I am thrilled to be sharing with you my 5* review of HIDDEN ON THE FENS as part of the Blog Tour. Hidden on the Fens is the 11th book in the brilliant Nikki Galena series by #1 bestselling author – JOY ELLIS.
Hidden on the Fens (Nikki Galena #11) AMAZON GOODREADS
Author – Joy Ellis
Publisher – Joffe Books crime thrillers and mystery
Genre – Crime Fiction
Publication Date – 14th February 2020
FROM TWO-MILLION SELLING AUTHOR, JOY ELLIS, COMES ONE OF THE MOST EAGERLY AWAITED CRIME THRILLERS OF 2020.
AN OLD COTTAGE HIDDEN IN SOME TREES.
A MISSING GIRL WHOSE BODY WAS NEVER FOUND.
HAS HER KILLER RETURNED?
A stunning new mystery from #1 best-selling author Joy Ellis with a totally shocking conclusion. Discover the author everyone’s talking about.
Detective Joseph Easter’s daughter discovers a derelict cottage hidden in a copse of trees on a large farm. Someone’s been living there.
The farm-owner’s wife has been receiving sinister pagan artefacts, including a witch’s knife. Are they some sort of warning or message?
Joseph and his daughter search the cottage and find an old satchel. Inside are photos of a beautiful girl, Jennifer Cowley. She went missing fifteen years ago. She’d been stalked by a young man, who was convicted of her murder, even though her body was never found.
WHEN DI NIKKI GALENA EXAMINES THE COTTAGE, SHE FINDS SOMETHING FAR WORSE.
And in the satchel is a more recent photo of a girl who looks just like Jennifer.
THE MAN WHO KILLED JENNIFER IS RECENTLY OUT OF PRISON. HAS HE STRUCK AGAIN?
At the same time, DC Cat Cullen and Dave Harris are trying to get evidence against a man who preys on widowed older women. Vernon Deacon is seemingly a pillar of society, with very influential friends. But his victims aren’t believed,so their job is not easy.
Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you turning the pages until the heart-stopping ending.
This is book eleven of the international best-selling books featuring Nikki Galena.
GRIPPING FROM BEGINNING TO ITS SHOCKING CONCLUSION
My Review
Hard to believe this is book 11 in this brilliant series. I have read them all and every one is a gripping read so I was expecting great things from this one and I wasn’t disappointed.
Tamsin take a bigger role in this book as her environmental skills are utilised. Richard Howard is now running his parent’s farm and is eager to do so in an environmentally friendly way so has asked Tamsin to advise on how to tackled a very overgrown copse. As they are looking and discussing the copse they notice a pathway has been made and further investigation reveals a hidden derelict cottage. What they don’t know is that the cottage holds dark secrets that span years and continents.
This is a very complex story with many different things going on from an evil man preying on vulnerable women that seems to be so slippery that even Nikki’s brilliant team seem unable to make charges stick. Then there are witchcraft items that are being left at Sedgebrook Farm causing a lot of worry for Auriella so when the cottage begins to give up its secrets nobody considered that the different cases could be linked.
I love how Joy Ellis always manages to come up with such unique stories and stretch the characters further you would think after 10 books we would know all there is to know about them but apparently not as their personalities develop ever further. I feel I have watched Nikki grow and loved how she showed both vulnerability and compassion for others in this book. The characters are sheer perfection the story is gripping and keeps the reader guessing all the way to the end. An awesome read.
I spend a lot of time walking around remote countryside and I will always wonder what secrets the hidden derelict buildings may be hiding.
Definitely 5 stars from me.
Joy Ellis was nominated for audiobook of the year at the British Book Awards 2019.
What readers are saying about JOY ELLIS
“I think I forgot to breathe every now and then while I was reading and really begrudged having to put the book down.” Barbara
“Holds the reader’s attention from the first word to the last.” Nicki Richards
“Riveting tale from start to finish.” Lynne
“Brilliant book which kept me gripped from page 1.” Barbara
THE DETECTIVE
DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she’s seen a girl die in her arms and her own family destroyed. She’s tough on criminals but fiercely loyal to her team.
HER PARTNER
DS Joseph Easter is the squeaky-clean member of the team. But his nickname “Holy Joe” belies his former life as a soldier. He has a daughter and an ex-wife who wants his attention.
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.
DISCOVER YOUR NEXT FAVOURITE MYSTERY SERIES NOW.
Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell.
ALSO BY JOY ELLIS
THE 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
Book 10: DARKNESS ON THE FENS
Book 11: HIDDEN ON THE FENS
Join the Joffe Books mailing list for updates on the next Joy Ellis mystery.
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 four Springer spaniels. I had been writing mysteries for years but never had the time to take it seriously. Now I write full time, and as my partner is a highly decorated retired police officer; I find I have an in-house consultant on hand to make sure that the police and judicial procedure is correct. She also makes very good tea! 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!
One comment