When a group of friends play at being Goths and visit an escape room in the stunning Yorkshire town of Whitby they have a horrifying night, which leaves one of them dead and leads another to commit suicide. Is this murder really what it seems, though?

Luckily, one of the friends, Louise, has a father who is a police officer who thinks that there is more to the case. He investigates together with other police officers, including the sympathetic Stephanie, who is friendly with Louise. His investigation takes him from Yorkshire to Leeds to London, on a trail involving several red herrings and odd characters...It helps if you have read Dracula, though! I have read Frankenstein, but not Dracula.

An exciting story, engaging characters, vivid descriptions of the dramatic Yorkshire scenery and allusions to Dracula kept me reading late into the night. It was hard to guess the conclusion! I will definitely read more of J.R. Ellis's books!

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is the first book that I’ve read by J R Ellis. It won’t be last. It is a very easy reading book. I loved Oldroyd’s quirky working ethic but it certainly brings results. And his daughter obviously shares his enquiring mind. Although it nearly got her into trouble this time. Thank goodness for Steph!
And Andy and Steph have a lovely developing relationship. Even though this is the first one I’ve read I didn’t feel that I didn’t know what was going on. And I will be reading more.
Whitby and Dracula obviously go well together and it’s nice that Whitby Jet even gets a mention. Having been there it’s easy to imagine the goings on.
I can’t wait to read others

This book started out with a great premise. It just did not make the 5 star grade. It had a great murder scene and then was slow and repetitive in execution. I found it easy to figure out the murderer and wondered how the modern forensics could have missed a big clue.

I am a fan of all things British.. movies, TV series, thrillers.. famous detectives etc. Thus,, I really enjoyed The Whitby Murders.
The lead detective is an unusual character and his staff complements him. The story line was thin.. not really believable .. but fun to try and solve the puzzle of who done it. A light read, a pleasant romp, a clever premise.. read on.

This book was well written and entertaining and a quick read.

This genre doesn't really appeal to me though. It is written with a much younger crowd in mind.

Would I recommend this book? Certainly.

This is the sixth book in the DCI Oldroyd series, but only the second that I have read so the characters are all still a little new to me. This book is set in Whitby, a coastal town in northern Yorkshire which is known for being a setting in Bram Stoker's "Dracula". The town capitalizes on this by hosting goth weekends where aficionados of goth and steampunk gather. Oldroyd's young adult daughter is attending the festival weekend with friends. They are going through an escape house with a Dracula theme when the unthinkable happens. A couple that is in the friends group has been fighting and while they are in one of the rooms, Dom stabs his girlfriend Andrea. Everyone is in shock as Dom flees the room. Another friend runs to Andrea and she dies in his arms. Oldroyd's daughter Louise calls him in to help with the investigation because she can't believe what she has seen.

What I enjoyed most about this story was the unique setting. It made me very curious about the town of Whitby, the whole Dracula backstory, and the Goth weekends that actually happen there. I enjoyed the previous book in this series that I read, so I was willing to go along with the story and see where it went. Like other reviewers, I found the plot a bit outlandish. First, would another detective be able to go to another jurisdiction and tell them how to run the case? It seems unlikely, even though Oldroyd had a previous relationship with the detective in charge. Also, the fact that detectives would be willing to investigate what seems to be such a clear cut case with several witnesses stretches belief, but is of course the reason for the mystery.

I found this a pleasant read and I was willing to suspend belief with the questions above, and just go with the story. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Amazon Publishing UK for allowing me to read this ARC.

Having developed a fondness for show from the UK, I have also along with stories. This is also the first time I've read this author. In this it has the time being Halloween bringing mayhem and murder. DCI Jim's daughter Louise being a witness to that murder. Old Roy and DS Carter are called in to the case along with help from Louise. They don't have a easy trail or straight forward set of clues either. Then there is not just one murder but more so that this will have us turning the pages in anticipation.

This is the first installment of the Yorkshire series I have read so perhaps that is the reason I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped The personal lives of the characters took away from the mystery portion of the book., which was interesting, although I found the investigation far-fetched and cumbersome. However, I continued reading to see why the murders were committed (which ended up being a Scooby Doo-like overview). The setting with the Goth/Dracula vibe playing a large part in the story added a fun, unique feel to the story . Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Interesting mystery. Starts a bit slow but enjoyable for British mystery fans. Apparently part of a series. I have not read the previous books.

Has promise, but too heavy on exposition and expository writing. A good weekend or beach read for a casual reader; mystery fans will guess the ending quickly.

A wonderful summer read that will keep you occupied for hours. I couldn’t put it down until I finished. The story is well written and the plot is easy to follow. I enjoyed the detective which reminded me of the great Inspector Morse series. I look forward to more from this author.

I've read several of the earlier books in this series, and found this one the best so far.

Set in Whitby during the Goth festival, this book ties in the town's true connection with the Dracula story to a murder that occurred in an escape room. DCI Jim Oldroyd's daughter Louise is enjoying the puzzle of the room with several friends, when one of the group, Dominic, stabs his girlfriend Andrea in front of them all.

Louise calls in her father to help investigate, as she is sure that all is not what it seems.

I'm not sure that the police would truly continue to investigate this (and the other murders that occur) from the initial evidence - which appeared very clear cut. The investigation seems a little off too, as civilians are allowed to be involved. But aside from this I found the book an enjoyable tale. Plenty of good twists and turns keep you guessing. The relationships between Oldroyd and his ex-wife, and his current interest Deborah added to the story. The setting itself adds plenty of atmosphere to the story.

A bizarre murder/suicide occurred at a Goth festival in the Yorkshire town of Whitby near Halloween. DCI Jim Oldroyd is asked by his daughter, who witnessed it, to come help. Oldroyd's offer to help the local police is gratefully accepted and the case benefits from the senior officer's experience and expertise. This is an interesting story but the writing is rather wooden and the author explains far too much instead of letting the action speak for itself. Still, it's such and interesting plot, and the location is so well described that the book is worth reading. It's the sixth in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series.

DCI Jim Oldroyd’s daughter Louise is in town with friends Maggie, Ben, Dom and Andrea for a Goth festival. The group decide to enter an Escape Room game-3 rooms and one hour to find clues and the key to escape.
In the second room Dom and Andrea argue, there’s a murder with witnesses, Louise is immediately suspicious. The Escape Room supervisor Elaine and ‘Dracula’ Owen are worried for their jobs but helpful.
Louise asks her father to come to Whitby and assist with solving the crime, she’s relieved when he suspects that there is more to this story than a cut and dried murder. Everyone’s a suspect, investigations take time, there are more murders uncovered. A visit to the house that Andrea inherited from her aunt uncovers a missing painting, the key to the murderer!
A devastating close call for Louise and finally those responsible for the horror in Whitby are exposed.

I enjoyed the way this mystery unravelled, so many different scenarios to be considered, a book that keeps you wondering whodunnit! The murderer wasn’t revealed until the very end of the story. Well written!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Let me start by saying that I've never read any of the earlier books in the series, so I was not familiar with the recurring characters.
I didn't enjoy this book very much. The dialogue was very stilted, the characters a bit one-dimensional and the plot pretty convoluted. Maybe if I'd been more invested in the characters back story I would have enjoyed it more, but I don't think so.

I am new to this author and really should not have started with book 6, but The Whitby Murders turned out to be an entertaining and easy to read cozy mystery, even without knowing what has happened before. The book was enjoyable and I did like the characters will look into previous books.

This book felt like an Agatha Christie type novel where as Agatha's detective's would gather the suspects together, Oldroyd managed to arrest the murderers but in a similar vein to Agatha Christie's books, Oldroyd got the murderer to confess everything.

The chapters I found very long and the same ground is covered over several times, whilst being retold to and by different characters throughout the story.

DCI Jim Oldroyd is an old friend by now. I've read all novels in these series. But have to admit from the start, this one, the 6 installment, has let me wanting. It felt like reading TV scrip or even script for voice-over.

The characters remained the same. I loved Oldroyd and his team, his daughter. Introducing new characters worked as well. But the relationships, the development, moving from one place to another, from one event to another... I found it to be a bit to 'white noisy'.

Anyhow, The Whitby Murders is an interesting read if you like crime, English countryside, Halloween and all things Dracula. Yes, this story is set on Halloween eve at the place where Dracula supposedly arrived when he came to England. And it all rolls from here.

On the surface, there is a murder, a suicide and a body in the dumpster. But Oldroyd would not be Oldroyd if he did not see beyond the surface, especially if his own daughter is involved.

Reader gets a very twisted story of human nature and things people are capable of. At the end of it all, Dracula and his creator Bram Stokes would have been able to imagine the evil and cunning and audacity of young people in this story.

The Whitby Murders reads like a Murder She Wrote made for TV movie. I could see the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries being made into a television series.. Book 6, in particular, would be more engaging, had you read the books that came before in the series.
This outing takes you to the coastal town of Whitby where a goth festival is taking place with tourist dressing up to get into the spirit. A group of friends meet up at a spooky escape room where one of the friends stabs another friend from within the group in plain view of all, thus starts the mystery. One of the friends is Louise, the daughter of DCI Jim Oldroyd. The reader assumes he is in all the earlier books. He takes on the case. Why he does so makes no sense as it appeared open and shut and happened in front of several witnesses. But his daughter feels something is off about it all.
It's all mildly entertaining.

This book kept me guessing. Every time I thought I knew who the murderer was I was proven wrong. An easy read and I had a difficult time putting it down.