| Title | : | Crime on the Fens (DI Nikki Galena, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 285 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2010 |
Crime on the Fens (DI Nikki Galena, #1) Reviews
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2.5 stars for this one. It had a high rating and the reviews sucked me in, but in truth it was nothing special. Too many cliches. The pairing of the detectives was just too perfect - Joseph Easter, the man who could match and even surpass the protagonist for toughness blended with the ideal amount of gentleness and compassion; the guy who always says and does the right thing. The guy who has no flaws. Great looking too, and single. And guess what - they both have daughters from whom they are estranged. What a coincidence! And they both work round the clock taking only brief naps because they can't bear to let nasty baddies get the upper hand. They care too much.
Sadly, I wasn't convinced throughout, not by the don't-mess-with-me detective or her hot partner. The writing style was my main problem though. The story was OK, but there was nothing impressive throughout the entire book for me. Not the characters, the dialogue or narrative. No wow or whoa moments. No arresting sentences or insights. Nothing to keep me riveted. I waded through and was distracted at times by the author herself, which is never good. I hate to use the word amateurish, but that's how it came across to me and I don't mean the police details (I'm sure it was well researched) I'm talking about the writing techniques and character development.
Not for me I'm afraid. I never appreciate use of the F word either. As I always say, if Lee Child can write a couple of dozen bestsellers in the crime/thriller genre without effing or jeffing once, I'm sure other writers can manage without too. No one ever finishes a novel and wishes there'd been more F words. Wish I could be more positive. I don't enjoy delivering negative reviews, but I have to be honest. -
Well..... I'm hooked!
What a brilliant start to the Detective Inspector Nikky Galena series!
From the moment that she received his message, she had felt puzzled. Earlier, as she pulled on her rambling boots, she had wondered about the uncharacteristic secrecy. It just wasn’t his way. He would visit her, or ring if pushed. He’d blurt out something about the tilt of Saturn’s rings, or he’d got some brilliant new lens and some deep-sky viewing would be showing some glorious double stars that she just couldn’t miss. She knew that most people considered him a freak, but where they saw an anorak, she saw someone driven by passion, and that was something she could relate to.
She stopped and tried to ring him, but his phone was switched off. Her anxiety increased. If she took the message at face value, he had seemed desperate that she meet him. But where was he? And where was his dog? It almost always followed him out to the marsh. Something was wrong. She shivered, and then a scary thought entered her mind.
There were no stars tonight. Fear flooded through her. Oh God! She had been a fool , and now she needed to get off the marsh. If he wanted to see her, he could damn well . . .
Something far darker than the night was roughly pulled over her head, and an arm snaked around her throat, forcing her neck backwards and her throat to close. She jerked her arms and legs frantically kicking and beating uselessly at her unseen assailant, then a rushing noise filled her ears and bright lights exploded behind her eyelids. Abruptly, the roaring sound became everything, and she felt her legs stop their dancing and her arms fell uselessly to her sides. Her fight for air became almost impossible, and she slipped from the iron grasp, to fall silently into darkness.
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*Audiobook Review*
Crime on the Fens by
Joy Ellis is the first novel in the DI Nikky Galena series and it's a five star gem!
I wasn't really planning on starting yet another series but what can I say.....I'm hooked!
I'm already rearranging my 'next audiobook up' list to slip in book two,
Shadow Over the Fens, as soon as possible!
Not only is this one heck of a story, but narrator,
Henrietta Meier Oakley's strong performance adds another level of suspence, emotion, personality, and sparkle to this gem!
*I highly recommend the audiobook format! I didn't want to hit the pause button!
I Love Nikki! Her personality is priceless, her expressions are hilarious! Case in point, the suspect has "clamed up tighter than a ducks backside."
Nikky has a reputation for having an 'acid tongue', being impossible to work with, and an 'unconventional' way of getting her suspect by stepping over the mark. Despite all that, her arrest and conviction rate are the highest in the station making her invaluable. Despite this, she's on her last warning from the top brass if she wants to keep her job.
Don't let her fool you. There's more to Nikky than meets the eye. Much more...
Now she's been ordered to get along with a new partner, Detective Sargent Joseph Easter, who has moved to Fenland Constabulary to get a 'fresh start'. True to form, Nikky has already formed an opinion, sight unseen, so to speak. But she's about to learn that there's more to Joseph than meets the eye. Much more....
And so it begins...... Hold on for this ride!!! -
Nikki Galena is a one woman wrecking ball when it comes to tackling the drug dealers in the Fens territory. She is also not well loved in the constabulary. In fact, her last partner hightailed it for Truro (and as her supervisor says, she was worried that might not be far enough). Her new partner, just transferred in, is nicknamed Holy Joe. An unlikelier match couldn’t be imagined. Both have secrets. But slowly, both develop a grudging respect for each other. In fact, watching their relationship develop is a thing of beauty.
I stumbled on this audiobook but I really enjoyed Ellis’ writing and the depth of her characters. I didn’t care for the narrator, as too many of her voices were indistinguishable.
The story moves along at a nice clip and I didn’t feel like it lagged at all. I was thrilled to find out this is the first in a series with many more books to come. -
This was fantastic. Great characters, excellent multiple storylines. DI Galena and DS Easter are both complicated personalities that I grew to love and respect, can't wait to read more about them and see where they go. The rest of the team are a dysfunctional crew that somehow work well together. Each brings their own set of skills. Definitely a book you don't want to put down.
Easy 5 star's. Onto book 2. -
CRIME ON THE FENS is the first novel in a gripping new crime fiction series featuring DI Nikki Galena. She’s woman on a mission … clean up all the drug dealers who have descended upon their community. She’s got a reputation of being really hard on crime, almost to the point of going outside the lines.
DS Joseph Easter is her new partner … orders from higher up. She has to make it work or her job may be in jeopardy.
The town is being terrorized by gangs all wearing hideous masks. No one seems to know where the masks come from .. or who is supplying them. Gangs are fighting anyone and everyone. Law enforcement is being stretched thin, but there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to the amount of crime… and no way to stop it.
Nickki and Joseph find themselves turning to a master criminal when his daughter goes missing.
When they delve behind the masks, they find a lot more than they bargained for!
The plot is tightly woven around solid character development. Nikki comes across as tough as nails, but there is a reason .. a personal reason … for that. Joseph also has some personal issues which land him in this community. But will he stay .. or will be leave?
This author is very descriptive. From the blurb: The Lincolnshire Fens: great open skies brood over marshes, farmland. There are still villages where the oldest residents have never set foot outside their own farmland and a visit to the nearest town is a major event. But it has a strange airy beauty to it, and above it all are the biggest skies you’ve ever seen.
There are twists and turns and a few surprises for the reader. It’s an excellent start to a new series.
Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / NetGalley who provided a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. -
It is very rare these days that I read a crime novel. But I thought I’d try this one as it was set in the Lincolnshire Fens in a made up area which vaguely approximates to Kings Lynn. It follows a well tried formula with a Detective Inspector and a sidekick Detective Sergeant (as in Morse and Lewis). In this case the DI is a maverick who has worked her way through a variety of partners because of her abrasiveness and being generally difficult to work with. Ellis makes her DI a woman and her DS a man. She also creates backstories for each of them and adds a little complexity to their interaction. She throws in a big council estate, plenty of disaffected youth, plenty of drugs, some nasty villains, some villains who were less nasty and a little helpful. There are characters that will no doubt be around in later novels. The plot is a little wooden, but pretty much works and doesn’t have too many holes. There are apparently at least ten more of these.
On the whole it was ok and didn’t irritate me too much; at some point a may read another. -
This is a great crime mystery, which somehow kept reminding me of the Ruth Galloway series, probably because of some similarities in the setting. I recommend reading both series, Nikki Galena and Ruth Galloway. :)
5 out of 5 stars -
Was not as impressed as I'd hoped I'd be.
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3.5 stars
To be honest the cover really put me off - I don't know why. So I'd seen these books around and kept thinking, nah. However, after reading The Murderer's Son and loving it and realising the author was the same Joy Ellis that wrote the Fens series, I thought I'd dive in. And boy was I wrong. Cover aside it was an entertaining story with enough drama and tension to keep you turning the pages.
We are introduced to DI Nikki Galena and her latest partner, DS Joseph Easter. Galena is a prickly character who goes through partners like other women go through pantyhose. Nevertheless she is fair and has a good heart. The other members of the team are also likeable and have different strengths and weaknesses. I won't go into the plot but we have a murder, a missing woman, a porno game developer, drugs and a spate of violence involving kids wearing horrid rubber masks and terrorising people. Of course all these things are related and will come to a boiling head one night.
I think with further character development Di Galena's team could take us through some thrilling crime sprees in future books. -
I could not put this book down and read it in one setting. DI Nikki Galena is out of control. She lives in a down and out apartment and her single goal is to take down as many drug dealers as she can and in any way she can. No one wants to partner with her for that reason. She's about to be censored for her behavior when her boss asks her to take on a partner, DS Joseph Easter, and gives her a month to turn herself around even though he knows she is a good detective. A girl goes missing from the local university and as a favor the Dean asks the disappearance be investigated on the down low because this is a exemplary student and he does not want to alarm anyone if she has just decided to act out. Then the local crime boss who has a history with DI Galena asks for her assistance in locating his niece, 2 girls in less than a week is not a coincidence and Nikki and her new partner start to uncover details that may link these disappearances and the local "mask wars" that have erupted where all the young thugs are wearing identical masks. As Nikki and Joseph get to know each other the beginnings of a great partnership may just develop after all. Great Read!! Cannot wait for the next book. I would like to thank the Publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read this ARC.
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The author has written a detective story with just enough difference to make it an interesting read.
Our protagonist is Nikki Galena, a hard driving female Detective Inspector. Galena is focused on avenging her daughter who is in a permanent vegetative state in a hospital after she was a victim of crime. Galena is being forced to work with Detective Sergeant Joseph Easter, whose reputation is as questionable as hers. Galena heads a team investigating the disappearance of a young girl. The story takes an unexpected turn toward the end.
The book is well written and the plot twists and turns as the suspense builds. The characters are complex and our hero is a strong tough character. I enjoy books with strong women heroes. The story takes place on the Lincolnshire Fens in England. I did not know what a Fen was until reading this book.
Henrietta Meire does a good job narrating the book. Meire is an actress, author, voice over artist and audiobook narrator. -
If you like police procedurals that take place in Britain, you probably will like this book. DI Nikki Galena is given a new sergeant to work with. DI Nikki even though she is a good inspector has ticked off the top brass. She goes off the rails at times. It is last chance for her new sergeant too.
There is murder, robberies, missing girls, and crimes being committed by people wearing repulsive masks. Nikki is the lead person. Her team is unique with specials skill. The location is the fens in Lincolnshire county in England. I am eager to read the 2nd book in the series. I think fans of Jane Casey might like this series. -
Detective Inspector (DI) Nikki Galena is a tough, driven detective for the apparently fictional town of Greenborough. She's a loose cannon. She's a rogue cop. She's a firebrand, an incendiary, and agent provocateur. Rights? Here's your rights and a left to match, evildoer. She's managed to shed every Detective Sergeant (DS) assigned to her. The upper brass or whatever the hell they're called in the UK want her shield but her boss appreciates that she gets results.
Oh, my goodness. What an original idea. And please, write it in as gray a descriptive cadence as possible. This may be the only crime novel from the UK with only one description of the weather, let alone the town in which it's set, or a fen. Apparently a fen is flat and in this flat fen a foul force is afoot.
What we do learn of the city is that there's been some growth due to a rebuilt harbor, which has brought in shipping and drug traffic. There's a criminal organization, although it can't be very profitable as the head of the local organization lives in "estate housing" which would be comparable to public housing in the US. There has also been a rash of crimes committed by youth wearing masks. This, along with two missing young women, will eventually be resolved.
Meanwhile, DI Nikki Galena pistol-whips (or whatever the UK equivalent would be for cops who don't carry pistols) her way through some criminals because she had to hold a young girl as she died of a drug overdose and her own daughter is in a vegetative state in a local hospital after being poisoned by a local drug dealer. (The reason, when it's exposed, is as pathetic a thing as I've read in many years.) Her new DS Joseph Easter is a misunderstood manhunk who's had to be imported from a different district because Galena, with her minimal interest in human rights of anyone but herself, has driven all the others away. Easter has his own mysterious background as a vet from the middle east.
Galena is a recurring character in other books based in fen-land, all of which Joffe Books marks with inane subtitles such as "a gripping crime thriller full of twists" or "a gripping crime thriller with a huge twist". My recommendation is either write better or use more original tropes. But avoiding both I suppose demands overselling on the cover. -
Something about this book that brought a smile to my face.
The first in the Detective Nikki Galena series and I'll definitely be dipping in to others.
Totally believable as not too far-fetched. I liked the relationship between main investigators and found the storyline flowed well. Snippets into past lives of the detectives set the background without being too intrusive on the main theme of the book.
The only thing I didn't like was the awful book cover! 😂 -
Un tre che è più un due e mezzo. Cominciamo con il titolo. Il titolo originale Mask Wars è perfetto e infatti il tema principale è questa guerra delle maschere ma il titolo italiano è dieci piccoli indizi che per me non ci sta a dire niente oltre all'associazione Dieci piccoli indizi e Dieci piccoli Indiani che potrebbe attirare ma è tutt'altra cosa questo libro. Se volete qualcosa alla Dieci piccoli Indiani vi invito a leggere L'ospite indesiderato di Shari Lapena.
Forse sarà il fatto che sto leggendo più ebook e thriller in questo periodo di quarantena e non ho apprezzato questo libro. Non lo so. So solo che non mi ha preso. Anche perchè vengo dal bellissimo, per me, L'ospite indesiderato.
Poi ci sono gli stacchi assenti che miracolosamente si fanno vedere al capitolo 23 (ma giusto uno da non sprecarci) di 35. A volte questo crea casino e devo rileggere il passaggio per capire che la scena è staccata. Spero sia un errore italiano perchè se è così in originale mi spiace ma devo ulteriormente togliere una stella al voto.
Per finire stroncherò il personaggio di Nikki Galena. Ma possibile che tutti in Inghilterra abbiano un cactus tra le mutante e il culo in polizia? Ci sono gli stronzi simpatici come Kim Stone che ho adorato dal primo volume, ci sono quelli stronzi che si redimono al secondo volume come Erika Foster e poi c'è chi è peggio di Erika, Nikki Galena. Un odio fin dalla prima pagina. Qui sarà dura redimerla. Preferisco Joseph .
Per finire vorrei porre un occhio sull'introduzione della trama :
**Avvincente come La ragazza scomparsa
Scioccante come La donna di ghiaccio
Un grande thriller**
Se dovete scegliere tra questo e quello di Bryndza, cioè Erika Foster, allora scegliete Bryndza. Come vi ho detto Erika è già più sopportabile nel secondo. -
Dear Reader,
Oh,the joy of discovering a new series!!! This is the second book of the series that I’ve had the pleasure of reading and I must say what a delight to see the origins of these wonderful human,three dimensional characters.
We are introduced to DI Nikki Galena,an outwardly tough,resilient cop,whose reputation is such that it is difficult to find fellow officers willing to work with her.
Yes,Nikki has a tendency to bend the rules and has her own unique hands way of dealing with what she regards the low life scum peddling drugs.
New to the area is one Joe Easter with a much different techniques,perspective and a background mired in mystery.
I loved this book,how the team members helped and how the various threads were woven into a satisfying and compelling read. Onto book two to discover more! 😊 -
3*
Cliché laden which didn't help the rating, the narrator appeared to be uninterested in regards to the narration of the book which hasn't helped.
The storyline could be one gang warfare from London planted in Lincolnshire. The characters didn't seem to be believable and I didn't get a feeling of investment in the characters.
I have read worse but not sure I will go to the next in the series. -
Book 1 in the Nikki Galena series
I began reading this series with Buried on the Fens so I can confirm it work well as stand alone. It has always been in my plans to go back to the beginning and I am thrilled that I have finally found a gap in my reading commitments to do this.
Nikki Galena is star of the show. A feisty woman who has a lot of pain in her life which has caused her to hate drugs with a passion. At the beginning she is very much a one woman band and has had several partners running for the hills. She is forced to work with Joseph Easter a man who is good where she is bad. Is it a match made in heaven or hell? I couldn't wait to find out.
2 young women disappear one is a dedicated student and the other the daughter of a criminal. Not just any criminal though, one that is 'friends' with Nikki Galena. The Police are working with the underworld to find these women in a story that has humour, tears and lots of edge-of-your-seat thrills and spills.
This is an excellent book in which we watch characters grow and develop as the team works together to untangle the web of lies.
I expect nothing less from Joy Ellis than a story that takes the reader on a roller coaster ride of emotions which keeps the pages turning all the way to the end. Brilliant read -
This is the first book in the DI Nikki Galena series by Joy Ellis. It is a police procedural novel which as the title suggests is set in the Fens in the east of England.
I liked the story because it had enough pace to keep me interested. Obviously as this is the first in a series, much of the time is given to establishing the team of detectives. The central characters are well-crafted and this suggests that the series may be worth following.
I will not go into the plot too much for fear of spoiling the story. Suffice to say that it revolves around a missing person, Kerry a talented student. The search for her reveals that she is not the first to go missing. As a body is discovered, the urgency of the search intensifies.
DI Nikki Galena and her new DS, Joe Easter are up against it… will they find her?
What have the grotesque rubber masks got to do with it?
Is this case linked to earlier cases investigated by DI Galena?
Why does Nikki Galena seem so haunted by the past?
I have not read any books by Joy Ellis before this, but I will look forward to reading the second DI Nikki Galena story; Shadow Over the Fens.
Once again my thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Joffe Books for a copy in exchange for this honest review. -
I enjoyed Crime on the Fens but didn't love it. It definitely kept me interested (and I had a weird deja vu with the "mask wars" for some reason although I'm absolutely sure I've never read this before!) but at the same time there is something that would keep me from recommending to everyone I know. I guess the plot is a little predictable and some of the character development maybe happened a little too fast for me to really believe it. Overall it was enjoyable but not the best detective thriller I've read. 3.5/5
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thanks to netgalley and the publishers for a free copy for an open and honest review.
this book was a slow starter but as i got more into it I enjoyed it as you got used to and learnt more about the characters with their broken and sometimes dark past and felt in ways even though the main characters seems chalk and cheese , they however under the skin were more closer than the eye can see. -
I'm really enjoying this novel and am glad I took the plunge to give Joy Ellis a try. IF this novel continues to be a good read, I'll be reading her other 'Fen' novels.
I'll be leaving a more full review when I've finished reading it.
Update: And now having finished it, I can report that it was enjoyable all the way through.
I'm glad I found this author. I've been aware of her for a while and now have read my first book of hers she's proven her talent and reputation as a good read. Easy, enjoyable and page-turning author. I read it in a few days and, not being a quick reader, a few days is fast for me so proving just how easy and enjoyable a read it was. It certainly interrupted my other read and now I'm straight onto my next Joy Ellis novel, Shadow Over The Fens.
The Story:
DI Nikki Galena finds she has a new Detective Sergeant, DS Joseph Easter and she's not too pleased about it but her senior officers are watching her as her job could be in jeopardy. DS Easter comes with a reputation and DI Galena is not known for her people skills, even less her skills dealing with criminals that threaten her patch. A patch that is being terrorized by gangs wearing hideous masks.
No one seems to know where the masks come from .. or who is supplying them. Gangs of youths are fighting anyone and everyone. Police are stretched thin and it doesn't help that there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the crimes, who's behind it - and no way to stop it.
Why 4 Stars?
Joy Ellis has created an engaging story set in one of England's most unique regions known as The Lincolnshire Fens: great open skies brood over marshes and flat farmland under wide open skies that are often overcast and villages are inhabited by residents some who've never set foot outside their own farmland and a visit to the nearest town is a major event.
The story is paced well and includes twists and turns and a few surprises for the reader. It does start off stuttering a little and DS Easter's character comes across a little flatly but this didn't affect my read too much, especially as the other characters come across believably.
There was also a hint to a little bit of out-dated police terminology and process but then each region in the UK has their own police service so not all use the same process or strategy. And this is just a small quibble in what is essentially a great read.
Also, the author, Joy Ellis' good nature shines in the writing and story.
I've already started on my 2nd DI Galena novel. -
Crime on the Fens is book one in the DI Nikki Galena series by Joy Ellis. DI Nikki Galena was on the last leg with her manager when she caught a case of a gang of men terrorising the local community. To find the murderer, DI Nikki Galena needs to find a way to work with DS Joseph Easter before more people die. The readers of Crime on the Fens will continue to follow DI Nikki Galena and DS Joseph to find out what happens.
Crime on the Fens is the first book I read by Joy Ellis, and I immensely enjoyed this book. I wanted Joy Ellis's writing style to ensure I continued to finish reading this book. I love Joy Ellis's portrayal of her characters and the way they intertwine with each other throughout this book. Crime on the Fens is well-written and researched by Joy Ellis. I like Joy Ellis's description of Crime in the Fens settings, which allowed me to imagine being part of the book's plot.
The readers of Crime on the Fens will learn what a juxtaposition is and how it uses. Also, the readers of Crime On the Fens will understand the consequences of Law Enforcement Officers who have ensured tragedy.
I recommend this book. -
Back to my usual type of crime novel, and I'm hooked! I like the mix of personal and professional issues in this licorice all sorts team headed by a spaced-out DI Nikki Galena, counterbalanced by a new DS, Joseph Easter, who is a very likability character. I shall definitely be following this series.
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A solid police procedural with a both a female hero and female villain and neither of them are people you want to mess with. It took me a while to get into it as Di Galena starts off being permanently pissed off with the world but when you consider what has happened to her and her family who can blame her but she does soften as time and new members of her team have an effect on her.
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"Crime On The Fens" is an original story with some strong characters marred by boiler-plate text.
The was lots to like about "Crime On The Fens": the police officers were a diverse and believable set of people, the story moves quickly, the plot is full of twists and turns, the dialogue is good and Joy Ellis knows how tug at my emotions and make care about what happens to the people in the story.
I can see that this would make good television.
Sadly it doesn't make such a great read because the prose that moves the action along is distractingly bland.
Where was Joy Ellis' editor? How could s/he let so much boiler-plate, cliché-ridden text through just to keep the story moving? Do we need to know that one of the policemen has steely-grey hair? Or that another "slips like a shadow across a wall" or have a description of a major character's interior dialogue that reads like stage directions?
I can see how all of these things might be there in a first draft as the writer fully imagines the action. That they made it to the final draft is disappointing.
It also doesn't help that the narrator of the audiobook can clearly see the pieces of flat prose and tries either to speed through them or gives them an inflexion-free delivery.
I also disliked the decision to change the title. The book was originally called "Mask Wars" which has a ring to it and is relevant to the story. "Crime On The Fens" has that it-will-help-the-punters-see-it-as-part-of-a-series-in-the-Fens thinking behind it that is a little patronising and which sounds bland and boring.
This might work better as an ebook, where I could just skip over the purely functional text and move on to the good bits. The narrator also seemed not quite to have the range to deliver this novel. The accents where all over the place and the pacing was sometimes off.
Take a listen to a sample by clicking on the SoundCloud link below:
https://soundcloud.com/user-158099855...
I won't be following up with this series but I will give Joy Ellis' later series a try to see if the writing/editing has improved. -
Right from the beginning of this book I enjoyed it. It's one of those books that from the opening chapter you know you are going to enjoy. And I had to read at every opportunity.
'Joy Ellis is a new author to me, but someone I will certainly be looking out for in the future. If this book is anything to go by then I really can't wait for the next one. Which is good because it's on my kindle waiting for me, and it's going to be my very next read.
'The Characters are believable and likeable.
DI Nikki Galena, not the easiest person to get along with, a detective that no one seems to want to work with, and one that goes out of her way to catch drug dealers. She lives alone and has a secret that none of her fellow work colleagues know about. And if she is not careful, she wont have a job for much longer.
'She certainly is in a low part of her life. You start off not liking her very much, but I soon grew to really like her.
DS Joseph Easter is a character I really liked. he also has history and a story he doesn't want to share, but has actually asked to work with her. That is a first, someone wanting to work with her.
it's an unusual set up, but as the story goes on one that works very well. I absolutely loved this book, I found it a first class brilliant read.
'i'm doing my best not to give to much away, but I want to get across how much I enjoyed this book, and now i'm off to start book two. Happy days.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1YMLE... -
A good crime novel set in a fictitious fenland town of Greensborough on Britains east coast. DI Nikki Galena is a maverick and not liked by many of her staff for her methods and attitudes. Sergeant Joseph Easter, a former special operations soldier, finds himself assigned to the team. A girl disappears and another is found dead at the same time that bizarre masks and gang wars in a deprived area of town flare up. The team building begins at a fast pace and areas of their lives are uncovered.
The novel held my attention and left me keen to progress with the series.
