The Chapel of Bones

DI Wesley Peterson, Book 30

By: Kate Ellis

Million-copy bestselling author Kate Ellis returns with the brand new mystery in the DI Wesley Peterson crime series.

'A beguiling author who interweaves past and present' The Times

South Devon is returning to its usual calm after the summer tourist season when DI Wesley Peterson and his team receive a disturbing call. A mummified body has been discovered, hidden behind a wall, during the renovation of nearby Sycamore House.

The body is that of Dr Aleric Donnal, an academic with a special interest in Devon's medieval history. Donnal was last seen over a decade ago, around the time that Sycamore House belonged to a new age commune who believed that the house occupied an ancient sacred site. While Wesley is seeking potential suspects for Donnal's murder, his friend Dr Neil Watson is investigating the ruins of an ancient chapel nearby; a building once decorated with grotesque carvings of mythical creatures.

As Wesley's team work on one of their most baffling cases yet, a new murder occurs in a nearby village. Could the two crimes be linked? Wesley needs to separate truth from myth in order to solve this mystery.©2026 Kate Ellis (P)2026 Little, Brown Book Group Limited

Critic reviews

Previous praise for Kate Ellis:

A beguiling author who interweaves past and present

I loved this novel . . . Clever plotting hides a powerful story of loss, malice and deception (Ann Cleeves)

Haunting

The chilling plot will keep you spooked and thrilled to the end

A crime writing sensation . . . stories steeped in spine-tingling atmospherics and set in intriguing locations - often incorporating gems of real history . . . this is the perfect summer thriller

A traditional detective story with an intriguing historical twist . . . Ellis is a fine storyteller, weaving the past and present in a way that makes you want to read on