Saltern-Le-Fen has been hit by a crime wave that could have been ripped from the pages of a Charles Dickins novel. A modern day Fagan and his teams of young criminals are committing burglaries and mugging kids in the street. Not for their phones,wallets or jewellery but for a highly sought - after brand of clothing called Hybird X. Clothing that costs a fortune and sells for unbelievable prices. The muggings are swift and brutal,then one mugging goes wrong and a young man dies...all for the sake of his shoes.

Then another boy's body is found in a pile of rubbish,illegal steroids are flooding the streets and there appears to be suspicious,dark movements at night on the marshes.

Are the cases connected? Who is the mysterious person known only as Darke? Why are young boys mysteriously disappearing?

Jackman and his team must work fast and figure out the identity of the fiendish mastermind before anyone else dies.

DI Jackman,Marie Evans and the rest of the team are still struggling with the physical and mental damage that was inflicted on them during the Alistair Ashcroft case and the fact that they never caught him. They have vowed that they will do everything in their power to find him and are devoting as much time that they can spare into the search.With dead bodies,burglaries,muggings,illegal steroids,smuggling,missing people,no clues to the identity of their sinister adversary and Alistair Ashcroft constantly lurking at the back of their minds,the team are pushed to their limits.Even the normally unflappable Rory Wilkinson is affected by certain aspects of the investigations. Then to Marie's horror a ghost from her past reappears,hell bent on seeking revenge and making her life as hell as possible.One of the things I love about this series is the camaraderie and banter between all the members of the team.They are friends as well as colleagues,care about each other and work well together as a team.I love how each member of the team has the opportunity to contribute their own input into the investigations.I also like Rory Wilkinson the pathologist,I love his witty humour and sarcastic quips.

This gripping thriller has loads of twists and turns,keeps the reader guessing and has a unexpected twist at the end. Although this is the fogth book in the series and despite there being some references to events from the previous book,it can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone. I love this series and can't wait to find out what Joy Ellis has planned for Jackman and his team's next investigation.

DI Jackman and DS Evans are still haunted from their previous case when they are tasked to investigate a spat of organised robberies involving a designer brand called Hybird X. The case takes a darker turn when a boy is killed after his trainers are stolen.

Another boy is found in a pile of rubbish, with no identifying traits and seemingly nobody looking for him.
If that didn’t keep them busy enough illegal steroids are flooding the streets. Will Jackman, Evans and their team figure out what’s going on?

So this is the fifth in Jackman and Evans series and to be honest you could read it as a stand-alone but I would recommend reading the previous book, The Guilt Ones, just because some elements of the story line do carry over.

Poor Jackman and Evans, they are really struggling! Jackman is suffering from low spirits after the escape of Alastair Ashcroft and compounded by the break up of his relationship. Evans is still struggling with her leg injury and to make matters worse an old nemesis who she thought she’d seen the last of pops up again, intent on making her life a misery.

There’s several different perspectives in the book including a runaway by the name of Mossy who’s story I found the most compelling. He’s smart but also neglected and thinks the only way he can help his friend Alice out of an abusive situation is to join the gang.

I have to be honest this started off a little slower in pace than the previous book. Also while I thought the designer clothes theft angle is original it just takes a little bit of time to wrap my head around (which Joy Ellis does make clear at the beginning of the book!) especially when I didn’t realise the clothes were called Hybird X not Hybrid X until about ten chapters in even though it was mentioned several times.

Overall The Stolen Boys is an original and engaging story with character you can’t help caring about, that will take you on a surprisingly emotional journey.

I’m a big Joy Ellis fan so wanted to read The Stolen Boys but after reading the publishers blurb I kind of had some reservations. I mean how interesting can a book about stolen clothes be? Boy was I wrong, this book was great, there was a lot of different sides to it and lots of twists that kept me guessing. It’s a lot more than stolen clothes, it’s about greed, poverty and depravity and there was more than one storyline that kept me interested and engaged and reading for hours at a time.

Joy Ellis made this book come alive, she has the knack of being able to draw you in to the story, her way of describing the characters and situations are very realistic and I found myself holding my breath on more than one occasion as the tension in the book mounted.

There is absolutely no way I saw the ending of this book coming, it blew me away, I was hanging on to every word literally turning pages so quickly I could hardly keep up. It was so riveting I couldn’t put it down. Mind blowing!

I have read some fantastic books this year and this is up there with the best of them, easily in my top 10 of 2018. That’s pretty good going considering I have read almost 100 books so far this year. I highly recommend The Stolen Boys, this is Joy Ellis at her best, weaving a web of intrigue, pulling you in and not letting you go until you reach the end exhausted but thoroughly satisfied.

If you want to read one more book this year, or give a book for Christmas, make it The Stolen Boys you won’t be disappointed!

Jackman and Evans are my favorite from Ms. Ellis. Don't get me wrong, because Nikki Galena is good also, but I do love Jackman! I was telling my mom about this series, and they asked their library to get it! I didn't much care for the last Ellis book, but that is going to happen. Funny thing is that this one kinda struck my fancy. I'm a woman who has a shoe fetish. Big surprise! I wear button fly Levis, cheap cotton tees, but my shoes. Dear lord, my shoes. Oh, were you expecting expensive heels? Um, no..I LOVE MY NIKE BASKETBALL KICKS! I've spent more on my b.b. shoes than I spend in clothes, make-up,etc...So this story struck my fancy. As always, Joy's tales have a few different investigations going on. Nothing is ever what it seems, but somehow it all comes.together. Also, the Fens? I must see this one day!

Excellent book with a great storyline. Characters that are so well written. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

I really enjoy the Jackman and Evans series and this is another excellent read. This is told in the third person and works really well. Another great success for Joy Ellis with clever writing and good character development. Thanks to Net Galley for my copy. Reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and Facebook.

The Stolen Boys by Joy Ellis is another compelling mystery featuring DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans.

Young men are being attacked and their expensive designer clothing items stolen and resold. Hybird X street designs fetch thousands of pounds and stolen resale items fetch even more. When one of these attacks results in the unintentional death of a young man wearing Hybird X street clothes, Jackman's team is all in. At the same time an influx of illegal steroids has become a problem in the area.

There are many strands woven into this latest Saltern-le-fen installment: the above two investigations, the Fagin-like use of young people as both spotters and thieves, human trafficking, a resurgence of enthusiasm to locate Alistair Ashcroft, and the addition to the force of an old enemy of Marie Evans. Somehow it all works.

As usual, Ellis makes the most of her characters. Members of the Jackman team, no matter how minor, always feel genuine. Minor characters like Tommy, Mossy, and Daisy Cotterhill are fleshed-out and engaging, and make you worry about their fates.

Joy Ellis is one of my favorite mystery/detective fiction writers for both this series and her series featuring Nikki Galena. Both are set in the fens which always becomes a minor character.

NetGalley/Joffe Book
Mystery/Thriller. Oct. 12, 2018. Print length: 305 pages.

Brilliant addition to this great series. Jackman & Evans fresh from the troubles of The Guilty Ones are back. There’s a lot going on in this book with a few plots to follow but Joy Ellis’s great writing keeps it easy to follow and gripping at the same time. Colleagues old and new feature and the sub plots bubble along nicely too

This is a big novel that follows several lines of investigation, but it's not difficult to keep track. The characters are strong and distinctive, the plot and story are very good and there is little "dead meat". Unfortunately, it does not paint a nice picture of British parenting.

Another great read in the DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans series, which in my opinion should be read in order to benefit from the background information on the characters. It is a great team and they work well together but for Marie, a spanner is about to be thrown into the works and it leaves her reeling and upset. Jackman however, has a surprise of a different kind which gives him a massive boost in his private and working life. There's so much going on in this book, in my opinion it's the best so far.

5 stars

DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans have become aware of a rash of clothing robberies in which the owners of the clothing have been injured. Now, a young man has been killed for his designer shoes. Clothing? Good grief what is Saltern-le-Fen coming to?

They are also determined to capture Alistair Ashcroft who badly injured both Jackman and Evans in the past.

This is a remarkable novel that takes a different approach to crime. People being killed over their choice of clothing? Or rather, being killed so that others could steal their clothes? Who knew that sneakers, etc. could be worth so much money – and even more on resale? At the same time Jackman, Evans and the rest of the team have other investigations on the go as well.

This novel is very well written and plotted as are all of Joy Ellis’ books. Even with several investigations on the go, the reader never gets confused. The novel reads linearly and logically. I like Jackman and Marie, as well as the rest of the team. It is nice to see the two of them getting along and working so well together without sex intruding in the relationship. I truly enjoy reading her novels and look forward to each new book coming out.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read, enjoy and review.

DI Jackman and DS Marie Evans are facing a crime wave, the likes of which they've never seen before.

Houses are being burgled, young men mugged on the streets. Who knew what fashion could cause. The target is a special brand of street wear, clothing that costs a fortune and resells for even more. A young man is killed .. for his shoes. And then another boy's body is found in a pile of rubbish.

On top of all this, illegal steroids have hit the streets. Are they connected in any way to the clothing heists? Jackman and Evans are searching for a man called Darke. They have a suspicion that he and his band of young criminals may be behind it all.

So who is Darke ... where did he come from .... what does he want?

As with all this author's books, they are sheer page turners with fast paced, action packed stories. The characters are finely drawn. I love how they've changed and matured since the inception of Book 1 in this series. Although this is the 5th book, this is easily read as a stand alone, However, I do recommend starting at the very beginning.

Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Netgalley / Books n All Book Promotions / Jill Burkinshaw for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

An absolute non stop read, could not put this down and found I had finished the book in under 3 hours, for all fans of the fens series this is a must read

I've never been let down by Joy Ellis, and this is no different. A really good detective story with DI Jackman heading the team. As always there are lots of actions going on to the side of the main story. In this book we are shown that very, very few people are all good or all bad - but there are exceptions.

A definite 5 star book as far am I'm concerned.

The premise of male fashion certainly gives this book a unique angle. Another decent instalment in this well established series but I would have preferred to know what happened to more of the characters. Cliffhanger conclusion is the perfect set up for the next instalment.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of The Stolen Boys, the fifth novel to feature DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans set in the Lincolnshire Fens.

It’s all quiet at the Saltern-le-Fen nick so Jackman arranges for his team to have a go at finding Alistair Ashcroft, the one who escaped them in a previous novel but before they can start a youth is murdered for his Hybird X designer trainers, part of a crime wave targeting the exclusive brand. Current cases take priority so with the clothing thefts, a second murder and steroid smuggling the team have their hands full and the hunt for Ashcroft has to go on the back burner.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Stolen Boys which, as with all Ms Ellis’s novels, is an exciting and absorbing read with plenty of twists and turns. I really admire her skill in drawing all the disparate threads of her narrative into a cohesive whole. It should be noted, however, that it is, at points, a violent, brutal novel with some stomach churning scenes. I’m not normally squeamish but I found some of the cruelty implied sickening. Unfortunately most of it is very believable and none of it gratuitous as Ms Ellis allows the reader’s imagination to fill in the detail. I like the way the novel starts with a fairly “routine” crime and broadens out into something much darker as the team investigate.

The novel is told in the third person from various points of view, giving the reader a much wider perspective than the police have. Mostly I’m not a fan of this approach, finding it distracting and sometimes confusing, but in this novel it works extremely well as each character has their own story and angle and such is the pacing of the novel that the reader is pulled in quickly to the intrigue of each character’s situation and then desperate to know what will come next.

Ms Ellis makes the point at the start of the novel that it may strain the reader’s credulity that designer clothes could be worth stealing but I have to say it all seems plausible to me in our mad, modern world and she certainly makes a good case for it, my only quibble being that I could see it more in a big city than a rural setting where money is often tight.

As usual the author incorporates the personal life of her protagonists into the novel so Marie Evans is in for a rough time when a ghost from her past reappears. I liked the drama of the scenario and think that it is well done but found the resolution trite and unconvincing.

The Stolen Boys is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Joy Ellis writes great crime fiction and never disappoints.. This is true for The Stolen Boys, her latest addition to the DI Jackman and DS Marie Evans series, with the police team still suffering the harrowing effects of the serial killer Alastair Ashcroft. In this compelling novel, a highly expensive streetwear brand, Hybird X, becomes a wanted prize. This leads to shocking efforts to acquire the desirable items which command such a high price, murder. Jackman's police team are determined, working well together and supporting each other as they cope with the influx of illegal steroids, break ins and so much more. This is a hugely compelling police procedural, with twists and turns that raise tension and suspense in this cracking story. Great read.

My first encounter with Jackman and Evans in this enthralling story, unfortunately it appears to be the last in the series. Hopefully will be able to catch up with these detectives in their earlier stories. Another great story by Joy Ellis