With two cases to work simultaneously, retired police officers turned private detectives Matt and Liz enlist Liz’s nephew David to try to make sense of a bag of torn papers that belonged to a murdered bag lady. Meanwhile they’re not having any success trying to find a repeat runaway they’re trying to find. I like the additional characters drawn in to complete the team needed to follow all of the twists and turns, their stories and motivations bring them together as each use their strengths to save young lives, and to figure out what Molly the Bag Lady was trying to say before her death. The atmosphere is great, the watery fens and marshlands, and small villages, some seemingly stuck in the past and unwelcoming to outsiders. Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy, this is a great addition to the series, I look forward to the next, and hope to see more of Gunner!

IT WAS AMAZING
An abandoned carpet bag, a pile of handwritten notes, the clues in the notes hold shocking secrets that go back many years ago to give readers the most disturbing fascinating read ever from this best selling author.
DCI Matt Ballard book six.
Private detective Matt and Partner Liz Haynes who found the bag find they are owned By Homeless poor old Molly who is found dead. In the remote village Marshdyke-st-Mary with a runaway teenager again Liam Cooper, and another dead body found on the Fens, these two are kept far to busy in their retirement and Liz calls in her nephew David.
OH WOW I was hooked a lot of bends a lot of clues, a lot of turn arounds, the book is packed with so much going on as you start every chapter.
Very Very clever work has gone into this book that the author once again strives, to become better and better, it's like a addiction for me, every time I find a new book coming she certainly never lets down her readers. Another best selling book in the making in all that she will achieve with her talent.

Another excellent mystery from Joy Ellis in the Matt Ballard series. Multiple threads running through make it a rollercoaster ride. The remote mystery of the Fens adds an air of menace to these stories and plays a big part in the plots of these novels. I couldn’t put it down, it was one of those late night,early morning reads. Always the sign of a good book for me.

I enjoyed this book. It did feel a little like it was going in circles in the middle but soon got back on track. This book is a complex story, the characters are richly developed and intriguing. The cause of the bad things is not something you read about and a hard mystery to crack. Well worth the read. #TheBagofSecrets #NetGalley

Matt and Liz have left the police but are still working closely with them as private detectives.
Liz is given a bag of letters and papers which are believed to belong to an old homeless lady called Old Molly. then Molly is found murdered.
Matt is searching for a missing teenager.
Could the two be linked and can they solve a mystery stretching back years before there are more victims?

A massive Joy Ellis fan and love Matt and Liz, another fantastic ( guess who, what, where, when ) book. Enjoyed the extra characters, David especially and couldn’t wait to keep picking it up! Thoroughly enjoyed and as always would recommend

A bag left in the library intrigues investigator Liz Haynes. The bag was deliberately abandoned near a friendly librarian by Old Molly, a local homeless woman who is found dead the next morning. Liz thinks the papers in it may be the start of a book or clues to a mystery. Her partner Matt Ballard has doubts but he agrees to let Liz’ young nephew David see if he can piece anything together. He can and what he finds leads them on the trail of a professionally trained musician, a missing teenage boy, a criminal plot and a town bound by generational secrets.

Joy Ellis is a master of the procedural thriller and The Bag of Secrets is no exception. The familiar characters, Liz, Matt and David, are joined by a new memorable addition in the overly confident, judgmental DC Darren Norton. Although I thought parts of The Bag of Secrets strained belief and the ending wrapped up too quickly, these flaws were outweighed by a multi-layer plot and atmospheric locations in the fen. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Joffe Books and Joy Ellis for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of The Bag of Secrets, the sixth novel to feature former DI turned PI Matt Ballard and his partner, former DS Liz Haynes, set in the Lincolnshire fens.

Liz comes home with a bag full of papers left in the library by Molly, a homeless woman who has disappeared. The next day Molly is found murdered and Liz is convinced that the clues lie in her papers. She enlists the help of her nephew, David, to go through them, while Matt continues with their other job, looking for missing teenager Liam Cooper.

I enjoyed The Bag of Secrets, which has a convoluted plot with plenty of twists and turns. I was less enthusiastic about the ending, which, I confess, I didn’t really understand and, I felt, left too many loose ends, fodder, perhaps, for a future novel in the series. Still, the journey to get there was interesting and held my attention.

There are two plots, the hunt for the motive behind Molly’s murder, which, in turn, should lead to the murderer and the hunt for Liam Cooper, a habitual runaway who has vanished without leaving his usual clues. Each plot is highly unlikely, but entertaining nonetheless, so who cares? Molly has left a series of opaque clues that they must follow, while Liam’s disappearance is shrouded in rumour and innuendo. Both are big cases and the police have no manpower to spare, so they enlist an assortment of helpers, all with different skills and backgrounds. It works well with the additional characters and skills.

The Bag of Secrets is a good read that I can recommend.

Detective Matt Ballard #6

Matt and Liz have retired from the police, but that doesn't guarantee a quiet life.

Matt is intrigued when Liz brings home an old carpet bag she found dumped in the local library. It contains a pile of mysterious handwritten notes. Liz is convinced the bag belongs to Old Molly, a local woman who lives on the streets. The following day, a body is discovered in a marshy lagoon. It's Old Molly. Suffocated with an expensive handkerchief.

I was quickly pulled into this story. I like Matt and Liz, they work well together. They are trying to decipher the cryptic notes left in a carpet bag belonging to Old Molly, a homeless woman. The bag was filled with these notes. They think Molly was hiding something. There is also a missing teenager that Matt is trying to find. I quite enjoy this series. The characters are likable, the pace is fast, and I like the author's writing style. This book can be read as a standalone.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #JoffeeBooks and the author #JoyEllis for my ARC of #TheBagOfSecrets in exchange for an honest review

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for the eARC.
Liz brings home a carpet bag full of written notes left in the library by Moly, an old homeless woman. She shows it to Matt, who's still busy trying to find a missing boy who's parent's hired the Detective Agency. Liz is determined to find out what Molly has written on all those random pieces of paper, especially when Molly's murdered body is found.
With the help of a team of good friends they manage to solve both cases in a very thrilling book. I have subsequently downloaded 3 more
books in the series!

The Bag of Secrets is the 6th in the Matt Ellis series. I enjoyed this more than some of the recent books in the series. Matt is working on the case of a missing teenager. The boy has gone missing before, so the police don’t expend a lot of effort in the case. Meanwhile, Liz is given a carpet bag left in the library. The bag belonged to a homeless woman who had gone missing. Soon enough, her body is found and she’s been murdered.
Both stories were equally engaging. And I adored that the investigation became almost a community effort, that so many people (and dogs) were committed to bringing the murderer to justice. This was just a feel good story. But it’s also a darn good, fast paced plot. One part of the story is left hanging, which has me wondering if it will pop up again in a later book.
I love that Joy Ellis shares characters across her series. So one of my favorites, pathologist Rory Wilkerson, makes an appearance here and is his normal charming self.
Although part of a series, I feel this could be read as a stand-alone.
My thanks to Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of this book.

I love all of Joy Ellis’ books, but I do believe this is the best yet. I love the cast of characters the detectives have surrounded themselves with and hope some of them appear again in future books. Plenty of my favourite pathologist in here too., which is always a good thing. Great story and a timely reminder that people living on the streets all have their own stories.

A fascinating and intriguing read. The author was inspired to write this by a homeless character she knew from her childhood. I liked the attention to detail, as in being homeless Molly had to use the free pen provided by the bank to write her secrets. I thought it cleverly crafted with parallel investigations merging neatly together. One not to be missed.

This is what i would call a cosy murder mystery. Well written characters and enough twists, turns and red herrings to keep the reader on there toe's.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Matt and Liz are such great additions to Ellis’ stable of characters and this is a terrific new chapter in their ongoing saga. It is so satisfying to return to their world and find yet another gripping mystery which is well written, features excellent dialogue and has attention to detail to support the reader in travelling along the path with all the characters.

Ellis has another winner! Complex murder mystery with so many twists and turns and red herrings you won't stop turning the page. Definitely addictive with a strong cast of unlikely characters and intertwining plots that all weave together.

I always read Joy with a cuppa and some chocolate. The characters are well established and familiar. The tale not so grim as others I read and it’s like a nice break from the gore into a cosy mystery. Loved it….as always ♥️♥️

The Bag of Secrets by Joy Ellis is a new crime thriller that has an interesting storyline, good suspense, and interesting characters. The author writes in a way that immerses the reader in the scenes and locale.

The book's premise is that Matt and Liz may have retired from the police, but that doesn’t guarantee a quiet life. An abandoned carpet bag full of mysterious handwritten notes. A body in a marshy lagoon.

Matt is intrigued when his partner Liz brings home an old carpet bag she found dumped in the local library. It contains a pile of mysterious handwritten notes. Liz is convinced the bag belongs to Old Molly, a local woman who lives on the streets.

The following day, a body is discovered in a marshy lagoon. It’s Old Molly. Molly clearly knew something that got her killed. Liz believes she was trying to tell them something important. Matt and Liz must piece together the cryptic clues Molly has left for them before more people die.

I was able to read this book in one sitting. It held my interest and I liked getting to know these characters.

I will need to go and check out more books by this author and her other series.

#THEBAGOFSECRETS #NetGalley @JoffeBooks

An interesting title and found the plot also interesting from the beginning.
I was intrigued as was Liz and Matt above an old tapestry carpet bag.
belonging to a bag lady who frequented the library.
Upon opening for the day was found lying on the floor.
Stacks of papers were inside, a grocery list, on the back side was a message.
This continues as Matt pulled papers out, a journal, or writing a book, perhaps.
The mystery and surprises as they unravel the messages on the papers
Given arc by Net Galley and Joffe for my voluntary review