A grisly mystery that is as dark as the depths of a peat bog.

Byline: By Peter Dundy

Lake Of Sorrows by Erin Hart (Hodder & Stoughton, pounds 18.99)

It is one thing to write a good novel about as seemingly dry a subject as archaeology, but quite another to make it into a thriller and carry it all off with style and suspense.

Erin Hart has managed both feats in her second novel. She is a writer of promise as she has that happy knack of creating characters that live, and of screwing up the tension to a remarkable degree.

And it all turns on a simple plot in, of all places, an Irish bog. Countrymen digging peat for their fires discover an ancient, though well preserved, body that bears the marks of ritual killing.

Adding a sense of urgency is the fact that bodies such as this must be preserved before the elements destroy them and their significance is lost forever.

Soon a second body is discovered, also bearing the scars of ritual murder. But this one is different: the victim was wearing a watch. Then a member of the scientific team is killed. She too bears the scars of ritual murder.

The grisly whodunit is aggravated and complicated by rumours of hidden treasure, animal slaughter and illicit affairs. The boggy scene is crawling with potential killers, it seems, or at least people suspected of having strange and strong motives.

To restore a sense of balance, Erin Hart has underpinned her tale with a convincing love story. Pathologist Nora Gavin and her friend Cormac Maguire join forces in a bid to solve these strange deaths.

They soon realise that Ireland's gruesome past is small beer compared with the dangers that threaten their own lives.