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!”
