The Nidderdale Murders

A Yorkshire Murder Mystery, Book 5

By: J. R. Ellis

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

In a Yorkshire Dales village everyone has a motive for murder - except the killer.

A retired judge is shot dead outside the Dog and Gun inn in the remote Yorkshire village of Niddersgill. There's a witness who saw everything, and the gunman's on the run; the case should be open-and-shut for DCI Jim Oldroyd. But the murderer had no motive for wanting Sandy Fraser dead and, what's more, no trace of him can be found.

As Oldroyd and his team cast the net wider, they discover that Fraser wasn't without enemies in Niddersgill. As the wealthy owner of a grouse moor, he'd clashed with farmers, debtors, hunt saboteurs and blackmailers. But none of them were at the scene of the murder. And when a local shopkeeper is gunned down in a second senseless attack, it's clear that these killings are anything but random.

Surrounded by the dramatic beauty of the Yorkshire Dales, Oldroyd faces a race against time to connect the crimes and find who's behind them. But with all the evidence sending him down dead ends, can he get one step ahead before someone else is killed?

©2020 J. R. Ellis (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

British mystery at its best!

I have listened to all the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries (thanks to KU) and I love the narration. The voice is perfect and it sets the scene of rural England so nicely. The mysteries always have a great set of quirky, grumpy and unique Yorkshire rural folks. The stories are also set in the wildlands of Yorkshire with lots of local history, geography and colors. The police here are also well filled out as characters with their life-challenges and they seem quite real. Of course the Detective Inspector has a knack for solving seemingly impossible cases and puzzles. Like most British mysteries, these stories are long on character development, interviews and thought. They do overlook some obvious forensics which would speed up the investigation (like fingerprints!), but that is all part of the fun in solving the case and untangling the puzzles.

Love the series but not my favorite

This is a good book but I just couldn’t love it. I have enjoyed this series and there’s really not much wrong with this except for the many characters that I had a hard time keeping track of. I listened to the audiobook and I think it’s easier to follow characters when you can turn the page back to check. That being said, it took me a long time to finish this book. The case for the detectives is a puzzler and Oldroyd and his team are baffled when two people are murdered in front of witnesses who identify the two different shooters and then those shooters disappear.

The narration was great.

I’m sure many will like this book more than I did. It was good but not my favorite.

Wonderful series

I truly love this series and I truly hope there will be many more to come. I will continue to listen to all of them!

Enjoyed the twist

Didn’t see any of the conclusions really well thought out plot narration was commended for the various accent and character development will continue with this series

Another great one in this enjoyable series!

Glad I found this series! Well-paced, with an intriguing plot. Enjoyed a visit to Yorkshire with an excellent narrator.

Nidderdale

It was very interesting lots of twists & turns and good characters well written. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Grouse Hunting and Murder

The murder of a retired judge that has plenty of enemies brings DCI Oldroyd to the Yorkshire village of Niddersgill. The descriptions of the moors and countryside are wonderful and a big part of why I like this series so much. When a second murder takes place, Oldroyd has his work cut out for him. There seems to be a witness to the first murder, but its not as simple as identifying the killer. I love listening to Oldroyd put the pieces of the puzzle together. So glad that book five will be coming out soon!

Good storyline , but.....

I have listened to this series in order . I take no issue with writers including their viewpoints into their writing. What I don't enjoy is these books have become increasingly preachy. It feels as if I'm being preached to. I agree with much of what he's saying but it's too much. I'm not sure at this point if I want to continue reading this series which is a shame because the mysteries are creative and keep you thinking. The narrator does a great job!

Delightful World with a Meandering Murder

The adventure and life of DCI Oldroyd and his team continues up in Yorkshire. This time, they are up against murderers who disappear from the hamlet of Niddersgil. J.R. Ellis again crafts a wonderfully detailed world with engaging characters with full but believable lives. But, this time, his plot is not a tight puzzle box but a meandering stroll. It's still very enjoyable, but Ellis' focus is more on character development this time around. There, he excels - Oldroyd, Steph, and Andy are growing into themselves as they solve the murders and find lives outside work, and it is great to hear.

Michael Page continues an excellent read, with great regional accents and an engaging style. His character voices are both consistent over the series and becoming easier to distinguish between.

Overall, great installment in the series. I will look forward to the next book.

Entertaining story but sloppy political preaching

For a light who-done-it mystery, the story is entertaining and the narrator is engaging. What’s disappointing is that at several points, the characters will go into a few lines of forced political dialogue. These are abrupt and take the listener/reader which out of the story for a few moments. It’s all clearly left-leaning thoughts about feminism, environmentalism, and even economics. I’m not disagreeing or criticizing those points of view but it feels very forced, like the character is suddenly preaching to you, and almost breaking the fourth wall. If the author wants to push their political ideologies, at least be skilled enough to weave it into the story, not awkwardly forcing it in.