This book is the fourth in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series about the delightfully diligent DCI Oldroyd and his team solving a series a locked-room conundrums (conundra surely?) in the fictional West Riding police force. This one is set against the backdrop of a Crime Writers Festival in Harrogate, modelled very closely on the famous Theakston’s Old Peculier Writing Festival and a large part of the fun was guessing which authors Ellis might’ve based his characters on. While there are evolving storylines about the detectives, this could easily be read as a stand-alone.

Damian Penrose, a pompous and malicious but inexplicably popular crime writer, is found murdered in the historic Turkish bathhouse in Harrogate the morning after his Festival session, where several other authors have accused him of plagiarism. No one can work out how the killer escaped unnoticed, and with so many people having a motive, the police are stumped, but when other murders follow, only Oldroyd can unpick the puzzle, all while experiencing a new romance. Meanwhile his DS Steph has to cope with a predatory and possibly corrupt senior officer.

I have enjoyed all the books in this borderline-cosy Agatha Christie-inspired series, and this was no exception. It’s taken me longer than usual to read but that’s been more to do with recovery from a difficult month, and serious jet lag.
Ellis uses intriguing real locations, both historic and geographical, to great effect as a backdrop for his stories, and has fun with his characters paying homage to the great old detective series of the past, but set in contemporary times. They are well-written and comfortably paced, without too much violence. I didn’t guess the identity or motive of the killer, and while the reveal was a bit too Scooby-Doo-ish, again this was just following the Christie format of a villain who just can’t wait to explain how clever they were...

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc which allowed me to give an honest review. The Royal Baths Murder is available now.

Book Review: The Royal Baths Murder (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries #4) by J.R. Ellis

3 December 1926. Agatha Christie went missing from her home in Berkshire. Her disappearance caused an outcry amongst the public, and thousands were involved in the effort to search for her, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, On 14 December she was found at The Swan Hydropathic Hotel (now known as The Old Swan) in Harrogate, Yorkshire...

Present day. The White Swan Hotel, Harrogate, Yorkshire. The Crime Writing Festival is in full swing.

For respite from work in this idyllic town, Damian "Poison Pen" Penrose, murder mystery novelist, loved and hated in invariably equal doses by his readers and peers, enjoys visits to the Royal Baths. It was one of his few consolations "...of having to travel to the north and stay in a dull little spa town two hundred miles of north of civilization."

Early one morning, Penrose is found ruthlessly strangled at the Royal Baths...

Means, opportunity, motive.

Author J.R. Ellis certainly couldn't have chosen a more scenic and relevant stage for his murder mystery. He molds his DCI Jim Oldroyd in the finest tradition of Agatha Christie's sleuth sans pareil, Hercule Poirot, reminiscent of those bygone halcyon days when criminals talked to police without being Mirandized, and spoke and boasted (i.e. confessed) freely of their crimes caught in flagrante like a badge of honor. Not these days, though.

As in Christie's "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", the crime has many suspects, and, although restrained in comparison with today's high octane standards, the story is not without its complexities.

The narrative does provide a fascinating if limited insight into the what may be considered as the life of a proud modern Yorkshireman and his accoutrements - that indispensable pint afterdark, good food, and a few incursions into the virtual world - Facebook, online dating and even some mention of the dark web.

Excellent light reading of the old-fashioned British murder mystery flavor.

Review based on an Advance Reading Copy from Amazon Publishing UK and Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley.

Damian Penrose is a famous mystery writer attending the crime writer's festival. This is a man nobody who knows him likes him but his readers love him. He dies in the Harrogate Turkish baths with one way in and the same way out. DCI Oldroyd has his hands full with figuring this one out. The mixture of real and writer's imagination make this an interesting story from start to finish. There are other murders to follow to keep you guessing who the murderer is.

An excellent mystery, solid and well written.
I appreciated the engrossing and entertaining plot, the well written cast of characters and the setting.
I look forward to reading the next instalment.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Yorkshire town of Harrogate nice place and famous for the old roman baths which is still there and every year the town holds a writing festival which new inspiring writers come and hopefully get some insight from some of the more famous writers. Every year Damian Penrose an author of many crime thrillers and a nasty piece of works by all accounts is found dead in the steam baths. he booked it very early so he can have a session in private. DCI Jim Oldroyd divorced lives for his work and was the downfall of his marriage. has got something to get his teeth into. Looking at the crime scene he has a real puzzler as the only few people there said nobody has been down to the steam room till the masseuse went down and nobody came up! Looking for hidden exits other ways that a person can get away was indeed a headache for our DCI. How did the killer get down there and how did they get away? A very intriguing read, of course, there is more than one murder and not easy to match the dots with the twist and turns Oldroyd will not be beaten and there could also be love in the air for our DCI. An enjoyable read but methodical police procedure good characterization good area description makes you think of the Yorkshire walks, lovely part of the country.. Excellent writing.

The Royal Baths Murder - J. R. Ellis

Oh boy do I love a good, old whodunnit!! Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book.
It's 4th book with DCI Oldroyd and I really enjoyed it.

At first the book goes with a slow pace, even though the first murder happens almost immediately. Along with the murder mystery we witness the battle one of the characters has with her superior and his conduct towards women.
The writer has described the Royal Baths and the surrounding area nicely and I enjoyed that.
The plot thickens and the reveal of the culprit is depicted in a nice way... I don't want to tell more as not to give out any spoilers but as far as I'm concerned this book is a great read. Now I'm off to find other books by J. R. Ellis

This was such an amazing read that I couldn’t put it down. It went everywhere with me. To the doctors office, the dentist, the eye doctor. IT WENT ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE. I was so sad when it ended that I immediately went and bought more books from this author!

This is the 4th novel in the Yorkshire murder mysteries and is a thoroughly enjoyable read. It’s Harrogate’s annual crime writer’s festival and one of the crime writers is found murdered in the Royal Baths. DCI Jim Oldroyd is baffled as to how the murderer entered and exited without anyone seeing as there is only one way in or out from the steam rooms. If that isn’t hard enough, it appears the victim is universally hated, with a whole team of young women continuously disrupting any public appearance he makes, with accusations of plagarism. As a second body is discovered DCI Oldroyd realises they have a ruthless killer on their hands and he and DS Carter need to focus on stopping them before anything else happens. In the meantime Jim is dating again and this somewhat, sad, melancholy detective has a new spring to his step.
I thoroughly enjoyed JR Ellis’s fourth mystery, as much as all the previous novels. The writing style draws you in and keeps you hooked from the first paragraph, right to the very end. There are no crazy twists and turns and it feels like a much more authentic police procedural tale, with wonderful characters who both amuse and impress me as I read.
I look forward to DCI Oldroyd’s next big case.

The White Swan Hotel is holding its annual Crime Writing Festival. All is going well until one of the writers is discovered dead in what looks like a locked room mystery in the Victorian baths, strangled. How did the murderer get in and out without being seen. What was the motive behind the killing. DCI Oldroyd and his team investigate. Then there is another murder, will this be the last.
Meanwhile D.S Steph Johnson is unfortunately working with the obnoxious D.I. Fenton, and has her own problems to deal with.
An enjoyable well-plotted mystery story with lots of suspects. With this book I actually took to Oldroyd much more than before which made the story more interesting to read.

The Royal Baths Murder is the latest book in the DCI Jim Oldroyd series by J R Ellis and it is an enjoyable locked room mystery that is similar to many Golden Age Mysteries.

Whilst all the main characters return this book is mainly about DCI Jim Oldroyd who manages to solve a strange murder at the famous Royal Baths.

This is an enjoyable series and The Royal Baths Murder is recommended

law-enforcement, england, murder-investigation, procedural, cosy-mystery

A new favorite DCI and team!
A truly devilish plot filled with interesting characters, an abundance of plot twists and misdirection, and even some solid historical tidbits complete with caveats related to prosaic license. Ever so much better than watching on screen! The publisher's blurb is pretty good and spoilers are just wrong, so just get cozy and enjoy the mystery!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Amazon Publishing UK via NetGalley. Thank you!

The Royal Baths Murder by J. R. Ellis is an excellent police procedural book and since I haven't read one in quite a long time it was an immensely satisfying experience.

When a notorious crime author, Damian Penrose gets murdered in Turkish bath during a crime writing festival DCI Jim Oldroyd gets called in as it appears to be a unsolvable mystery. No one got in or out yet the man was strangled.

Even though this is the fourth book in the series and I haven't read previous books I still had no trouble following the story.
I really liked the main protagonist, DCI Oldroyd, his levelheadedness, intelligence and charm.

It was interesting to follow how they uncovered clues one by one, how they pieced the pieces of the puzzle to solve the mystery.
I really liked how policewomen dealt with the problematic inspector and appreciate that such a difficult yet extremely important issue has been raised.

Steady paced, with twists and turns to keep readers guessing while puzzling a very cleverly executed murder.

The Royal Baths Murder is the fourth book in this series and could be read as a standalone. This is a great mystery series with interesting characters and a fantastic storyline.

This is the first book of the series I have read but it did very well as a stand-alone book.
The story takes place in Yorkshire and deals initially with the murder of a much hated mystery writer who is a key speaker at a book festival there. It soon comes to light that there’s no dearth of suspects but his murder is also somewhat of a locked room mystery.
As the story continues there are a couple of other murders all of people associated with the festival.
I loved the DCI in charge and appreciated his dry wit and intelligence. I have read other reviews and I guess I am the only one who took exception to his woman friend whom he found online. I really didn’t see how she was needed in the story and she was annoying with her little digs about his eating habits and supposed lack of exercise even though she’s the one taking a taxi home while he walks.
I will definitely read more from this author and highly recommend this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review.

Midsommer Murders eat your heart out!

The annual Crime Writing Festival is in full swing. With some amazing writers. It is a popular event every year and people like Damian Penrose are a great draw!

However some people are dismayed by Penrose - he is accused of plagiarism and has had many affairs.

Sadly the Crime Writing Festival is rudely interrupted when author Damian Penrose is murdered at The Royal Baths.

With many enemies that he has made over the years and most of the authors at the festival. It is going to be a tough one for DCI Oldroyd and his colleague Andy to solve..

Plenty of theories circulated about his death. As it was quite puzzling. Damian went down at the Royal Baths and never surfaced. There was only one way in and one way out. How did the murderer get out or did Damian kill himself or fake his own death as a act of rebellion?

A great storyline that reminds me of Midsommer Murders!

During the course we get to find out so much about the characters, it is like being in their community.

The Crime Writing Festival is taking place in Harrogate and writers from all over England attend the week long event. Damian Penrose was an author that was famous and the most successful of the authors attending. The other authors hated him because he was very self centered. When he gets killed at the Royal Baths everyone is a suspect.
DCI Jim Oldroyd and DS Andrew Carter are called to the scene. Some how Penrose was killed in an area where no-one else was at. They have to go through the suspects which is a long list. They have to look into the past too with old lovers and wives.
This is the 4th in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series. Each one has been delightful and doesn't disappoint. I love the character DCI Oldroyd, he loves the Yorkshire region and knows the history plus other random facts including literature and odd facts.

I wish to thank the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

This is another fine entry in the Yorkshire Murder series. I have read all four books that are currently available in this series and I hope that Ellis plans more.

This is a fairly classic police procedural, featuring DCI Oldroyd, who Is both clever and intuitive. He isn’t perfect by any means, but he is human and likable,. The characters in this series are well drawn, and I have grown to care about what happens to them,

Ellis sets his books in somewhat unusual places. This book, like the others, seems well researched.

I really enjoyed this novel, and think it would appeal to anyone who likes mysteries.

Another great story from J.R. Ellis.
Centered around Harrogate and a book festival, the twists and turns are non stop through the whole book.

When Damian Penrose was murdered there was no shortage of suspects: he was a deeply unpleasant man. In fact the only surprising thing was that there wasn't more of a queue waiting to do the dirty deed. What was a bit of a headline maker was that Penrose was a crime writer and that he was strangled in the midst of Harrogate's crime writing festival. He went for a swim at the Royal Baths and never returned, his body being found by the receptionist. DCI Jim Oldroyd was the man tasked with investigating the crime. It would not be the only death, and it was only because of the quick actions of his sergeant, Andy Carter, that Oldroyd's was not one of them.

I was born in Harrogate and I go there regularly, so I didn't make any attempt to resist reading The Royal Baths Murder. J R Ellis does a splendid job of bringing the town to life, with nods to the local tourist hotspots such as Bettys Tea Rooms and the Stray. If you know the town at all, you'll be back there as you read. You might even be tempted to go further afield to Brimham Rocks, although I must confess to finding it rather frightening as a child. The first murder takes place in the Royal Baths - the place we all knew as 'the Turkish baths'. Much of the crime writing festival takes place in The White Swan Hotel: locals will realise that this is based on the Old Swan Hotel, most famous for being the place where Agatha Christie was discovered after her disappearance in 1926. What better setting could you have for a murder mystery?

Oldroyd is obviously the star of the show and he's a Yorkshireman through and through. He's also kind, clever and respected by his staff. That doesn't go for all the staff at the Harrogate Police HQ: DI Fenton is a sex pest in need of sorting out. It's the type of abuse which has been going on for decades and it shouldn't be allowed to continue. The women concerned, led by DS Steph Johnson, have their own way of dealing with it and whilst it made me smile I might have wished for a more public reckoning.

The plot is ingenious, although I did find the solution just a little too contrived. In fairness, all the clues are there - and this is a murder at a crime writing festival. I enjoyed the book as an easy, nostalgic read, and I'd certainly want to read the next in the series.

I'd like to thank the publishers for allowing Bookbag to see a review copy.

This was a classic 'whodunnit'! I enjoyed the setting especially as I have visited the baths at Harrogate in the past.so this added more authenticity to the story. I felt the characterisation was strong and gave the reader a clear sense of the dynamics between the different people. The arrogance of the central character meant there was no surprise when he was murdered. The web that ensued around his death was quite fascinating.and kept me reading. I especially enjoyed the scene around Brimham Rocks.

Overall I felt this book was a straightforward, whodunnit novel and a good read!