Lead Review (Death Rites)
- Book: Death Rites
- Location: New England
- Author: Sarah Ward
Death Rites by Sarah Ward, crime fiction set in NEW ENGLAND
Death Rites by Sarah Ward is a crime fiction novel set in a fictional college in a New England town. Carla James is recently widowed and has relocated from Oxford to pursue her career as an academic archaeologist. She’s hoping to leave her grief behind her. Carla is teamed with a mentor, Erin, who is a pathologist. When the local police need help with a baffling case, Erin suggests that Carla’s knowledge of ritual behaviour might give an interesting perspective, and she is taken to the gruesome location of a recent murder. At first Carla is as puzzled as the detectives, and they believe her input has been a waste of time, but later she begins to see links to other unsolved crimes. Despite being warned off by the police and her academic colleagues, Carla pursues the case like a dog with a bone. But who has she upset? And what might the consequences be for her?
Carla is an interesting person, unafraid to ruffle the feathers of her academic colleagues and police contacts as she brings her considerable skills to bear on the case. Her status as a newly arrived professor means that she is feeling her way, both literally navigating a strange workplace and town and also in her relationships with colleagues and others. She is allocated her predecessor’s office and she finds temporary lodgings, rather than having her own place. In relationships she is unsure who she can rely on, especially when she begins to suspect that those around her might be involved in the case.
The New England setting and its traditions are important to the story. The way that the small, closed community operates is new to Carla and her position as a newcomer allows the author to introduce the reader to the locale and its society through Carla’s eyes. It’s easy to empathise with her as a stranger in town and later when she begins to feel personally threatened and doesn’t know which way to turn.
There are several possible outcomes to the book and the author keeps us guessing until the last minute. It’s a cliché but I found this book to be a real page-turner, with a satisfying ending.
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