Member Reviews

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

"Echoes on the Fens" by Joy Ellis is an electrifying and suspenseful crime thriller. Ellis, a master of the genre, brings her signature blend of intricate plotting, atmospheric settings, and complex characters to this latest installment in the DI Nikki Galena series.

The novel is set in the hauntingly beautiful yet eerie landscape of the Fens, which serves as the perfect backdrop for a story filled with tension and intrigue. When a series of chilling murders rocks the quiet community, Detective Inspector Nikki Galena and her team are called in to unravel the mystery. As they delve deeper into the investigation, they uncover a web of secrets and lies that stretches back decades, with echoes of the past reverberating through the present.

Ellis's writing is evocative and immersive, capturing the desolate beauty of the Fens and the palpable sense of dread that permeates the story. Her ability to create a vivid sense of place adds an extra layer of intensity to the narrative, making the setting almost a character in its own right.

The plot is expertly crafted, with each twist and turn meticulously placed to keep readers on the edge of their seats. Ellis's pacing is impeccable, balancing moments of high tension with quieter, introspective scenes that allow for character development and deepening of the emotional stakes. The characters, particularly Nikki Galena, are well-rounded and compelling, with their personal and professional struggles adding depth and authenticity to the story.

"Echoes on the Fens" is its exploration of themes such as guilt, redemption, and the impact of the past on the present. Ellis deftly weaves these themes into the fabric of the narrative, creating a story that is thrilling and thought-provoking and emotionally resonant.

"Echoes on the Fens" is a masterfully crafted crime thriller that showcases Joy Ellis's talent for creating gripping and atmospheric stories. It is a must-read for fans of the genre and anyone who enjoys a well-plotted mystery. This novel will leave readers eagerly anticipating the next adventure of DI Nikki Galena and her team, as they continue to navigate the dark and enigmatic world of the Fens.

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I just finished reading "Echoes on the Fens" by Joy Ellis, and I can't stop raving about it! This book is a masterclass in suspense and character development. From the very first page, I was drawn into the eerie atmosphere of the fens and couldn't put it down. The plot twists kept me guessing until the very end, and Joy's vivid descriptions made me feel like I was right there with the characters. If you're a fan of gripping mysteries that leave you on the edge of your seat, you absolutely need to pick up this book! It's an unforgettable read that truly showcases Joy Ellis's talent as an author!

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If you enjoy a good well written police procedural with a great cast of characters then you need to check out Joy Ellis. She has several series but my favourite has to be those books featuring D.I Nikki Galena and her team. As soon as I saw that this book included Nikki's mother, Eve Anderson, I knew it was going to be a real adventure with plenty of tension. This story really plays on the reader's emotions, one minute I was on the edge of my seat with my heart in my mouth and the next I was reaching for the tissues.The identity of the murderer came as a total shock and the motive was even more of a twist. As always this author delivers a 5 star read so if you haven't come across her before you are in for a treat.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy - even if I missed that opportunity and ended up buying the book! It might be story 15 but, other than the continuation of Nikki and Joseph's personal relationship, it's easily read as a stand alone. Excellent storyline, set in the Fens as usual - murders present and different, history, sleuthing by the admirable Eve and Wendy, lovely Team spirit, beautiful descriptions of the evocative landscape, sense of place and community. Complex but the author just makes the story flow.

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would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

well i didnt realise it was book 15 and though i needed to learn a whole lot of characters that interacted really well i did manage to get the gist of their relationships and i found the book so well written and enjoyable that it didnt matter this was my first book by this author

i fell into the book and loved it... the whole concept and mystery and the red herrings galore and i was surprised at the ending and who it actually was.... so blindsided by that but thats a good thing always kept guessing and not knowing what was going to happen....

will be looking out for more of this authors books

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So this is a well established series that has escaped me up until now, this was book 15 for DI Nikki Galena.

There was alot of different threads going on in this plot, but the short sharp chapters and the detailed writing and developed characters meant that the author weaved everything together to reach a satisfying conclusion.

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This is the second book I have read in the DI Nikki Galena Mystery series, and I tore through it. Well, maybe not at the highest rate of speed but I never felt my interest lapse. Ellis weaves the story together through her characters which are solidly maintained from the previous installment.

Simply said, if you enjoy police procedurals, murder mysteries, strong and very realistic characters you should enjoy this series by Joy Ellis. Her writing is solid, her characters are believable, the setting is interesting, and the plot and its tangents have just enough of this and that and round and back to make you doubt whether you have really figured it out.

Thanks to Joffe Books and NetGalley for a copy.

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Not only does the Fen team have an apparent murder made to look like suicide, they have a hit and run, and then a murder. All roads seem to lead to one person connected to them all. But she is getting death threats. This part of the story was a roller coaster read- who could want all these people dead, and why is the Claire the victim? What didn't work for me was the Nikki and Joseph personal chaos.maybe because I haven't read all the books in the series, but it just seemed to slow the plot and divert the reader from the cases at hand, and it's ultimate solution seemed weird and something higher ups would have said long ago in their relationship, and it was like trying to add rom comm to a procedural, and it didn't work for me. But the rest of the book was well played by the author, so 4.5 stars.This is book 15 of the Nikki Galena series..

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Over a period of three days, there have been three seemingly unrelated murders. It's unthinkable! We're talking about the Lincolnshire Fens: great open skies brood over marshes, farmland, and nature reserves. Things like that just don't happen in the Fens! Making things even worse, there are no clues or suspects.

I will confess to being quite confused at the beginning of Echoes on the Fens. The number of characters overwhelmed me. The only people I remembered from the previous book were Nikki and her bio mom, Eve! However, I stuck with it because I had enjoyed #14 so much, and I'm glad I did.

Nikki, and her secret love, Joseph, started coming up with a list of suspects, and before anyone knew it, that list had more names on it than Carter had little pills!! Every time I thought I knew where the storyline was headed, I was wrong! As I did in the previous book, I still love Eve and her best friend, Wendy. I must also say I fell totally in love with that moose of a dog, Bernie!

My only complaint is I felt there was a little too much talk of coffee and/or food. But back to the positives, my favorite line in the entire book was when Joseph asked "Is it me or has Greenborough become the epicenter of every weird death in the entire Fens?" I love it when a bit of humor is thrown in to books.

I highly recommend Echoes on the Fens for lovers of crime mysteries and police procedurals.

Thank you #JoffeBooks for providing this book for review consideration via #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

#EchoesOnTheFens #Mystery #PoliceProcedurals #JoyEllis

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This is such a great series! The setting is always such an important part of the mysteries, and I love that. No boring, long descriptions, just eerie and unusual places that have histories that inform the modern events.

This is a complex, well-plotted mystery. There's so much going on, and there are many present-day crimes and some past crimes as well. It could be very confusing, but Ellis does a great job of keeping things straight as she pulls readers along in many different directions.

The only downside to me? The solution--finally!--to Nikki and Joseph's personal dilemma, which has been going on for many, many books, feels pretty obvious. Seriously, was this simple solution never considered before? That was a letdown, but I'm glad it's finally resolved.

I hope this isn't the last Nikki Galena book. I kind of got that vibe from the ending, but I'm not sure.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy!

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BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'Echoes On The Fern' by Joy Ellis

This may be the first book I have read by this incredible author but it most certainly will not be my last!! It is also the fifteenth book in her 'DI Nikki Galena' series but can be read as a standalone as can all the other books in this series.

Wow!!!! Just flipping wow!!!! What an absolutely epic page turner!!! Well done Joy!!! How on Earth have I never read any of your books before? Absolutely smashed it!!!!!!! I could have sworn I had read your books before especially as when I was reading the book it all felt so familiar to me but that just shows how amazing an author you are!

This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions creating the perfect atmosphere for the storyline. The book cover and synopsis works perfectly with the book plot and I am most definitely looking forward to reading the next book, and the previous one in this series.

I have absolutely no idea how this is the first time I have read one of this incredible author's books but I am so glad I have rectified that problem and I cannot wait to get hooked into more books by Joy. I don't normally like reading books out of order but the one good thing about doing so is that I can now go back and read the previous 14 books in this series by this fantastic author while waiting for her next book to come out in this series!!! I best get a move on with so many books to read that I have sadly missed but considering I can guarantee they are all amazing even if they are just half as good as this book they are guaranteed to be epic which means I will fly through them like I did with this book!! In this absolutely gripping book Joy transports us to Fenland, Lincolnshire where we meet DI Nikki Galena. Nikki has to investigate the suspicious death of Angela Sandford who was widowed and had been planning a trip of a lifetime when she was discovered to have overdosed. the next day there is yet another death after a young woman is ran down as she is picking her supper up. If that wasn't enough the third death is that of Justin who was found dead on his dining room floor and the last person to see him alive is Nikki's mother Eve. Eve had run in to Justin the night before and Eve and her good friend Wendy had dined with him catching up as Eve used to know him. Nikki and her partner Joseph Easter are called in to solve the cases but will they be able to find the killer/s before they find another body? Grab your copy of this action packed crime thriller to find out for yourselves and I can guarantee that you will not regret it!! You may even discover a new favourite authors and series just like I have! With an addictive storyline ram packed with murder, mystery, family, crime, lies. tension, drama, action, suspense, stunning yet chilling atmospheric settings, secrets and everything you could ask for in a fantastic and gripping novel plus much, much more what on Earth are you waiting for??? Claire does an incredible job of weaving multiple protagonist perspectives together to create this incredible storyline. She ensures the reader gets the bigger picture of what is happening and what happened from several characters points of view without causing any confusion. An absolutely addictive, nail biting, page turning, heart racing and compelling storyline in what promises to be an absolutely amazing series!! It has so many layers of mysteries and crimes for the reader to be kept guessing throughout. This fantastic thriller is absolutely packed with twists, turns, shocks, crime and red herrings throughout I had no idea who did what until the end. This is an achievement in itself as it is definitely getting harder to surprise me with the amount of crime novels I've read so a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO JOY!! . There was so many explosive bombshells in this book that I actually lost count on how many times I was shocked which I didn't think would be possible!!! The plot was unique and realistic and Joy's brilliant descriptions brings absolutely everything to life in front of your eyes. It started straight in the action and kept you going on a roller-coaster ride of suspension throughout. There were several occasions when my heart was in my throat and I the hair was raising on my arms but I won't mention those as not to spoil it for future readers. It is so hard to not say too much without giving anything away to future readers but I'm sure once people have read it they will know exactly what I mean. Well done Joy you did absolutely amazing and everything was tied up perfectly. The twists and turns in this book left me going from one chapter to another!!! I completely devoured it in one sitting as I just could not put it down. Prepare yourself for a rollercoaster ride!!! I just could not put this book down and I cannot wait to read more books in this series!!!

Before you start this make sure you clear your schedule because once you pick it up you are not going to want to put it down!!!!

Although this is the fifteenth book in the series I had absolutely no problems reading it without any of the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.

The characters were very realistic, multi layered and well rounded and again their personalities reflected the storyline and how they would act, etc perfectly. The descriptions gave a really good in depth view of how the characters were feeling and what they were thinking. The characters were complex and each seemed to be hiding their own secrets which leaves you questioning who is telling the truth and who can be trusted. they had their own unique personalities with individual flaws, quirks, secrets, strengths and weaknesses!! I loved getting to know DI Nikki Galena and really cannot wait to see how she has developed from the first book in this series which is called 'Crime On The Fens'. I don't want to say too much about the characters though and I will leave you to read this amazing book and work it out yourself. I will say that it was not just Nikki that I enjoyed meeting and became completely invested in but also her partner Joseph along with his daughter Tamsin, mother and sister in law, Nikki's mum Eve, Nikki's housemate along with the rest of the investigative team, I could literally go on and on but i am going to wrap it up here so I do not bore you too much! Each of the characters were well developed, unique and thanks to Joy's fantastic evocative writing skills they all came to life before my eyes. That is all I will say as I don't want to run the risk of dropping any hints or spoilers. However, whether you love or hate these characters, they all have their own strong unique personalities and they all bring the story to life playing their roles perfectly.

Congratulations Joy on a fantastic and gripping success and here's to the next explosive book in this absolutely epic series!!! This is exactly why I would like to welcome you to my favourite authors club!!!

Overall an absolute must read, pulse racing, addictive page turning crime thriller that will keep you on edge and addicted.

#EchoesOnTheFern #DINikkiGalena #JoyEllis #JoffeBooks #BooksOnTour #ZooLoosBookTours

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I enjoyed this one from Joy I loved all the investigating and the police procedures which I found very interesting. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

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Having read and enjoyed the first 14 books, I was delighted to see another instalment due and especially so to be allowed an ARC, it can be read as a standalone, but you would benefit from reading the first 14 books.

Book 15 and no sign of any let up in the standard. tightly woven storyline, engaging characters, and a chilling atmosphere that lingers long after the last page is turned. The full cast of characters appear in this one. For me the main character is the Fens themselves, once again we are given a vivid sense of place. The author captures the eerie and captivating beauty of the Fens, with mist-shrouded waterways and tight-knit communities this all helps to breathe life into the story.

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Joy Ellis has once again captivated readers with her latest installment in the DI Nikki Galena series, "Echoes on the Fens." Set against the haunting backdrop of the Lincolnshire Fens, this atmospheric thriller unfolds a deeply chilling murder mystery that will resonate with any reader who appreciates a well-crafted story.

In this gripping tale, Ellis expertly weaves a complex plot filled with compelling characters and unexpected twists. When a beloved TV personality is found dead, DI Galena and her team are thrust into a race against time to uncover the truth. As they confront the mounting challenges of a rising body count, they must also navigate the tangled web of secrets and lies that surround the victims, bringing to the forefront the emotional weight of each revelation.

One of the true strengths of this novel lies in its vivid sense of place. Ellis beautifully captures the eerie yet captivating beauty of the Fens, with mist-shrouded waterways and tight-knit communities that breathe life into the story. This atmospheric setting enhances the suspense and evokes a palpable sense of unease that lingers throughout the narrative.

The characters are richly developed and relatable, especially DI Galena, whose sharp intellect and unwavering determination shine through. Her deep empathy for the victims and commitment to seeking justice resonate strongly, making her a protagonist who feels both real and inspiring. The supporting cast is equally well-drawn, each character adding unique layers to the narrative’s complexity.

"Echoes on the Fens" is truly a masterclass in crime writing, offering a tightly woven storyline, engaging characters, and a chilling atmosphere that lingers long after the last page is turned. Joy Ellis continues to demonstrate her remarkable storytelling ability, and this latest addition to the DI Nikki Galena series is bound to resonate with fans and newcomers alike. If you seek a suspenseful and immersive read that will keep you reflecting long after you’ve finished, "Echoes on the Fens" is a perfect choice.

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Echoes on the Fens is the 15th in the Nikki Galena series and it does not disappoint. Suspicious deaths start occurring one after another in the fenlands town of Greensborough. First an active senior is found dead, an apparent suicide. Then the hit and run of a young woman. And finally, the gunshot death of a tv celebrity. And in between these investigations, Nikki and Joseph are trying to decide how to proceed with their relationship and how it impacts their jobs. This could lead to an overly complicated storyline, and at times it does seem almost convoluted, but Ellis makes it easy to follow.
Nikki is one of my favorite DIs. Often short of temper, she doesn’t suffer fools or the pompous gladly. Although she’s come a long way in developing tact and patience.
The full cast of characters appear in this one - Nikki’s mom and housemate, Joseph’s daughter and SIL, the whole investigative team, including Professor Rory Wilkinson. In fact, one of the reasons I love this series so much is that Ellis has created such a wonderful set of characters. People I’d love to know in real life. Dog lovers will also get a kick out of this.
Short, punchy chapters kept the pacing going at a fast level throughout. The writing is such that scenes are easy to envision. The ending totally threw me for a loop.
I would not recommend reading this as a stand-alone.
My thanks to Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of this book.

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Echoes on the Fens, book 15 in the DI Nikki Galena series is as brilliant as book 1.

I don't know how Joy Ellis does it, but she manages to draw you in from the very first page every time. A master of medium to fast-paced crime thrillers and this book is no exception.

Detective Inspector Nikki Galena leads her team to pursue the most vicious criminals, and this time, she needs to establish a link between three recent murders which occurred within three days.

I have loved this series, great settings, plot twists and storylines, mystery and suspense a plenty and a creation of a cast of characters we get to know and love (or hate), follow their relationships and enjoy their development throughout each book.

I can't recommend this book and series highly enough. 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley @Joffebooks and Joy Ellis for this ARC.

#ECHOESONTHEFENS #NetGalley.

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Another excellent book in this series!

DI Nikki Galena no sooner gets one new case than she has three; an elderly woman is found dead in her bungalow, quickly followed by a hit-and-run where a young woman is end and then a dead man is found in the mansion house he's been renovating - and Nikki's mother was the last person to see him alive. The only thing seemingly connecting these three is that, in each case, there seems to be no reason for the death. Or is there ...?

I came late to this series but I really enjoy it. Joy Ellis is an author who skilfully focuses on the crimes whilst seamlessly weaving in the private lives of the investigating team. This one had me hooked from the beginning and kept me there to the very last word. Cleverly written, I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it and would most definitely recommend it. 5*

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

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I enjoyed this series, with great characters. I found this new book. interesting, with
the same characters. It captured me from the first page, and it builds to the end.
I do recommend this book.

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This is the fifteenth installment in the DI Nikki Galena series. The series continues to get better and better as it goes on.

Nikki and her team are called out to investigate a woman's overdose death. While someone tried to make it look like suicide, it is anything but. The next day a young woman is the victim of a hit and run. While Nikki's team are scrambling to connect the dots on these two murders, she's called out to a local celebrity's home where her mother found the young man dead of a gunshot. Nikki's mother, Eve and her partner Wendy, worked with the young man's father a long time ago on matters of national security. With Nikki and her team stretched, she quietly enlists the help of her mother to investigate the young man's life and thwart a killer.

Joy Ellis is a master at writing series with an ensemble cast of characters. I highly recommend all of them. I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Thank you Joy Ellis, Joffe Books and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. Looking forward to the next.

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Joy Ellis

DI Nikki Galena is kept busy with three deaths in three days, with the help not only of her amazing team but also her redoubtable mother! This is the best one yet in this great series with intricate plotting and many twists and turns. I would give it six stars if I could!

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