The Murderer's Son

Jackman & Evans, Book 1

By: Joy Ellis

Narrated by: Richard Armitage

Twenty years ago: a farmer and his wife are cut to pieces by a ruthless serial killer.

Now: a woman is viciously stabbed to death in the upmarket kitchen of her beautiful house on the edge of the marshes.

Then a man called Daniel Kinder walks into Saltern police station and confesses to the murder.

But DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans of the Fenland Constabulary soon discover that there is a lot more to Daniel than meets the eye. He has no memory of the first five years of his life and has a rather unusual obsession with his mother....

Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you gripped until the shocking ending.

©2016 Joy Ellis (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

Fantastic!

Ellis tells such a compelling story that I found it hard to stop reading/listening, fascinated not only by the thriller part of it, but also by the human story of the main characters, in particular obviously the Rowan Jackman and Marie Evans duo, but also Daniel Kinder, who’s the third main character, the title’s murderer’s son (but the named murderer has nothing to do with the present murderer). The relationship between Jackman and Evans looks very close, to the point one wonders if they’re secretly in love with each other, but at a certain point the author denies everything quite firmly. Too bad, I would have loved it, because I think they’re fabulous together, and the fact she’s several years older than him would make them an unusual couple, breaking the stereotype stating the man has to be older than the woman.
I appreciate Ellis’ talent to build up the mystery, making it unravel little by little through the investigation lead by Jackman; some clues take to dead ends, others prove different than what they looked, muddling things and confusing the reader more than once. At a certain point I began to suspect a certain character, but then I thought he/she couldn’t possibly be the murderer, but in the end it turned out I had been right! Ellis was very good to make me doubt, a voracious reader of thrillers as I am! LOL
The way Jackman – who seemingly has no fear of anyone, including his quite terrible she-boss – looks terrified of a nerd working for the police, a woman with a mysterious past and a rather unsettling appearance; it’s funny and it makes the character more human.
What I love best of Evans is her being a passionate motorcyclist, as I used to be. Something that made me laugh hard was the moment when she, having to buy a new motorcycle, calls the one she has pointed out “my beauty” in such a way that one of her colleagues says she’s giving him the chills, because she sounds like Gollum “my precious”! I wonder if Richard Armitage, too, laughed reading this XD
I can’t wait to read/listen to the third novel of the series, The Fourth Friend; and I very much hope that Audible will have Mr Armitage reading also the fourth novel, The Guilty Ones, in order to have the full series! Also, a series of movies featuring Mr Armitage as Rowan Jackman would be great XD

Surprised by Quality

Not only have I never read a Joy Ellis book, but also I have never before heard of her. I try to discover "new"/different mystery novelists only to be disappointed. Exceptions include Louise Penney and Donna Leon both of whom I admire greatly. Joy Ellis joins these distinguished dectective mystery writers by surprising me with the quality of her work. I look forward to more.

A suspenseful book

First time listening to this authors books. It’s a real twisted story and keeps you until the end. Will buy another in the series.

Great book

I thoroughly enjoyed the Murderer’s Son. I guess I am a fool for the ‘British ‘ accent and police.

Enjoyed this book

I listen to books while I work with my hands or drive and I enjoyed this one immensely. The integrity and respect the characters in this book have for each other was very refreshing. I found the story unpredictable, which I like, and the narration made it easy to get lost in the story without distraction. Great job!