Today I am sharing a review by Elaine Tomasso of Hidden on the Fens. This is book 11 in the brilliant Nikki Galena series by 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
Guest Review by Elaine Tomasso
I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of Hidden on the Fens, the eleventh novel to feature DI Nikki Galena and DS Joseph Easter, set in the fictional Lincolnshire town of Greenborough.
In the course of her conservation work for a local farmer Joseph Easter’s daughter Tamsin finds a derelict cottage with signs of recent occupation. Further investigation finds a satchel full of pictures of Jennifer Cowley who disappeared 15 years previously. What is the link between the satchel and weird events at the farmer’s parents’ house and who is the other girl whose photos are mixed in with Jennifer’s?
I thoroughly enjoyed Hidden on the Fens which is an exciting read with plenty of twists and action. The novel is told from the investigative point of view through various voices with the exception of the prologue which hints at a homecoming but not much more. I like a novel that allows me to guess along with the investigation and this certainly provides much food for thought as Ms Ellis twists the reader this way and that. There is so much going on in the hunt for the intruder that you would think that would be enough but there is a subplot of the effort to nail a sexual predator. On reflection I’m not sure how believable I find the plot but there is no time to think about that as the reader rushes from one development to the next. It makes for compulsive reading.
With so many books in the series the characters are becoming like old friends. Nikki is the strong decisive leader while Joseph is the hand that steadies her. I was disappointed not to see more of Nikki’s mother, the delightfully subversive Eve, a woman of many talents.
Hidden on the Fens is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.
Read Elaine’s review on Goodreads here
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
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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!
