Cemetery Lake

Like Tana French, Paul Cleave writes crime novels that center on a location rather than particular characters, at least he did until Theo Tate came along and I, for one, wish he hadn’t. I can only guess that he was looking for a sympathetic character to hang a series on, but he picked the wrong guy; Tate is a loser. Like his “friends in the department” I lost patience with his stupid decisions and willful obstruction. Not to mention he’s a murderer who can justify his killings with his tragedy or just bad luck. There were many times I wanted to fast-forward through scenes featuring the results of his idiocy, but I persevered and I don’t want to spend any more time with this jerk even if the overall story was decent and the show more solution surprising. show less

Christchurch, New Zealand private investigator Theodore Tate is attending the exhumation of a man who died two years before. Suddenly bubbles appear on the surface of the small lake in the middle of the cemetery, and several bodies slowly rise to the surface. When the exhumed coffin is opened, it does not contain the right body. As the identities of the lake bodies are established, their graves are dug up to reveal further unexpected corpses.

The cemetery caretaker has disappeared, and Tate is sure that the priest of the little church next to the cemetery knows a lot more than he is willing to say. The police try to warn Tate away from the investigation, but his curiosity is aroused, and he can’t help but put his own life in danger as show more a result. As the case advances, and stolen evidence, the police, the media, priests, his own personal demons, murder and suicide all roadblock Tate, he finds himself making bad choices and spiraling into destruction.

Tate is an intriguing, but very flawed character. A former police officer, who left the force under a cloud, he is still dealing with the consequences of an accident, caused by a drunk driver, which destroyed his family. As the story progresses he starts to drink and for much of the book seems bent on self- destruction. The reader shifts between feeling sympathy for Theo, and utter frustration with him.

Cemetery Lake is an impressive novel from a talented writer who creates compelling characters that ring true. A great feature of Cemetery Lake is the character-like atmosphere of Christchurch itself. This mystery totally engrossed me and it was filled with so many twists and turns I never had any idea how it was going to end. Cleave makes you want to turn the page, and when you get to the end, you want to go out and immediately find another of his books. show less

From Amazon:

Cemetery Lake begins in a cold and rainy graveyard, where Private Detective Theodore Tate is overseeing an exhumation—a routine job for the weathered former cop. But when doubts are raised about the identity of the body found in the coffin, the case takes a sinister turn. Tate knows he should walk away and let his former colleagues on the police force deal with it, but his strong sense of justice intervenes. Complicating matters are a few loose ends from Tate’s past. Even good guys have secrets, and Tate thought his were dead and buried for good. With time running out and a violent killer lurking, will he manage to stay one step ahead of the police, or will his truth be unearthed?

My Thoughts:

With Cemetery Lake, Paul show more Cleave has quickly risen to the top of my favorite authors list. I read this book out of order but that doesn't matter to me. All I care is that I get to read a deeply engrossing story which this book more than qualifies as. the mystery story here is quite good but this is also a very dark novel about the depths of the human soul. While the mystery itself takes more twists and turns than any book I have read in a long time...it will diffidently hold your interest throughout. This is the story of a man whose life has fallen apart after the death of his family caused by a drunk driver. The accident and Tate's reaction take him to a place where it seems his life couldn't get any worse...but then it does. When this case comes along and he finds himself descending deeper into darkness. While the narrative is at times oppressive, you just can't stop reading. If you're a fan of dark psychological thrillers then this is just the book for you. show less

Great story with a grim and urgent tone that seems a cross between a funeral eulogy and a runaway train. Theo Tate is a former cop and current rogue P.I. who is working on a multiple murder case despite warnings from his former colleagues on the police force to stay away. He is compelled to act, weaving in and outside of the law, by his feeling of responsibility for having possibly missed an opportunity a few years previous that may have brought the killer to an earlier justice, thereby saving lives. Tate is not an especially likable character. Although the reader can sympathize with his grief and pain, it's difficult to decide whether or not his unpredictable moral compass is leading him down the right path. With such heavy happenings show more at such a fast pace, this reader wanted to cry uncle on Tate's behalf at least once or twice. The story has the structure of a police procedural, but the main character's outsider status and the heavy suspense is engaging and keeps the pages turning at a good clip. I look forward to reading the next book starring Theo Tate, called Collecting Cooper, to see how Tate proceeds to blaze his path through crime in Christchurch, New Zealand. show less

When private investigator Theo Tate find himself standing by a grave in the process of having a body exhumed little does he know that this is just the beginning of an investigation that will involve multiple corpses, deep secrets and dark betrayals. Cemetery Lake by New Zealand author Paul Cleave opens with a bang and immediately grips the reader and, as the story develops, the more twisted and dark it becomes.

Theo himself is not in a good place as he is dealing with a horrendous tragedy that befell his family two years ago. He is barely coping but when this case comes along it seems to press his buttons and even though he knows he should leave this to the police, he cannot stop taking matters into his own hands. Theo is an ex-police show more detective but, eaten up with grief and trying to hold his anger, guilt and depression in, he is like a loose cannon. The author keeps the atmosphere dark and the momentum building as Theo pulls himself deeper into a moral abyss as he relentlessly tracks a psychopathic serial killer.

Cemetery Lake is the third book in Paul Cleave’s Christchurch Noir series, and the first, but not the last, to feature Theo Tate. I found this a powerful story that had excellent timing and although Theo isn’t a character that demands either the readers liking or sympathy, I look forward to reading more about him. show less

Cemetery Lake introduces former police detective Theodore Tate, who has recently lost his daughter in a crash with a drunk driver and whose wife is living in a vegetative state at a convalescent home. During a routine exhumation of a possible murder victim that he’s asked to investigate, the lake starts floating other corpses. But that’s not all. The wrong body is in the exhumed casket! How are all of these bodies connected? And what does the Priest know? The father/son gravedigger team? So many secrets in the town of Christchurch, New Zealand. Paul Cleave once again does not disappoint in this, his first novel featuring Theodore Tate. If you’ve already read Laughterhouse (released last year) don’t despair, skipping around out show more of chronological order only adds to the noir senses of Cleave’s books. As always, suspenseful, gruesome, and wait for the twist.

This review was originally written for Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore. show less

Set in modern Christchurch, New Zealand, Theodore Tate used to be a cop, but 2 years ago his wife and daughter were in a terrible accident. Things have been on a downhill slant since then. Now, he does some work for the local police and one of those things is to be present during exhumations and sign off on the paperwork. However, this exhumation brings up lots and lots of questions. First, there’s a couple of bodies in the cemetery lake. Next, the body they expected to be in the coffin isn’t there; instead it’s a body of a young woman.

From there on, the police want to take point and the tell Tate to butt out. However, he can’t let it go. He calls in favors and old friendships as he does his own investigation. He’s driven show more because he believes it is all related to a case he was working when his family was in the devastating accident, a case he dropped the ball on and should have finished out. The mystery leads to more bodies and Tate breaks so many rules.

Things are complicated and part of that complication is a priest who knows more than he’s telling. He’s bond by the confessional and that makes things tricky, morally speaking. I liked this twist being tossed in because for me it is simple: the law comes before the confessional, especially when it comes to very serious crimes such as murder. But that is not the case for everyone and this story really delves into those facets.

To add fuel to the fire, there is this news reporter that pushed him into saying things he shouldn’t, which she uses in a slanted news story. It’s more hot water for our troubled would-be hero. I found him fascinating because he isn’t your typical Good Cop Fallen On Hard Times character. Throughout the course of the story, he does a few things that I don’t agree with. He does feel remorse over most of them and yet his drive to solve this keeps pushing him to greater extremes. The ending wrapped up the murder mystery nicely, but left plenty of questions as to what will happen to our main character in the next installment.

I won a copy of this book from the Lazy Day Library Facebook group (via The Audio Book Reviewer) with no strings attached.

Narration: Paul Ansdell was pretty good, tho I don’t know why he didn’t use any NZ accents. I did go double check myself by listening to some NZ folks on YouTube. He had a variety of British accents and that was great for keeping all the characters distinct. His female voices were believable. show less