Crime on the Fens

DI Nikki Galena, Book 1

De: Joy Ellis

Narrado por: Henrietta Meire

DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she's seen a girl die in her arms, and her daughter will never leave the hospital again. She's gotten tough on the criminals she believes did this to her. Too tough. And now she's been given one final warning: make it work with her new sergeant, DS Joseph Easter, or she's out.

Her partner, DS Joseph Easter, is the handsome, squeaky-clean new member of the team. But his nickname, Holy Joe, belies his former life as a soldier. He has an estranged daughter who blames him for everything that went wrong with their family.

Their adversary is a ruthless man who holds DI Galena responsible for his terrible disfigurement.

©2016 Joy Ellis (P)2016 Tantor

SO GOOD!

I bought this title on a whim and it took a while for me to get around to listening. I am so glad I did. It is a great police procedural. The characters are complex and kept me guessing how they would respond. If you are looking for a new series to begin look no further. This one will draw you in and have you booked . I am off to get the next one. Well worth a credit.

Not terrible, but not original

There was one interesting character with really good dialogue, but he was in the book for about three minutes as the substitute mortician. Everything else was standard issue. And the main character's Big Awful Case - you know, that one job that drives a book cop to the brink, that turns 'em into a moody, mysterious and wounded loner? You know the one - was lame enough that I thought, Oh, that's it?

A Promising Start to the Series

I won't go into a lot of plot details, because, frankly, you can read the synopsis.
The Good: Nikki and her team are an interesting mixed group. They reminded me of the Department Q team from Jussi Adler Olsen's books - damaged, but darn good cops. And just enough of their backstories left unexplained to flesh out future stories. Henrietta Meire's narration is pretty stellar. Some commenters were put off by her accents, but her Lincolnshire accent is brilliant! The story was really interesting and the solution made perfect sense (not pulled out of a hat).
The Bad: Joy Ellis really needed an editor who noticed how many times her detectives "chewed on her lip," "bit his lip" or "gnawed on her lip" I quit counting after 7 times in about 12 chapters. There's also a tad too much repetition of Nikki's daughter's situation. I know it's a major factor for Nikki's character, but we get it. Nikki's transformation, in less than a week from "Old Nick" to borderline saint, is pretty unbelievable. While it does make her more likable & easier to root for, it's pretty dramatic and unearned. Narrator Henrietta's one failing was the character of Cat. The vocal tone she used was really annoying and seemed incompatible for Cat's character. It made her seem baby-ish rather than hard-nosed former Sex Crimes cop.
Overall, a good listen. I've already purchased Shadows on the Fens.

Policewoman Works Through her Anger

Nikki has a right to be angry. Life has dealt her more than her share of sadness. She puts all her grief and life energy into catching criminals who endanger children daily by selling them drugs. Few are able to partner with her because they feel she's obsessed and reckless. An outsider is assigned to her, and surprisingly, together they get to the bottom of the "mask wars". I'm thinking there must be a Book 2 to follow up this story.

Marginal

The story was okay. The characters were believable and colorful. The story was interesting. My main problem with the narration was that the voices were very monotone, without any inflection.

Hard start but excited about book 2.

it was a hard start almost didn't continue. however I enjoyed it and am looking forward to book two. I wish there was more finality of characters in the end but still was a great book.

Good book just not great

I enjoyed the book but it never really blew me away with the mystery maybe if I get a free credit or a sale I'll see what book two has to offer.

Another great series to start

Fantastic start to another series I can hardly wait to hear! Phenomenal writing and narration. Keeps me interested and even excited with anticipation right along with the characters.

I was expecting more ... Just Ok not great

I read reviews of how offensive it could be and I heard none of that.

Enjoyed reading (listening)

kept interest peked, good descriptions, narrators choice of voices sometimes made it difficult to grasp transitions from character to character