City of Gold and Shadows

by Ellis Peters

Paperback, 1989

Status

Available

Call number

Fic Mystery Peters

Publication

Headline Publishing Group (1989), Paperback, 256 pages

Description

When Alan Morris disappears, his great-niece, Charlotte, regrets never having got to know the renowned archaeologist better. In an attempt to remedy that deficiency, she goes to visit one of his digs. But there she finds more than just a few old stones.

User reviews

LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey

I just skimmed it this time - I was looking for where it fit into the Felse series, and I've still no clue. But I couldn't help reading as I went along - I think I got most of the crises (and there were a lot, of one sort and another). As usual, several mysteries overlapping and intertwining. Felse

is a major secondary character, but definitely not the (or even a) protagonist. That's left to Charlotte, and to some extent to Gus. Relatively little description - or maybe I just skimmed over it. A good story, and the ordeal underground is very richly conveyed. There's a lot of coincidences coming into play, but nothing that overstretched my suspension of disbelief. Not one of my favorite Peters, but good.

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LibraryThing member twilightlost_2

The story is set on the border between England and Wales but immersed in the Roman history. Charlotte's great-uncle, a famous archaeologist, has gone missing, and she determines to head to his last place of interest, Aurae Phiala. Her first day there finds a persistent guide, a missing schoolboy,

and a corpse. Ellis Peters uses her distinctive voice to take this story to its satisfying conclusion.

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LibraryThing member MrsLee

Charlotte is asked to make decisions for her uncle's estate because he has disappeared. She has never met her famous archaeologist uncle and decides to try to find out a bit more about him before making any big decisions. This leads her to the last place he was seen in England and lands her in the

middle of intrigue. Things soon become dangerous and Inspector Felse is called in to help.
Though Inspector Felse seemed almost a background figure in this mystery, I enjoyed the story because of the other characters and the location in an ancient Roman site near Wales. As for the mystery, I thought I knew the answer, I really wasn't sure until the end, so I call that good.

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LibraryThing member ejj1955

Better known for her medieval Brother Cadfael mysteries, Ellis Peters also wrote contemporary mysteries. This one, set at an ancient Roman archaeological site on the border between England and Wales, offers a well-defined cast of characters and some truly suspenseful moments. Charlotte Rossignol,

half-English, half-French, is drawn to the site of Aurae Phiala when her great-uncle has not been heard from a year after his last visit to the site. Soon after her arrival, a teen boy is found dead down river from the site, apparently the victim of foul play.

One of the many things I enjoy about Peters is her ability to write lovely descriptive prose, not only about scenery but also about human emotions and motivations. Under her own name, Edith Pargeter, she wrote some of my favorite historical fiction, The Heaven Tree trilogy. I'd read pretty much anything she wrote.

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LibraryThing member turtlesleap

I always enjoy Ellis Peters, and particularly when the tale is a mystery that keeps me guessing. This one is all that.

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