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There are some books that seem fated to be picked up and put down with depressing frequency, and this one very nearly suffered the indignity of being left on the pile awaiting review, despite several efforts on my part to get started. But I'm glad I persevered. This was my second outing with DI Wesley Peterson and his archaeologist friend, Neil Watson. I'd met them previously in THE JACKAL MAN and has enjoyed the book, which is why I finally made a determined effort to carry on reading, past two of my personal dislikes, namely opening chapters written in the present tense and historical inserts, and this book had one after the other, which probably explains my initial problems with it. An anonymous caller tells the police that a woman is lying dead in her flat, but refuses to divulge any further details. Peterson finds a body in an advanced state of decomposition and attempts to identify the woman prove difficult. At the same time, Peterson is also called in to deal with an investigation into the deaths of two teenagers, found naked at the foot of a sea cliff. Archaeologist Neil Watson is brought into the story by means of the strange request from award winning artist, Kevin Orford, who wants Neil to lead an excavation in the grounds of Catton Hall. Orford wants to film the dig as the remains of a meal, eaten sixteen years ago by Orford and a group of his friends. Everything had been deposited in a trench, tables, plates and all, representing what the artist claimed represented a Feast of Life, and he now wants to reopen the trench and use the resulting film as installation art. But the dig uncovers more than either Watson or the pretentious Orford bargain for, and Peterson soon has another body to add to the tally of his current investigations. THE CADAVER GAME does a good job of gradually increasing and strengthening the links among the various plot strands, although I did find it hard to accept the various interleaved diary extracts from those close to the Squire of Catton Hall, a man who liked to hunt naked teenagers with dogs through his woods. One diary, maybe, but not two. Despite these hiccups, I stayed on board as all gradually became clear, and I enjoyed the way the various plot strands finally unraveled. Peterson and Watson made a good pair, and there is no sense that they are becoming stale, despite the fact that this is their fifteenth outing, so there is still clearly mileage left in the combination of police work and archaeology. § Linda Wilson is a writer, and retired solicitor, with an interest in archaeology and cave art, who now divides her time between England and France.
Reviewed by Linda Wilson, January 2013
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