I enjoyed this book especially as the crime it focussed on was a cold case from 1997, I always find cold cases really intriguing!

Vicky Mott goes missing in 1997, staying at a cottage with her friends to go to a festival. It was thought at the time she was another victim of the Fellside strangler but when her skeleton is discovered nearly 20 years later the evidence Detectives Donovan and Young start to uncover start to case doubt on this theory.
I liked the two main characters and enjoyed seeing their working relationship develop, I am hoping it is the start of a series as I would be interested in reading more about them. Both have their own things going on at home but not necessarily the stereotypical detectives lives which made a refreshing change.

The story being told through each of the main detectives as well as Vicky’s POV from 1997 worked really well and helped the plot to unfold.

Overall an enjoyable read.

Highly recommended! This story was well written., and the plot was well thought out. It was not easily predictable, which I enjoyed. There were many facets of this myster that came together nicely to reveal the truth. I found the evidence that was gathered unique and realistic in a way that I have not seen done before in other books. It kept me guessing, but I could easily follow the logic and path throughout.

It is a dual timeline story: 1997 when Vicki Mott, attending a festival with friends, goes missing. She does not return from an early morning walk to watch the sunrise; and 2019 when Detective Leo Donovan and his new partner Detective Shan Young are on hand when Vicki's remains are finally brought to light 22 years later. Once Vicki's tomb was discovered, the story really took off, in my opinion. I also felt it was a nice touch that we got to know, without a shadow of a doubt, what truly happened by witnessing Vicki's side of the story.

This was my first read by Cath Staincliffe, and I daresay will not be my last! This author wove a compelling and believable mystery. I enjoyed the characters and related easily with Vicki, Elizabeth (her mother), Donovan, and Young. There were other characters that could have been developed a bit more, but it was definitely enough to carry the story on to it's conclusion. I enjoyed the path this story took.

If you like mysteries set in England, give this one a try! I am interested to see Detectives Donovan and Young develop. I haven't read a detective series in awhile, but I think I might just need to continue to follow this one!

**Thankyou to Netgalley, the publisher Joffe Books, and the author for the advanced copy received for my honest review**

THE FELLS by Cath Staincliffe.
Detectives Donovan & Young Book 1.
This was a good start to a new series. A really good read. I did like the cover and blurb. Great story and characters. I did like Detective Leo Donovan and Detective Shan Young and how they were with each other. The only thing I didn't like was that it kept going back and forwards. Twisty. Did not see that coming. I am looking forward to the next book. 4*.

In 2019 a skeleton is discovered in a twisty network of caves beneath the fells in the Yorkshire Dales. Detectives Leo Donovan and Shan Young believe the skeleton belongs to 20-year-old Vicky Mott who disappeared in 1997 while attending a music festival in the area.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing is top-notch, the characters are very real and the setting is so captivating. The story is told from the points of view of different characters, including Vicky who tells the story of what happened to her in 1997. Although I was hoping for a different ending I still give this book 4.5 stars rounded up. Any time I read a book in less than a week, it's a definite winner for me. Much as I liked the two detectives in this book I'm hesitant to start yet another series but I'll probably do it anyway.

My sincere thanks to Joffe Books via Netgalley for providing an advance copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: May 9, 2024

cold-case, Yorkshire, new-series, first-in-series, new-partners, missing-persons, 1997, 2019, dual-narrations, dual-perspectives, dual-time-frames, relationship-issues, relationships, relatives, suspense, procedural****

The skeleton in the cave is that of an 18 y/o college student who vanished 22 years ago. The story is told in both of those timelines. Rookie detective Shan Young is ethnically Chinese and female, partnered with 50 y/o DI Leo Donovan in Yorkshire. The story is as much about the professional relationship as it is about the dead girl. The plot is complex with some very sneaky twists and excellent imagery.
I requested and received a free temporary uncorrected proof copy from Joffe Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
DetectivesDonovanAndYoungBk1

The Fells is essentially a convincing, well plotted cold case police procedural but is so much more than that. It follows two timelines - 1997 when Vicky Mott was reported missing in the Yorkshire Dales; and 2019 when her remains are found by chance in an underground cave. We are introduced to a new police pairing of DI Leo Donovan and DC Shan Young and learn about their far from perfect home lives; and we learn how Vicky’s mother, Elizabeth, has spent 22 long years hoping for Vicky’s return before the heart-rending confirmation of her death. The story of the tense, gripping and twisting cold case investigation and its eventual shocking revelation is superbly written with the eloquent, lyrical descriptions of the Dales providing an evocative backdrop.

A terrific read which deserves nothing less than a 5 star review.

4* A chilling, fast paced who-done-it.

This has all the ingredients for a six-part TV series.

Human remains are found in a cave in the Yorkshire Dales, these are identified as a missing student Vicky Mott. Discovering what happened to Vicky becomes a case for DI Leo Donovan and his new partner DC Shan Young. Twenty-two years ago Vicky disappeared after going out for an early morning walk, when she didn't return it was presumed she'd became another victim of the serial killer targeting young women. During Leo and Shan's investigation, apart from the main suspect, it seems that several people might have murdered Vicky, or her death might even be an accident.

The book gives multiple points of view during Leo and Shan's investigation, as well as going back in time twenty-two years.All resulting in an emotional ending.

A police investigation that's well written and completely gripped my attention. The author supplied so many red-herrings that I was convinced first one person was the culprit, only to immediately change my mind as more clues were revealed.

eARC generously supplied by Joffe Books and NetGalley, this review is my personal, unbiased opinion.

The Fells took me there. While I've never been in real life, I felt I was there with Vicky and her friends, with Leo and Shan. I highly recommend this book, not only for the mystery, but for the characters, the landscape. This is one not to miss.

A brilliant cold case thriller and what an excellent start to a new series, based around detectives Leo and Shan, both great characters who I connected with straight away.

The story is told across two timelines, 2019 when a skeleton is discovered in a cave, and 1997, when Vicky Mott disappeared. As the detectives put together the pieces of the puzzle, we read it first hand from Vicky’s POV in the lead up to her disappearance.

I really enjoyed getting to know Leo, Shan and their families, and the balance between their personal lives and the very well written plot was spot on, with some sideline stories that I look forward to reading more about in the next book.

Fast paced, well written and tense, with a couple of killer twists - everything I look for in a great read.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Cath Staincliffe and Joffe for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I do like a British crime thriller!

In 1997, a group of friends rent a cottage so they can attend a nearby festival; waking one morning to a note from one of their number saying she had gone to watch the sunrise - but she never returned. Twenty two years later, a body is discovered - who is it? How did it get there? These are the questions that Detectives Leo Donovan and Shan Young must strive to answer.

I've recently went through a phase of re-watching old tv shows, one of which was Blue Murder written by Cath Staincliffe and it was soooo good that I went on the hunt for her latest novel. Her experience in writing crime shines through and this is a well-written, enigmatic read - I was never quite sure who the guilty party was until it was there in black and white. This is the beginning of what promises to be a terrific series, and I shall be watching out for the next one. An easy five stars, and definitely recommended.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

I absolutely love Cath Staincliffe, having read and enjoyed all of her previous novels, so I was delighted to see she had a new book out, and that it’s the first in a new crime series. I started this last night, and finished it this afternoon. I literally could not put it down, but at the same time, I didn’t want it to end.

The book is set in rural Yorkshire, and is about a young woman who went missing in 1997. The dual timeline introduces us to two detectives Leo and Shan, who I absolutely loved getting to know. We are then introduced to Vicky and her friends, and we begin to slowly piece together what happened on that tragic night 20 years before.

The writing in this book is absolutely gorgeous, I loved the descriptions of the wildlife and the beautiful countryside. I cannot wait for the next in this series and it will be an instant buy for me. I would highly recommend this, and all of Cath’s other novels too.

‘A missing woman. A cold case. A dark secret, buried deep beneath the Yorkshire Dales. ‘
I’ve read a few Cath Staincliffe novels and always enjoyed them. The Fells, probably isn’t my favourite but it’s still a good story.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

‘The Fells’ is narrated from the point of view of 4 characters: Vicky the victim, Elizabeth her mother and the two investigating detectives. All of them are fully fleshed out and we share in their hopes and disappointments extending into their personal lives. The author handles the dual timeline perfectly - most of the action occurs in 2019 when the discovery of Vicky’s remains spark a reopening of the cold case and Vicky herself recounts what occured during a weekend away in 1997 that culminates in her murder.. The investigation moves at a brisk pace and the novel is intriguing throughout. The resolution isn’t as tidy as it might be, but that makes it all the more realistic.

Love Cath Staincliffe's books and this one didn't disappoint. There is a wonderful humanity in her other fiction that's evident in this new book too. I loved the interplay between Shan Young and Leo Donovan, and also how the plot moves effortlessly between the past and present.

A fantastic start to what I hope will be another brilliant Cath Staincliffe series - this time based in rural Yorkshire.

Sincere apologies for not getting this review in before publication date - I have only just seen that I missed it. Will also review on Amazon asap. Thanks for a fab read!

This was my first Cath Staincliffe book and certainly won't be the last. Donovan and Young are an engaging detective team that are easy to root for, and the mystery kept me guessing throughout. The setting and dual timelines made it an immersive read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

This story focuses on the death of a young girl whose body is found some twenty years later. Detectives Donovan and Young, new police colleagues, are on the case. Different points of view make the plot interesting but don’t bog down the story. I enjoyed getting to know the detectives on the case and I look forward to the next novel in the series.

Shan Young is a rookie detective in Yorkshire. Ethnically Chinese, and female, she has had challenges moving up the ranks in her Anglo-dominated department. Thankfully, her partner, Leo Donovan, is kind and accepting of her and willing to share his veteran wisdom.
When the body of an eighteen year-old college student who went missing twenty-two years earlier is discovered in a cave, the two must work to patch together enough facts to explain her death. Was it an accident? Or was it murder?

The author interweaves the past and present, skillfully navigating back and forth between 1997 and 2019 – and lays out these parallel timelines and their component events through the perspectives of the assembled cast of characters: the missing girl, her bereaved mother, the girl’s college roommates, and, of course, of the detectives.

Told against the backdrop of the idyllic but sometimes troubled community of rural Yorkshire, the reader is taken on a vacillating journey that encompasses the somber, maddening reality of two public servants tasked with solving a decades-old case and the carefree weekend two decades earlier wherein college friends embarked on a sojourn to attend a music festival in the English countryside. We learn not only the details of what happened in the past but also of the current, personal struggles of those who have lived through this tragedy and of the detectives themselves, who have their own personal and family issues but who cannot ignore their responsibility to get to the bottom of everything. As each scene is told from a particular character’s point of view, the reader is able to connect the intimacy of that character’s life with the larger issue at play in the novel.

Readers of mysteries – procedural and otherwise – will be happily drawn into this well-crafted story.

Ah another English crime novel exemplary of the detailed genre which provides filler if nothing else.
While not complete crap, the novel ends up being the least interesting thing to read amongst a plethora of novels that get to the point.

Cath Staincliffe begins a new crime series set in the Yorkshire Dales, featuring 50 year old DI Leo Donovan, married to Angie, an artist currently up for an award, and a son, Luke, the cause of major worries and concerns, and his new partner, ambitious newcomer DC Shan Young, in a relationship with Erin, and 3 months pregnant. In 1997, promising drama student, Vicky Mott, arrives with a group of friends, to attend a music festival which she is loving, over the moon with the acts, in a region where the Fellside Strangler is known to operate. After leaving an early morning note left for her friends at the remote cottage they are renting, stating Gone to see the sunrise. V xxx, Vicky is never seen again.

Her grieving and devastated mother, Elizabeth, is still living in hope that somehow Vicky will turn up again after all these years, she has kept in touch through the years with 2 of her friends. In the present in 2019, a caver stumbles across some bones and a skull, Leo immediately thinks the remains are likely to be Vicky, probably a victim of the convicted strangler, Terence Bielby, now 60 years old, imprisoned in Wakefield prison. He and Shan go to interview him, a repugnant and sleazy man, who denies murdering her, but can they believe him? We are given dual timelines from 1997, that details the relationships and dynamics between Vicky and her friends, including the the troubling and paranoid Col and the developments and speculations in the cold case made by Leo and Shan in 2019.

We are additionally eventually given the perspective of Vicky on what precisely happened to her after leaving to view the sunrise that fateful morning. This is a promising beginning to a new series that introduces us to Leo, a DI who is feeling his age with his arthritis and familial issues, and a Shan who has issues in her personal relationship with Erin. I particularly enjoyed Staincliffe's rich descriptions of the Yorkshire location and the caves beneath the surface. I look forward to the next in the series. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

A new series from the ever dependable Cath Staincliffe, and very good it is too! Set in the fells of north Yorkshire, it introduces us to Detectives Donovan and Young, two interesting characters of whom I expect much! The case deals with a young woman who disappeared at a music festival in the 1990s and the discovery of a body decades later. Fascinating.