What do you think?
Rate this book
Joe Plantagenet #4
Watching the Ghosts: Book 4 in the Joe Plantagenet series
DI Joe Plantagenet investigates a house with a disturbing past in the fourth of this popular police procedural series
Boothgate House has a sinister past. Once an asylum for the insane, serial killer Peter Brockmeister was sent there on his release from prison in 1978. Three years later, it closed, and Brockmeister died in mysterious circumstances. Solicitor Melanie Hawkes is investigating the suspicious events when her young daughter is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Boothgate House resident Lydia Brookes is burgled. And why is a paranormal researcher fascinated by the building's basement? As Joe uncovers the appalling truth, he faces an evil that threatens those closest to him - and puts his own life in jeopardy.
Boothgate House has a sinister past. Once an asylum for the insane, serial killer Peter Brockmeister was sent there on his release from prison in 1978. Three years later, it closed, and Brockmeister died in mysterious circumstances. Solicitor Melanie Hawkes is investigating the suspicious events when her young daughter is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Boothgate House resident Lydia Brookes is burgled. And why is a paranormal researcher fascinated by the building's basement? As Joe uncovers the appalling truth, he faces an evil that threatens those closest to him - and puts his own life in jeopardy.
336 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2012
84 people are currently reading
300 people want to read
About the author
Kate Ellis
119 books603 followersKate 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
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
January 9, 2019
Found this one very boring. The story didn't interest me and the characters annoyed me.
December 24, 2017
Watching the Ghosts by Kate Ellis
Joe Plantagenet series Book #4
4.5 Stars
[Watching The Ghosts] by Kate Ellis
Joe Plantagent series Book #4
4.5★'s
Boothgate House has a sinister past. Once an asylum for the insane, serial killer Peter Brockmeister was sent there on his release from prison in 1978. Three years later, it closed, and Brockmeister died in mysterious circumstances. Solicitor Melanie Hawkes is investigating the suspicious events when her young daughter is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Boothgate House resident Lydia Brookes is burgled. And why is a paranormal researcher fascinated by the building’s basement? As Joe uncovers the appalling truth, he faces an evil that threatens those closest to him – and puts his own life in jeopardy.
Watching The Ghosts is an exciting story. There are plenty of viable suspects on hand besides the actual responsible parties to keep the reader guessing. The only problem that I had with the book was that there were a couple of events that just weren't carried through on. That being said I would like to say that there is plenty to like about the book. The paranormal theme is again present in the story line...and Joe seems to be coming to terms with whatever agenda he wishes to pursue since leaving the priesthood and joining the police. I guess the sum of it is that the mystery is convoluted but not confusing. Looking forward to what appears to be the last book in the series although I hope I'm wrong.
P.S. I found that there is another book that came out in 2015 called Walking By Night Book #5 . I am now a "happy camper."
Joe Plantagenet series Book #4
4.5 Stars
[Watching The Ghosts] by Kate Ellis
Joe Plantagent series Book #4
4.5★'s
Boothgate House has a sinister past. Once an asylum for the insane, serial killer Peter Brockmeister was sent there on his release from prison in 1978. Three years later, it closed, and Brockmeister died in mysterious circumstances. Solicitor Melanie Hawkes is investigating the suspicious events when her young daughter is kidnapped. Meanwhile, Boothgate House resident Lydia Brookes is burgled. And why is a paranormal researcher fascinated by the building’s basement? As Joe uncovers the appalling truth, he faces an evil that threatens those closest to him – and puts his own life in jeopardy.
Watching The Ghosts is an exciting story. There are plenty of viable suspects on hand besides the actual responsible parties to keep the reader guessing. The only problem that I had with the book was that there were a couple of events that just weren't carried through on. That being said I would like to say that there is plenty to like about the book. The paranormal theme is again present in the story line...and Joe seems to be coming to terms with whatever agenda he wishes to pursue since leaving the priesthood and joining the police. I guess the sum of it is that the mystery is convoluted but not confusing. Looking forward to what appears to be the last book in the series although I hope I'm wrong.
P.S. I found that there is another book that came out in 2015 called Walking By Night Book #5 . I am now a "happy camper."
September 8, 2024
WOW! What a roller coaster! This is the first novel I've read by Kate Ellis and it did not disappoint. It's got a bit of everything. An abducted child, a ransom demand, a serial killer who is copycatting a serial killer of years gone by who tortures his victims before killing them, an apartment building converted from a redundant physiciatric hospital and a "spooky" basement, being investigated by a paranormal investigator. It's got twist and turns and an ending I never saw coming!
September 17, 2015
3.5 Stars. As someone who has never seen a ghost and rarely has bad dreams I find them annoying in books. This book focuses primarily on Joe Plantagent. I wish the author would allow him to be happy once in a while.
August 31, 2024
I bought this book as a quick day read and it took me days to finish it i just found it soo boring and could not get into it :( because its narrated in third person, i didn’t connect with one single character it got to the end and i got confused tbh i don’t even really know what happens in the end i just wanted the book to end lol also my first time reading a book narrated in 3rd person and i actually don’t think i will ever read one again
November 25, 2020
This fourth episode of DI Joe Plantagenet combines serial burglars, murders, kidnapping, and another reportedly haunted building, an old asylum. There's a pretty high body count in this one and plenty of intricate relationships and story lines, making it pretty tough to guess who did what to whom! I love this series, though, and wish Kate Ellis would write more featuring Joe and his boss Emily.
July 17, 2024
Solid read with all the suspense, spookiness, and twists and turns you could want in a mystery novel! There are a lot of characters so you need to keep up but I like the fast pace and the no-nonsense writing of this British author. I’ll be looking for other books by this author!
May 27, 2024
NOTE: I actually read and reviewed this book first in 2021. But when I pulled it off the library bookshelves last week and started reading, it didn't ring any bells at all. And I re-read the whole book without realizing I'd read it before.
Still, my review from 2021 still works perfectly well so I am going to repost it :) This was a perfect summer thriller, not too long and with a storyline that grabbed me within the first few pages. I have enjoyed Ellis' other series, the Wesley Peterson, which takes place in a fictional town in Devon. I had also read the first in the Plantagenet series in August of 2019--looking at my Goodreads reviews back then (thank goodness for this record) I remembered I had very much enjoyed that one as well. I just have so many books on the go, different series that I like, that it took me almost two years to get around to reading another.
Joe Plantagenet lives in the fictional town of Eborby which is in actuality the thinly disguised city of York. Unlike Wesley Peterson, the DI in Ellis' other series, Joe is a widower, lonely but not ready to make any kind of commitment, somewhat a newcomer to the Eborby Police Department, still working out his working relationship with his DCI Emily Thwaite.
This book centers around a spooky former insane asylum, Boothgate House, that is in the process of being turned into a luxury apartment complex. One thing that features prominently in the Plantagenet series is the paranormal and this entry is no different. The tenants and workmen feel an oppressive presence in the building. The book opens with one tenant, Lydia, dreaming of an unnamed horror and a malevolent clock. The clock becomes a recurrent theme through the book. Kidnapping, murders (yes, several), a serial killer from the past who may or may not be dead, I found the book to be a very good page turner.
I like the way that Ellis writes but she has a funny kind of "tell" in this series, just as she had in the early Wesley Peterson books. In the latter series, I used to get annoyed by characters being described as having "shy smiles" several times in the book. I actually counted eight times in one book. And then, once I got past the sixth or seventh book, and I had mentioned it in my Goodreads review, she stopped using that description. Probably completely coincidental ; In this book, different characters, at different times, narrowly miss being "mowed down" by various vehicles on the street. Only three times but it was enough for me to notice because of the two words "mowed down". The incidents actually had nothing to do with the actual mystery although there is a hit-and-run episode that is uncovered later. Perhaps Ellis was preparing the reader.... Still it made me think that Eborby/York is a very dangerous place for pedestrians.
Still that was a very small distraction from what was otherwise quite a good thriller/police procedural. There is enough for the dedicated mystery reader to feel that they could have solved the crime before the police--having read so many more crimes than any normal police officer could have been exposed to--but, on the other hand, there are enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing until the last few pages. So, on to the next one, hopefully in less than two years because right now I am anxious to find out how Joe's loneliness plays out as a theme in the next book. And to see if Ellis uses the words "mowed down" in the next book or if there is another tell in it.
Still, my review from 2021 still works perfectly well so I am going to repost it :) This was a perfect summer thriller, not too long and with a storyline that grabbed me within the first few pages. I have enjoyed Ellis' other series, the Wesley Peterson, which takes place in a fictional town in Devon. I had also read the first in the Plantagenet series in August of 2019--looking at my Goodreads reviews back then (thank goodness for this record) I remembered I had very much enjoyed that one as well. I just have so many books on the go, different series that I like, that it took me almost two years to get around to reading another.
Joe Plantagenet lives in the fictional town of Eborby which is in actuality the thinly disguised city of York. Unlike Wesley Peterson, the DI in Ellis' other series, Joe is a widower, lonely but not ready to make any kind of commitment, somewhat a newcomer to the Eborby Police Department, still working out his working relationship with his DCI Emily Thwaite.
This book centers around a spooky former insane asylum, Boothgate House, that is in the process of being turned into a luxury apartment complex. One thing that features prominently in the Plantagenet series is the paranormal and this entry is no different. The tenants and workmen feel an oppressive presence in the building. The book opens with one tenant, Lydia, dreaming of an unnamed horror and a malevolent clock. The clock becomes a recurrent theme through the book. Kidnapping, murders (yes, several), a serial killer from the past who may or may not be dead, I found the book to be a very good page turner.
I like the way that Ellis writes but she has a funny kind of "tell" in this series, just as she had in the early Wesley Peterson books. In the latter series, I used to get annoyed by characters being described as having "shy smiles" several times in the book. I actually counted eight times in one book. And then, once I got past the sixth or seventh book, and I had mentioned it in my Goodreads review, she stopped using that description. Probably completely coincidental ; In this book, different characters, at different times, narrowly miss being "mowed down" by various vehicles on the street. Only three times but it was enough for me to notice because of the two words "mowed down". The incidents actually had nothing to do with the actual mystery although there is a hit-and-run episode that is uncovered later. Perhaps Ellis was preparing the reader.... Still it made me think that Eborby/York is a very dangerous place for pedestrians.
Still that was a very small distraction from what was otherwise quite a good thriller/police procedural. There is enough for the dedicated mystery reader to feel that they could have solved the crime before the police--having read so many more crimes than any normal police officer could have been exposed to--but, on the other hand, there are enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing until the last few pages. So, on to the next one, hopefully in less than two years because right now I am anxious to find out how Joe's loneliness plays out as a theme in the next book. And to see if Ellis uses the words "mowed down" in the next book or if there is another tell in it.
September 24, 2024
A very very enjoyable book! A book I couldn't put down and had so much fun reading! I couldn't wait to read on and uncover the mystery!
However.....
The reason I couldn't give this book a 5 was because I felt let down by the ending. I felt the plot towards the end became almost cartoon villain esque and was similar to that of a batman comic. I was also slightly let down by the romance between joe and Lydia, I felt it to be over quickly and rushed but maybe I got my hopes up too high for the two of them?
I would still highly recommend such an enjoyable book and others might think differently of the end!
However.....
The reason I couldn't give this book a 5 was because I felt let down by the ending. I felt the plot towards the end became almost cartoon villain esque and was similar to that of a batman comic. I was also slightly let down by the romance between joe and Lydia, I felt it to be over quickly and rushed but maybe I got my hopes up too high for the two of them?
I would still highly recommend such an enjoyable book and others might think differently of the end!
September 25, 2014
A really good classic detective/ serial killer novel. I didn't guess who did it- until the author told me( which I love), and I have already bought the other books in the series!
A good easy read.
A good easy read.
August 11, 2019
More like 2.5 stars for this one because the story seemed to wander. I probably won't read more in this series although I like the Peterson series by same author. The characters are interesting and the writing is fine but the mystery didn't grab me.
February 8, 2013
Excellent. I love all Kate Ellis books and I am beginning to enjoy this series as much as the Wesley books. Great story, quick read but be warned you will stay up all night to finish it.
September 13, 2016
I had to shelf-grab a few books as - which very rarely happens - my usually- bulging -with- goodies- library shelf was bare. This whiled away a few hours but was pretty unremarkable.
August 26, 2019
This was my first look at this series it will not be my last. DI Plagetnet is a wonderful and complex character.
August 31, 2024
I found this rather an odd book. Convicted serial killer Peter Brockmeister is sent to Havenby Hall asylum when he is released from prison, not that many years after it is closed down and his supposed body is found. Several years later Melanie Hawkes a solicitor who worked the case is in a local park with her young daughter Daisy, she takes a work call and then discovers her daughter is missing. Later she is telephoned to leave a ransom if she wants her back, her husband Jack who is her stepfather isn't that bothered.
Meanwhile some mysterious things are going on in Boothgate House, a renovated block of apartments in an asylum which used to be called Havenby Hall and the police are called in. Although a group of paranormal folks would have done a better job. Anyway it gets a bit complicated involving nightmares about an evil grandfather clock and residents hearing noises in the House in the night, and the rather insipid Joe Plantagenet is trying to help unravel the abduction of Daisy and the mysterious clock which Boothgate House resident Lydia keeps having nightmares about and a raft of other things. The man never seems to sleep and seems very slow in trying to solve anything.
For me the central person in this book was Melanie Hawkes, she seems to be the only fleshed out character yet the main player is supposed to be the police officer with the name of Joe Plantagenet. Am not sure I will be in a rush to read any more of this series. Yet the blurb looked promising.
Meanwhile some mysterious things are going on in Boothgate House, a renovated block of apartments in an asylum which used to be called Havenby Hall and the police are called in. Although a group of paranormal folks would have done a better job. Anyway it gets a bit complicated involving nightmares about an evil grandfather clock and residents hearing noises in the House in the night, and the rather insipid Joe Plantagenet is trying to help unravel the abduction of Daisy and the mysterious clock which Boothgate House resident Lydia keeps having nightmares about and a raft of other things. The man never seems to sleep and seems very slow in trying to solve anything.
For me the central person in this book was Melanie Hawkes, she seems to be the only fleshed out character yet the main player is supposed to be the police officer with the name of Joe Plantagenet. Am not sure I will be in a rush to read any more of this series. Yet the blurb looked promising.
January 8, 2018
Book 4 of the Joe Plantagenet series is the best of the series. I loved the paranormal aspects as they are not overdone. I liked the way the two separate plot-lines and how they came together. I found the characters unique and how everything was tied up in the end. The final twist at the end was very unexpected. I hoping for a nice relationship for Joe in the next installment. I love the spooky atmosphere of Eborby UK but I don't believe that I could move into a former insane asylum. Eagerly waiting the next book.
July 19, 2024
The fourth in the series and this time Plantagenet seems to be hitting the bottle and manages to fit in a little dalliance with a witness. The initial investigation of the kidnap of a child soon morphs into a murder when the child's mother, solicitor Melanie Hawkes is found floating in a river. Co-incidentally, her husband just happens to be the architect of a renovated asylum, home to an infamous serial killer who may or may not be dead where strange things are happening.
Like all of Ellis' novels, this is well written and highly engaging.
Like all of Ellis' novels, this is well written and highly engaging.
March 27, 2018
This is the kind of book that you just can't put it down! It follows different peoples Stories/P.O.V's through the investigation to find the murder and kidnapper. I can't wait to read more of her Joe Plantagent books as they are really enjoyable to read. I was so sad when Lydia and Joe didn't continue their relationship in a romantic way. I do understand that it is not a romance novel, but since I am quite a hardcore shipper, it was very depressing. I do recommend you read this.
March 28, 2021
Fourth book in Kate Ellis's Joe Pantagenet series, with an intriguing title. A suitably spooky atmosphere linked to nefarious activities in a former private mental hospital. Overall, well plotted and I like the characters, although with more than a couple of gruesome murders on their hands and apparently limited case supervision, I'm not sure that Joe, Emily and company could really categorise this one as a successful case!
© Koplowitz 2021
© Koplowitz 2021
August 7, 2024
The fourth book in the series sees DCI Joe, once again on the hunt for a killer who seems to have a connection with an old mental health hospital which has been turned in to luxury flats.
While this book was riveting still, I found it just a little lacking in some areas, there didn't seem to be as much going on within it like the other books in the series has, but it was still enjoyable to read.
While this book was riveting still, I found it just a little lacking in some areas, there didn't seem to be as much going on within it like the other books in the series has, but it was still enjoyable to read.
July 19, 2018
Actually four and a half stars. A serial killer story with a difference. Usually serial killers kill at random, but here there is a connection between the victims. A bit gory but very well plotted. I think Kate Ellis is a very clever author. There are so many threads that I could not imagine how everything will tie together. But Kate Ellis did it and did it very brilliantly.
December 22, 2017
Waited a long time for the last two Plantagenet books to fall in price on Kindle. So glad I kept them on my wish list well worth the wait.
June 27, 2020
Entertaining. My first Kate Ellis book - more to follow, i hope.
March 25, 2021
Another gripping plot from Kate Ellis
Really enjoyed this book
Really enjoyed this book
March 30, 2021
Ok book about an asylum and murderous psychopath. Then the building is converted to an apartment building! Oh sure - people will be dying to live there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2021
Major creepy! And really good!
April 30, 2021
Really enjoyed this book. Lots of twists and turns really well written. A real page turner, I couldn't put it down.
June 25, 2021
Excellent read. Kate Ellis does 'supernatural' with a light enough touch to give you shivers.
November 4, 2023
I should have picked this one to read on Halloween.
January 22, 2024
Amazingly creepy story, definitely a good read!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews