I am thrilled to be kicking off the Blog Tour for FIVE GOLDEN HEARTS by Joy Ellis. This is the sequel to the number 1 bestseller BEWARE THE PAST and we think it is her best book yet.

Five Bloody Hearts (DI Matt Ballard #2) by Joy Ellis

Available from AMAZON

From multiple #1 best-selling author Joy Ellis, comes a mystery that will have you glued from first page to last, with a truly shocking conclusion. A killer mystery to make your heart race this Valentine’s.

DETECTIVE MATT BALLARD’S LAST CASE MIGHT BE THE ONE THAT FINALLY BREAKS HIM.

Grace Repton, a beautiful older woman, walks into the police station to tell Matt she has information that could stop a murder. Her fiancé, the infamous serial killer Jeremy Reader, has told her that he has a disciple who is going to kill using Reader’s horrific methods.

Reader murdered five women and was finally brought to justice by Detective Ballard. Reader is safely imprisoned in a high security prison, and claiming to be a reformed man who wants to help the police.

But can Matt believe the serial killer or his peculiar wife to be?

And the Fenland police also have another investigation on their hands. A Lithuanian migrant worker is found dead on the fens. There is no ID on him, but he has a Tree of Life tattoo. The third body to be found with this distinctive tattoo. Is this gang war or something even more sinister?

CAN YOU TRUST A KILLER TO HELP STOP A KILLER?

The police are stretched to breaking point with multiple copycat murders. And Matt and his girlfriend Liz will fight for everything they care about in a heart-stopping conclusion that will have you on the edge of your seat.

The Setting
England’s rural fenland is a strange place, with its never-ending fields, winding tracks, and long straight droves (the old livestock routes) that lead to nowhere. The lonely lanes are flanked either side by deep drainage ditches and are, for a good part of the year, filled with tall, whispering reeds. Closer to the Wash, high seabanks form a barrier between river and marsh, and the richly fertile soil of the drained land. But when the mists come down, as they so often do, perspective is destroyed and all sense of direction lost, and then the fens become a rather frightening place of mystery and danger. Somewhere that you do not want to be at night.

ALSO BY JOY ELLIS
THE BEST-SELLING NIKKI GALENA SERIES
Book 1: CRIME ON THE FENS
Book 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS
Book 3: HUNTED ON THE FENS
Book 4: KILLER ON THE FENS
Book 5: STALKER ON THE FENS
Book 6: CAPTIVE ON THE FENS
Book 7: BURIED ON THE FENS
Book 8: THIEVES ON THE FENS
Book 9: FIRE ON THE FENS

JACKMAN & EVANS
Book 1: THE MURDERER’S SON
Book 2: THEIR LOST DAUGHTERS
Book 3: THE FOURTH FRIEND
Book 4: THE GUILTY ONES
Book 5: THE STOLEN BOYS

DETECTIVE MATT BALLARD
Book 1: BEWARE THE PAST
Book 2: FIVE BLOODY HEARTS

STANDALONE
GUIDE STAR

My Review

Well Joy Ellis has done it again! Another totally gripping page turner.

This is the sequel to BEWARE THE PAST in the first book we saw Matt Ballard up against evilness personified. It left him physically and emotionally shattered, one of his team with a life threatening injuries and someone close to him dead. So I was intrigued how Joy would build a book from the remains. I was far from disappointed this book just demonstrates what a talented author she is.

Matt’s retirement has been delayed as his replacement is tied up in court. He is just overseeing things and wrapping everything up when a case from his past returns to haunt him. Jeremy Reader killed 5 women in a slow, painful way and Matt was the one that caught him. He is in prison serving life but is apparently a reformed character. Matt doesn’t believe it but everyone else does. Unable to trust his gut instinct any more Matt goes along with the main feeling that he is a reformed character. Reader is about to marry Grace, a prison visitor. Grace appears to be a well adjusted woman so why would she want to marry a lifer?

When Grace arrives at the station with news of a copycat Matt is thrust straight into a nightmare. As the bodies stack up Matt and the team are struggling to find a lead even with the help of psychologists Laura and Sam.

Bryn takes a leading role in this book as he is left pretty much alone to investigate the murder of migrant workers with only a tattoo to link them. He is helped by Swifty, a uniformed officer and a new character. I loved to see Bryn grow wings and fly as his compassionate character and thoughtful nature help him gain the trust of a very untrusting community. That trust is key to solving the migrant murders.

This is a fast-paced read with many twists and turns as we follow the team down multiple ‘dead’ ends until towards the end when finally, they find some leads. The clues lead the team in a direction nobody expected and once again Matt finds his past coming back, ot to haunt him but to threaten his life and the lives of people he cares about.

The characters are complex and realistic and I was thrilled to learn of some new psychological conditions that I was previously unaware of. It was also interesting to learn a little of the culture and lives of the migrant community. I have much admiration for their ability to survive abuse and continually struggle to live in difficult circumstances.

An absolutely brilliant read. 5 golden stars from me.

JOY ELLIS – Author Bio

“I was born in Kent but spent most of my working life in London and Surrey. I was an apprentice florist to Constance Spry Ltd, a prestigious Mayfair shop that throughout the sixties and seventies teemed with both royalty and ‘real’ celebrities. What an eye-opener for a working-class kid from the Garden of England! I swore then, probably whilst I was scrubbing the floor or making the tea, that I would have a shop of my own one day. It took until the early eighties, but I did it. Sadly the recession wiped us out, and I embarked on a series of weird and wonderful jobs; the last one being a bookshop manager. Surrounded by books all day, getting to order whatever you liked, and being paid for it! Oh bliss!
And now I live in a village in the Lincolnshire Fens with my partner, Jacqueline, and our two second generation Springer spaniels. I had been writing mysteries for years but never had the time to take it seriously. Now I can, and as my partner is a highly decorated retired police officer; my choice of genre was suddenly clear. I have set my crime thrillers here in the misty fens because I sincerely love the remoteness and airy beauty of the marshlands. This area is steeped in superstitions and lends itself so well to murder!”

I am very excited to let you know that books 1-3 in the brilliant NIKKI GALENA series by the brilliant Joy Ellis are now available as a box set.

DETECTIVE NIKKI GALENA BOOKS 1-3 three absolutely gripping crime thrillers by Joy Ellis

Available from AMAZON

DO YOU LOVE GRIPPING CRIME FICTION? THEN MEET DETECTIVE NIKKI GALENA. FROM A GLOBALLY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR WHO HAS SOLD OVER 1.5 MILLION BOOKS.

YOU GET THREE ENTHRALLING MYSTERIES IN THIS BOX SET

BOOK 1: CRIME ON THE FENS

The town is being terrorised by gangs of violent thugs, all wearing identical hideous masks. 

Then a talented young female student goes missing on the marsh and Nikki and Joseph find themselves joining forces with a master criminal in their efforts to save her. They need to look behind the masks, but when they do, they find something more sinister and deadly than they ever expected . . .

BOOK 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS

A man is found executed on a piece of wasteland in Greenborough town.

The cold-blooded murder triggers terrible memories for Detective Joseph Easter. Just when things seemed to be going well for DS Easter, he realises that the nightmare is coming back, threatening his career, his sanity, and maybe his life.

In a breath-taking conclusion even Nikki begins to doubt DS Easter as he faces a race against time to save someone very close to him.

BOOK 3: HUNTED ON THE FENS

A vicious criminal is targeting Detective Nikki Galena and her team. One by one he will hunt them down and destroy their lives, unless she can stop him first.

DI Nikki Galena faces her toughest challenge yet. Can she save her team and herself from a cruel and determined adversary who will stop at nothing to harm Nikki and her colleagues? First she must work out who wants revenge against her or one of her detectives. Full of twists and turns, this is a crime novel that will have you turning the pages until the stunning ending.

Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell.

DISCOVER ONE OF THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE DETECTIVES

THE DETECTIVE DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she’s seen a girl die in her arms, and her daughter will never leave the hospital again. She’s got tough on the criminals she believes did this to her.

HER PARTNER DS Joseph Easter is the squeaky-clean new member of the team. But his nickname “Holy Joe” belies his former life as a soldier. He has an estranged daughter who blames him for everything that went wrong with their family.

THE SETTING The Lincolnshire Fens: great open skies brood over marshes, farmland, and nature reserves. It is not easy terrain for the Fenland Constabulary to police, due to the distances between some of the remote Fen villages, the dangerous and often misty lanes, and the poor telephone coverage. There are still villages where the oldest residents have never set foot outside their own farmland and a visit to the nearest town is a major event. But it has a strange airy beauty to it, and above it all are the biggest skies you’ve ever seen.

My Review

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

CRIME ON THE FENS
I began reading this series with Buried on the Fens so I can confirm it work well as stand alone. It has always been in my plans to go back to the beginning and I am thrilled that I have finally found a gap in my reading commitments to do this.

Nikki Galena is star of the show. A feisty woman who has a lot of pain in her life which has caused her to hate drugs with a passion. At the beginning she is very much a one woman band and has had several partners running for the hills. She is forced to work with Joseph Easter a man who is good where she is bad. Is it a match made in heaven or hell? I couldn’t wait to find out.

2 young women disappear one is a dedicated student and the other the daughter of a criminal. Not just any criminal though, one that is ‘friends’ with Nikki Galena. The Police are working with the underworld to find these women in a story that has humour, tears and lots of edge-of-your-seat thrills and spills.

This is an excellent book in which we watch characters grow and develop as the team works together to untangle the web of lies.

I expect nothing less from Joy Ellis than a story that takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of emotions which keeps the pages turning all the way to the end. Brilliant read!

SHADOW OVER THE FENS
This is book 2 of the Nikki Galena series.

Nikki is finally coming to terms with the trauma of what happened to Hannah and is in the process of moving back to Cloud Fen when her neighbour commits suicide in front of a group of children. What could have caused him to act in a way that was so uncharacteristic of him? This is a question that Nikki must find the answer to.

Joseph is recovering from his injuries and has just returned to work when a nemesis from his past appears. Men who look like this man turn up dead and suspicion is pointed at Joseph.

What is going on and are there any links between the 2 cases. As Nikki tries to find clues to the motive for the murders she finds herself up against secrets from many years ago.

This is a very intriguing and complex story that keeps the reader engrossed in the story through a roller coaster ride of twist and turns all the way to the shocking conclusion.

We learn a lot more about the characters in this book as the story unfolds. I love the characters that make up Nikki’s team they are complex and realistic.

I am looking forward to reading more in this series.

An excellent read and well worth the 5 stars.

HUNTED ON THE FENS
This is book 3 in the ‘Fens’ series by Joy Ellis. The suspense starts at the beginning and continues right to the end.

Joseph is on high alert when he smells smoke and springs into action in time to warn Nikki her garage is on fire. That is only the beginning of a chain of events that has the whole of her team watching each other’s backs.

Nikki is still reeling from the death of her daughter and now she feels responsible for a young officer losing his life and another badly injured. Someone is after revenge but who and why is the question everyone is asking.

In addition they are trying to solve a murder where a woman is found dead in a locked room with state of the art security. The assassin is killed in a road accident leaving no clues and certainly no answers just more questions.

We learn more about the characters and their pasts in this book as well as following a complex case with multiple events that create an adrenaline pumping read that had me turning page after page.

Another gripping addition to a brilliant series with a totally unexpected ending – 5 golden stars from me

View all my reviews