Wesley, having taken some courses in archaeology at university, is fairly confident the skeleton is sufficiently old not to require their investigation, but he enlists the aid of his friend Neil to confirm his opinion. Neil thinks the skeleton may date to the days of the Vikings because of other material found at the gravesite, so Wesley turns his attention to the missing tourist and the spate of robberies.

Heffernan suspects the disappearance and the robberies may be related since the incidents started about the same time as young Ingeborg Larsen disappeared. Perhaps she had seen something that the robbers perceived as a threat. Wesley isn’t sure he agrees with his boss. There is also a group of players in the area staging reenactments of Viking raids. Since no one seems to be able to vouch for the honesty of the troupe, Wesley thinks some of the players might be committing the robberies in their spare time.

The Funeral Boat is an engaging story. It is rather convoluted, involving events hich occurred during Viking times, events of some twenty years ago, and the present day as well. Considering the broad spectrum of time as well as several seemingly unrelated events, it is easy to imagine a disjointed narrative emerging. Thankfully, that is not the case. Nor has Ms. Ellis resorted to a series of illogical events or extraordinary coincidences to promote her story. She has provided ample factual information which renders the plot believable and plausible.

I especially enjoy fiction in which I can learn factual information as well. This is certainly the case in The Funeral Boat. Ms. Ellis is a first rate teacher for the totally uninformed on both Viking history and basic archaeology. She dispenses enough factual goodies to arouse the interest of a neophyte in the fields without becoming overly technical or didactic. For instance, Neil notices metal disks unearthed with the skeleton which he recognizes as a type of rivet the Vikings used to build their boats. He therefore surmises that the skeleton was probably Viking as they buried their dead in boats to speed their journey to Valhalla. Other artifacts confirm his assumption.

In addition, for those interested in characters and relationships, there is ample interaction between the members of Heffernan’s staff and their families to provide entertainment. Since this is the fourth book by Ms. Ellis starring Wesley Peterson, we can assume there is a history among these characters, though one can enjoy this volume without having read its predecessors. The others, for those interested, include The Merchant’s House, The Armada Boy, and An Unhallowed Grave.

Ms. Ellis is not without a sense of humor. Her subtle asides will surely produce a chuckle or two. She also interjects some interesting comments on the economy and laws in present day Britain. She points out that many British farmers have converted some of their outbuildings as Bed and Breakfast lodgings in order to supplement their uncertain farm income. And, for those fortune hunters, according to British law if treasure is deliberately hidden, it belongs to the government, but if it is lost by accident, the treasure belongs to the landowner. I wonder who gets to decide whether the treasure was deliberately or accidentally buried? At any rate, The Funeral Boat is enjoyable reading.

--Andy Plonka