know, or to sense the personality of any of the many characters. For the most part they were people who simply did this and that in the context of the story, but you never actually got to know them and be able to relate to them.

Similarly with the settings. There was little in the way of descriptive writing and no sense of atmosphere. It was a bit like watching television with your eyes closed.

One thing I did rather like though was the way Ellis made fun of the conceptual artist whose "work" was, in many ways, at the centre of the action. How people get taken in by some of these so called artists is beyond me and it amused me the way Ellis gently ridiculed these ridiculous people.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another entertaining outing for South Devon's finest (and very little of irritating Pam, which is always a bonus). This time Peterson and Heffernan are embroiled in the investigation of the discovery of a woman's decomposing body and the double murder of two naked teenagers, shot at close quarters. Add in a bizarre and stereotypically pretentious Turner Prize winning artist, whose work may or may not resemble that of a certain YB artist whose rather ugly Verity 'graces' Ilfracombe, the usual mingling of past and present and this is a classic Ellis novel.

For some reason, DS Tracey doesn't feature as much as in previous and later novels in the series, which allows for the spotlight to be on the more minor characters, and whilst this isn't detrimental, it lacks character focus and development. By the end of the novel, there are several bodies, all explained neatly and the dynamic duo (like a lot of readers, there remains the desire that Pam would simply disappear) march on.

[Terri Stokes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sixteenth book in the series follows Wesley Peterson on his journey through his work at the police station. Murder waits for no man as Welsey finds himself suddenly in the mist of three murders and the possibility of a forth death when a skeleton is found during a dig.

Working with his colleagues, Wesley has to try and work out if there is any connection between the victims, an unsightly challenge of a woman found a week after her death and two teenagers who are found naked and shot to death.

Another tantalising novel from the author Kate Ellis, set in the beautiful location of the south west of England. She leaves you wanting more each time and with twenty five books in the series, I hope to be kept entertained for a long while, while still hoping that more will be written one day.

A perfect read for fans of Elly Griffiths and Rebecca Alexander.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The decomposing body of a woman is discovered in a house after an anonymous tip off and soon after, the naked bodies of two teenagers are found at the base of a nearby cliff. These two seemingly unrelated crimes set Wesley Peterson and his colleagues on yet another intriguing case.
Meanwhile, Wesley's archaeologist friend Neil is excavating the site of a picnic held just a quarter of a century ago by an eccentric artist in the grounds of an old manor house. As always, Neil's work overlaps in unexpected ways with Wesley's investigation.
This - the sixteenth mystery in this series - is full of surprises and twists and the ending was particularly unexpected.
I particularly enjoy the authors attention to historical detail - I always seem to learn something new with each book.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another gripping instalment of this series which I am racing through whilst in lockdown. In Napoleonic times, a wicked squire enjoys hunting his servants to death and it would seem that history is repeating itself when the Tradmouth police team investigate the murders of two teenagers who were taking part in a 'manhunt'. Crimes from 1815, the 1990s and the present day are all cleverly and unexpectedly connected. This mixture of history, archaeology and crime is addictive!

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Kate Ellis’s plots and I like the characters of Wesley and Gerry but I’m getting really weary of her repetitive descriptions (please no more shy smiles, pretty women, plump women, or pretty but plump women). Also I’m getting tired of her judgemental authorial tone, particularly in relation to women’s appearance ( ‘a skirt too short perhaps for someone over 30’ is a fairly typical example). Shame it’s so annoying because the books are otherwise really enjoyable.

[Dylan Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d rate this book a 3.5. The overall story was intriguing and the array of characters did keep me entertained although having so many characters points of view written separately did leave me a bit confused when we find out the truth of the murders.

An interesting read with chapters averaging 10 pages but the blocky paragraphing can make this book a long read, for me anyway.

I’d recommend this book if you are a fan of historical events tangled with the mysteries of the present.

[John Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

DI Wesley Petersen #16 . I didn't like this one much. The 19th century story and the modern story were horrible, but that is just me. The book followed the standard pattern of alternating viewpoints from past and present. Wesley's friend, the archaeologist Neil Watson, finds a skeleton and so becomes involved, as per usual.
I found the ending confused and very unsatisfying, as there were more "participants" who seemed to be let off lightly or not punished at all. I'll just rate this 3.2.

[Andrea Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is easy to read as the pace is set well. First read for this author, and there's lots to like despite joining the party at the 16th outing. There are hints at previous storylines, but this still stands alone. Multiple bodies, 2 stories interwoven in the same geographical setting, and plenty of suspects.

[Alma (retirement at last) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed all the books in the D I Wesley Peterson series so far and this was no exception.
Multiple murders that eventually become connected but with plenty of red herrings to throw the reader off the scent.
Quite a lot of characters so making a note may help to remember relationships between characters.
I will, of course, continue to read the series ☺️

[Lexie Conyngham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than some in this series, in my opinion: the plot is more complex, and the usual archaeology is less of an exact parallel, which makes it rather more credible. The historical plot forms a more detailed and macabre story than usual, too. The usual police characters are likeable as always.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The usual Kate Ellis blending of history, past, and present. With all the returning characters. A good, strong plot...a hunt much like the Hunger Games...that weaves history into today. These books are my go-to when I'm in need of a fast moving mystery.