The Skeleton Man

Philip Dryden #5

by Jim Kelly

For seventeen years, the English hamlet of Jude’s Ferry has lain abandoned, used only for army training exercises. Before then, the isolated, thousand-year-old community was famous for one thing---having never recorded a single crime. But when local reporter Philip Dryden joins the army on practice maneuvers in the empty village, its spotless reputation is literally blown apart. Artillery fire reveals a hidden cellar beneath the old pub, and inside the cellar hangs a skeleton, a noose around its neck. No one knows---or will say---who the victim was.

Two days later, a terrified man is pulled from the reeds of a nearby river, with no idea of who he is or how he got there. The only name he can remember is “Jude’s Ferry.”

As Dryden searches for the secret history of the dead town, he is also witnessing a kind of rebirth: Seven years after the accident that nearly killed her, his wife, Laura, is finally emerging from coma and paralysis to begin a semblance of normal life. But will that semblance be enough for her---or for Dryden?

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, British Literature, Mystery Thriller, Family

352 pages, Hardcover

First published July 5, 2007

About the author

Jim Kelly is a journalist and education correspondent for the Financial Times. He lives in Ely with the biographer Midge Gilles and their young daughter. The Water Clock, his first novel, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award for best first crime novel of 2002.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1990 the village of Jude's Ferry is evacuated in order to provide a training ground for the English Army. Seventeen years later journalist Philip Dryden has arranged to join the Army there on practice maneuvers when artillery fire reveals a hidden cellar beneath the old pub and, in the cellar, a skeleton hanging with a noose around its neck. Discovering the identity the hanged man and understanding why his discovery precipitates disruption and death among some of the former residents of the village, leads Dryden to understand the terrible truths behind the lie that Jude's Ferry had never had a single recorded crime in its entire history. Adding to the interest for me is the fact that although the story is fiction it was inspired by a real life community.

[Berry Muhl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Dryden mystery, and I'm not sure yet how I feel about Jim Kelly as an author. The novel has an intriguing mystery, and unfolds in an unpredictable fashion, but there is little sense of danger until late in the story, and so rather than feeling a personal stake in the proceedings, I felt like I was watching a documentary unfold. He has won awards, though, and has quite a following, so maybe this isn't a particularly strong representative of his work. At any rate, I wasn't moved to turn pages particularly rapidly, which is why it took me a week to finish what should have been a two- or three-day novel.

This is a very British novel. So British that even when a letter from an American is presented on the page, it's written in British fashion. Lots of little cultural references went right over my head, but that's not really a quibble. I'm sure I'll figure out what a "maroon" is eventually.

Dryden is an investigative reporter, and so the mystery is solved via investigative-reporter methods. There are clues here and there, but they serve more to obfuscate than to lead the way to the solution. Virtually the entire solution hinges on Dryden's simply interviewing the various people involved. The main gimmick isn't the sleuthing, nor any part of it, but rather Dryden's panoply of phobias, all of which impact his abilities to varying degrees. While I'm not averse to reading about a "damaged" or "flawed" character, I'm not sure that it's very interesting to have a character who's afraid of *everything*. I do suppose that it serves the purpose of demonstrating his inner courage, because he does have to push himself to go through with things.

The prose is good, with lots of little poetic flourishes. Flowers provide a lot of the imagery, as do birds. A rook here, gulls there, an owl, a pigeon, a dead crow, a murder of crows. The paper Dryden writes for is called The Crow. For most of the novel, the only animals in evidence are birds, although one dog features prominently throughout, and several more show up near the end. I don't know whether this paucity of creatures has much to do with one of the central crimes (and themes), involving animal-rights activists, but perhaps Kelly is being quite clever here, in a Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? kind of way.

I'll check out more of his work as I find it.

[Reggie Billingsworth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just don't find the protagonist in this series (having read 3) all that sympathetic although he has been lumbered with all manner of tragic life events, eccentric side-kicks and all.

But in this title I felt Kelly had seriously over-plotted and was not surprised at the number of times his Dryden had to sit down and sort out what was and was not developing in all the strands set alight. More than once I was tempted to return to my academic crutch of reading with a pencil and notebook handy but dammit this is supposed to be a recreational read. Not prepping for a test.

And good gawd (!) the cast (on and off stage) of thousands in this one had me putting down the book regularly to recover from my head spinning.

Perhaps it's simply Dryden's role as a newspaper journalist driven by deadlines: Through no fault of Kelly's own it has become a seriously dated role by today's news cycle standards. So with that irrelevant premise, we are left to witness Dryden's apparent heartlessness in pursuit, his wavering cowardice and finally his curiosity as a justification for his investigations.

Further, Dryden has no sound legal or moral 'duty' here, not even a personal investment... and so he emerges to me as an entirely intrusive scavenging reporter serving only a prurient readership, a demographic which is both aging and rapidly dropping in numbers.

Oh well. Kelly writes so well. His descriptive passages beautifully display the Fen country in all its impressive variations of weather over a still billiard table of natural and ever shifting landscape. I wonder if Kelly sensed the impending closure of his Dryden seam to introduce the DI Shaw character in this work...a series I switched to and find far more enjoyable. Funny that.

[Sue Corbett · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the usual complaints - why set it somewhere specific if you’re going to change the map?
So unconvincing. Supposedly dear wife needing hospital treatment many days and in a wheelchair but somehow, when he’s needing his full time taxi, she gets whacked around between boat and POW hospital l taxi driver always on call, dog with him. It just starts off unbelievable and gets worse, the plot weak and full of holes. I finished it because I wanted to see what happened but almost threw it several times. Collaboration with police and army as a reporter?
Ultimately utterly guessable, guessed almost all before end, even ridiculous bits.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars for me, but I rounded it up because my perception is a bit personal...I guess I prefer to follow the cops around after a crime, rather than a reporter. Dryden is okay as a reporter, but info on the crime is revealed in bits and pieces...sometimes discovered by Dryden and sometimes from the cops to Dryden, reluctantly. This story line is good even though it has a number of strands being worked, so you need to pay attention! I like Dryden, Humph, Laura, and Shaw, although they could have been a bit more developed....but then, this is book five and I read 1 and 2 a long while ago, so I'm probably forgetting earlier character points.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dryden is writing an article on a military maneuver at Jude’s Ferry, an abandoned village in the Fens that is used for military training. While there, a body hanging from a beam in the cellar of the pub is revealed due to a miscalculated bombing exercise. Dryden covered the evacuation of this village in 1990 so is familiar with the events that took place at that time. In his search for finding the identity of the hanging skeleton, he uncovers quite a few secrets in this village as well as a few more old murders.

[Laura Peelen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story in itself could have made for a great read, but the main character, Dryden, failed to interest me and somehow the storyline just didn't come together. Too many loose bits and ends. But reworked in a television screen play it might actually work.

[Ken Bruss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complex mystery involving a skeleton found in a church located in a town that is being used by the army for target practice at the same time than a nearly drowned man with amnesia is rescued. More twists and turns follow which are neatly tied up in an unexpected manner.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good storyline, convoluted but still good. Lots of stories running through the book.

[laura harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. Guessed the end correctly. But had to read to be sure , just in case there was another twist!

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

"not good, pretty bad"

[Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent plot but too many characters, so it got co fusing and I didn’t really care what happened to any of them.

[Vinay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow burn of a thriller. Quite a layered and satisfying book. Would want to read more in the series.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE SKELETON MAN is the fifth novel in this series - "starring" Philip Dryden, journalist - once Fleet Street luminary, now small-town newspaper man, and I have to confess this is a favourite series of mine. Not because the books are edgy, or dark or particularly enlightening of the human condition, but because everybody in them is relatively normal; the situations that Dryden ends up investigating are not that outlandish and because there is a real human touch in the way this author builds his characters.

THE SKELETON MAN is set in and around a little village that has been forcibly cleared by the Army to be used as a practice range - with the sorts of actions that the British Army is involved in nowadays, building searches; working in confined small towns - is exactly the sort of training they are looking for. The villagers did not go willingly however, and Dryden as a young reporter at the time, remembers the final days well. When he is invited on maneuvers with the Territorial Army back at the village he's on the spot when they discover the body - hidden in an undocumented cellar.

There's a lot to this plot. Not only do they have the skeleton of a young man; there is a missing woman; a missing girl; an injured young man pulled from a river with amnesia; a dead baby; a raided tomb; an army survey that seems to have inexplicably missed the existence of this cellar; and a lot of secrets for a village society that was split up a long time ago. Mind you, one of the skills of this writer is to take a very crowded plot and make it all roll along at a very English countryside pace. Maybe it's Humph - the cab driver - willing to pull over for a wait and a nap at any point (Dryden doesn't drive himself around); maybe it's the side trips into Dryden's personal life - his wife is slowly recovering from the car accident that put her in a coma. Maybe it's just the slightly sleepy, quiet Fen Country. THE SKELETON MAN has a lot happening, but it's not rushed (nor is anyone really rushing around).

If you've read earlier books in the series then you'll have Dryden's background a little more fleshed out than if you just picked up THE SKELETON MAN - but you should be able to read this on its own if you've not started out on this series before - there are touches of the back story, cleverly woven into the plot to give you enough of an idea of what's gone before.

There's also a tantalising, albeit very brief, new character built into this narrative - DI Peter Shaw - the surfing, fishing, seaside dwelling policeman. After 5 Dryden books I hear a rumour that the author is working on a book with him as a central character. Let's hope Dryden's not consigned to the newspaper archives totally just yet.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Sentence: The Capri shook to the sound of snoring, and through the fly-spattered windscreen of the mini-cab Philip Dryden contemplated the Fen horizon.

Journalist Philip Dryden accompanies the Territorial Army on a war games exercise. Jude’s Ferry is now deserted but was a small village in Cambridgeshire which, for 1000-years, never recorded a single crime. Until now. When an errant shell hits the old pub, a cellar, unmarked on ordinance maps, is uncovered as are the remains of someone who died by hanging. It might have been a suicide except for the marks on the ribs which indicate the victim was stabbed.

This was not my favorite book by Jim Kelley. I found there were too many characters, and few about whom I cared, yet each was critical to the resolution of the story. Even the two of the three primary characters seemed diminished. The relationship between Philip and his driver, Humph, was there but didn’t have the level of import as in previous books. Now that things have changed with Philip’s wife, Laura, some of the emotion impact of the series is gone. What I do like is that Kelly has allowed his protagonist to have his phobias and weaknesses.

The plot was convoluted but purposefully so. I was taken down one path, only to be turned to another and another. It worked but, at the same time, wasn’t as satisfying it perhaps should have been.

One element at which Kelly excels is description. I love that the books are set in Fens near Ely. For the armchair traveler, Kelly evokes the region in an atmospheric and haunting manner.

While this may not have been my favorite book of the series, it was still a very enjoyable read in a series with which I shall continue.

THE SKELETON MAN (Unl Inv/Journalist-Phillip Dryden-Cambridgeshire, England-Cont) – G+
Kelly, Jim – 5th in series
Michael Joseph, 2007, UK Hardcover – ISBN: 9780718149482

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

c2007: The pace of this was way too slow for me. I found myself bored to tears and it was like swimming in treacle to finish the book. With the protagonist being a journalist as opposed to the normal cop or pyschologist etc. - I was expecting more - plot did sound good. Courtesy of Amazon "For seventeen years, the Cambridgeshire hamlet of Jude's Ferry has lain abandoned, requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence for military training in 1990. The isolated, 1000-year-old community was famous for one thing - never having recorded a single crime. But when local reporter Philip Dryden joins the Territorial Army on exercise in the empty village, its spotless history is literally blown apart. For the TA's shells reveal a hidden cellar beneath the old pub. And inside the cellar hangs a skeleton, a noose around its neck ...Two days later, a man is pulled from the reeds in the river near Ely - he has no idea who he is or how he got there. But he knows the words 'Jude's Ferry' are important, and he knows he is afraid ...As the police launch an investigation into the skeleton in the cellar, Dryden is convinced the key to the mystery rests in the last days of the village when passions, prejudices, guilt and hatred all came to a head. Everything leads him back to Jude's Ferry. But who is waiting for him there ?"

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

An abandoned village, handed over to the military seventeen years ago is the background to this intriguing mystery. A skeleton which appears to have met its death by hanging - is found in an unknown cellar in the abandoned village of Jude's Ferry after a bombardment by the army.

Journalist Philip Dryden is reporting on the exercise for his paper The Crow, He also attended the evacuation of the village. This is the start of a remarkable story in which secrets long buried are brought out into the light of day resulting in more deaths and a dangerous quest for Dryden whose curiosity and nose for a story drives him on.

I found this a harrowing story to read with its portrayal of human evil and the far reaching effects of it on people in the present. The book is well written and it brings to life the untold misery of many people's day to day lives. It is interesting that the author chooses to include his other series character in this mystery -D I Peter Shaw.

If you like mysteries with rather more depth than most where not all the loose ends are neatly tied by the time the last page is turned then this may be the book, and the series for you.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although The Skeleton Man is the fifth book in Jim Kelly's Philip Dryden series, it is the first I have read because it's the only one available at my public library. I will be reviewing the most recent Philip Dryden book, The Funeral Owl, through NetGalley this week, and I wanted to get some idea of the characters first. The Skeleton Man served admirably for this purpose.

The Skeleton Man is similar in structure to a standard British police procedural, except that the protagonist is a journalist rather than a police officer. Dryden doesn't let his lack of official police credentials slow him down, however; in some respects, his journalist role enables him to get to the heart of the mystery more quickly than the authorities.

I enjoyed the many twists in the plot; even those I thought I saw coming turned out differently than I expected. I also appreciated the way in which Kelly provided enough background information on Philip, Humph, and Laura (without an obvious information dump) that I was comfortable jumping into the middle of the series.

[Gary Van Cott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book but with some issues that don't really concern the main story. The author refers to a member a the British Territorial Army as a major but says his rank insignia has three pips (which is the insignia of a captain). Also his brief excursion into American history doesn't make sense. He say the first member of the Peyton family arrived in Virginia three seasons after the Mayflower. Since the Mayflower went to Massachusetts in 1620 and Virginia had its first permanent settlement in 1607 this doesn't really work.

The chronology of the series also has some issues if Dryden was in Ely in 1990. I suppose he went to Fleet Street after that but I don't recall that being mentioned. This book sees the introduction of DI Peter Shaw who is the subject of the author's other series of books, the first of which was published a year after this one.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a long time since I read a Jim Kelly book and I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed his writing. This is an excellent thriller centred on a provincial journalist and set in and around Ely, where I enjoyed a two day break a few weeks ago. It is an essentially British style thriller with only a modicum of action, albeit that there are quite a few bodies.
The plot is labyrinthine, based around an abandoned village now used as an Army training base. Characterisation is fine and Kelly never lets the pace drop whilst ensuring that we get lots of interesting background material to absorb. I must have missed the redundant storylines that another reviewer commented upon because I thought he wasted very few words.
I already have another Jim Kelly waiting and will now go back to gather in those I have missed.

[Lc16 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love all the Dryden mysteries. The plots always keep me guessing and Dryden has a real humanity to him. His relationship with Humph is funny and touching. The unique storyline with his wife Laura is interesting and does a good a job of explaining why is lives like he does. This is the last Dryden to date as Kelly has moved onto another protagonist. The Skeleton Man did have a finality to it although I hope Kelly does return to write another book featuring Dryden. Having read an interview where he explained it was difficult to show why the police were so far behind I realise he did this seamlessly. I am not sure it is something I worry about as so many other authors and TV programmes do it shamelessly!

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fifth in the mystery series set in East Anglia with detective Philip Dryden. The plot is competent but overly complex. Anyway, it kept me reading to find out what happened -- and also what is happening with Laura, as readers of previous novels in the series will understand.

The best thing about the book is the setting in the fens (many novels have been saved for me by the strong evocation of an unfamiliar part of the world). The author makes the fens vivid and real. He keeps commenting on how the roads go in a straight line for miles, not unfamiliar for someone living in the midwest, although here it is not so damp.

[Andrea Hickman Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good mystery. It had some irritating features and some blazingly obvious 'twists', but there was an awful lot of good writing and it was very enjoyable. Not, however, enjoyable enough for me to look out for other Philip Dryden mysteries. The main reason for that is that the man in question is some sort of journalist or something and I really prefer my main characters to be either detectives of some sort. I do not like journalistic detectives who find their mysteries while researching something else. I don't know why, but I very rarely enjoy those. If you do enjoy that sort of thing, though, then you should look out for others in this series because Kelly is a good writer.

[Scilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Journalist Philip Dryden is viewing training exercises in Jude's Ferry, an English Hamlet which was evacuated for military exercises 17 years previously. An unrecorded cellar is revealed by a file caused by the artillery, and a skeleton is found in a noose hanging from the ceiling. Two days later, a terrified injured man with amnesia is pulled from the reeds in a nearby river. Dryden investigates the secrets of the dead town, making progress slowly, and in the process, he finds himself in trouble.

[Alistair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another 4 stars for Jim Kelly!

To me this book proves it is always best to read a series in order.
Not just the plot time line, but also to see how an author grows and adapts.
In my humble opinion, Jim Kelly has learnt to turn down some of the more irritating traits in his writing. Here we have a very clever plot that keeps on twisting until the end.

Well worth a read.

One other thing, for those of you who are familiar with the
1980’s British TV series “Hammer House of Horror”.
I suggest you dig out the episode “Black Carrion”.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good book featuring Philip Dryden. Jim Kelly continues his pattern of taking a story from the past and pulling it into the present. In this case Philip finds himself investigating a murder that happened seventeen years ago...and all the secrets, lies, and emotions that have been covered up for so long begin to resurface. I continue to praise the style of mystery writing that the majority of British and European writers seem to bring to the table...and that is that murder is secondary while the who and why take the starring role in the plot.

[Luce Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading a good murder mystery , especially the British ones. But I was really pleasantly surprised by the quality of the writing in this novel . The author very skillfully creates atmosphere by a writing style that is almost lyrical and poetic. Very unusual writing, with a strong plot that does not reveal the denouement. I really loved it! This is my first novel by Jim Kelly, but I am surely going to look for others.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always nice to find a new mystery series. This one features a journalist as its regular sleuth, which is a little removed from a police procedural but still gives him a reason to dig into unsolved crimes. This crime took place years ago and has a nice historical 70s feel. It gets too entangled with plot lines, but is still an easy read.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never come across this series and was given this one to return to the library. I found it edgy and interesting and will look out for some others in the series. The interplay between reporter, our hero, and the policemen is good and I wonder if there is a series with the policeman as the hero too?

[Mary Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another British police procedural which deals with an abandoned village used by the British mititary for training. A mis-fired round uncovers a skeleton hanging in the basement of the pub. Who is it & what really happened 17 years ago when the villagers were forced to leave their homes?