The Murderer's Son (Jackman \u0026 Evans #1) by Joy Ellis

The Murderer's Son (Jackman \u0026 Evans #1) Reviews

• 
  Zain

  Guilty?
  
  A very disturbed young man walks into the police station to confess to a murder. He has a solid reputation and comes from a good family. Could he be a murderer?
  
  DI Jackman and his team must investigate the series of murders of women that are appearing, at the same time they must delve into the history of the man to determine if he is telling the truth.
  
  This story was wonderful! I really enjoyed reading it. The evidence took you everywhere making you wonder who is the killer. When I finally figured out who the killer was, there was only 30% left to read.
  
  A great British mystery-thriller. Four stars. ✨✨✨✨
• 
  Liz

  3.5 stars, rounded up
  I’ve become a recent convert to Joy Ellis’ Nikki Galena series, so I snapped this one up when it was an audible daily deal. I loved the premise for this book. A young man believes himself to be the son of a serial killer. Adopted at a young age, he’s suffered periods of blackouts growing up. Now, he walks into a police station and confesses to the killing of a woman in her kitchen. The police don’t believe him and have no evidence or reason to hold him. But after they release him, another woman is found murdered.
  
  Ellis has once again crafted two dynamic man characters. I applaud her ability to create characters that come across as real, three dimensional people. DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans make a good team.
  
  This book moves at a fast pace with lots of moving parts. There are multiple characters and storylines to keep track of. I had a strong suspicion as to who the murderer was, which proved to be accurate.
  
  Richard Armitage does a good job conveying all the nuances of this story.
  
  I don’t love this the way I love the Nikki Galena series, but I’ll still be checking out at least the second book in the series.
• 
  Sandy

  This is a tough review to write. I won’t get into the story as the publicity blurb above outlines the plot. Instead, I’ll try to explain why this wasn’t for me.
  
  First, this author has some serious writing skills. It’s well paced, has good flow & a real sense of place. It simply comes down to a matter of taste & what you enjoy reading.
  
  I read a lot of police procedurals & enjoy those with a gritty, more realistic feel. This book strays closer to “cozy” territory with characters who are unfailingly proper, polite & ernest. My favourite cops can be found in books by Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride & Jo Nesbo so I found these people rather dull & didn’t feel like I knew them any better by the end. As far as the mystery aspect goes, the identity of the killer is obvious for several reasons from the moment they step on the page so all that’s left to learn is motive. I just prefer something a little more convoluted that provides a few puzzles to pick at to add to the suspense as the story progresses .
  
  This is a very clean read. Yes, there are people who suffer violent death but it’s never gory or gratuitous. No explicit content or swearing (except for once when the female cop Marie says “hell”….such a potty mouth ; ) .
  
  This is the first I’ve read by Ms. Ellis & I appreciate being given the chance to try on a new-to-me author. But not every hat you try on fits & I did promise to give an honest review. So 3 stars for the her ability to construct & tell a story. It’s not her fault that it wasn’t my cup of tea & I’m sure fans of her Nikki Galena series will find much to love here.
• 
  Lyn❤Loves❤Listening #AUDIOBOOKADDICT

  Audio - 5 Stars
  Story - 4.25 Stars
• 
  Namita

  A woman is stabbed to death in her kitchen and Daniel Kindler confesses to the crime. But the cops don't think so and believe he is suffering from delusions. With another victim found stabbed to death the cops are racing against time to fibs the serial killer before he strikes again.
  
  This is my first book by Joy Ellis and I really enjoyed reading this police procedural . The characters were interesting but as it's was the first book in the series is more scope for character development . Looking forward to the second book in the series . 3 1/2 stars
• 
  Alex ♈

  Interesting suspense, twisted storyline, unusual crime-mystery trope.
  
  Very likable characters, a great team!
  Loved the heroine, tough and smart woman.
  No romance, but some indication of it.
  
  Dark, but without many bloody details; maybe a bit predictable, but still engaging.
  
  New author to me. The whole series is on KU.
• 
  CL

  I love Joy Ellis’ DI Nikki Galena character and now I really like this cast of new characters. This story is also written about the Fen but now it is a whole new list of names and personalities. DI Jackman leads a team of investigators that are looking for a killer that seems to be killing women that have no relation to each other except they have all been brutally stabbed by the same knife. A young man walks into the police station and confesses but none of the team believe he could commit these murders. As they try to find the killer before the body count rises one of their own may be in danger. Great read. Page turner. I cannot wait to read the next book with this new team. I would like to thank the Publisher and Net Galley for the chance to read this ARC.
• 
  Cindy Rollins

  Audible Richard Armitage voice selection. This was a good, not great police story. I might continue this series or I might not but I do love the narrator, I mean his voice.
• 
  Leo

  Found this to be both thrilling and suspenseful reading experience, was hard not read it in one sitting and forgetting anything else. Highly interested in continue on with the series for sure, curious to she what the author think up next
• 
  Kerri

  Another brilliant performance by Richard Armitage. And another reasonably good story by Joy Ellis. I'm torn now, because there is plenty to like, yet I have so many annoyances. I still don't care for any of the detectives or police personnel. Jackman is OK, Evans a bit irritating, but not unbearably so. Yet I feel no connection to either of them, not even when Jackman was remembering his beloved dead horse, and horses almost win me over.
  
  The mystery was decent, but coincidences were everywhere - the expert who just happened to have studied the murderer that the suspect was obsessed it, who was actually the murderer himself and was also obsessed with Evans, who he tried to murder. Plus all the incompetence from seemingly everyone, that was still somehow able to be salvaged at the end. And at least three people, in three separate situations, venturing somewhere alone, despite knowing there is a serial killer on the loose! Three people, two of whom are cops!
  
  Since this is the first book, though I listened to it second, following the Audible recommendation for listening order, I think I'll keep going for at least another book or two.
  
  The second book (or first, depending on which reading order you follow) "Their Lost Daughters" definitely has a stronger plot, though with that one too, I was ambivalent about the characters.
  
  “No matter how dedicated he might be, and hell, he was dedicated, he was still a thirty-two-year-old fast-tracker from a privileged background. That was fine if you were chasing gold braid and pips on your shoulder, but Jackman aspired to something quite different. He just wanted to be a bloody good copper, and if he could earn the respect of his troops along the way, that would be perfect.” - - I don't know why I found this quote so funny, but it caused me imagine an alternate version of the story, where Jackman actually was chasing gold braids etc. I'd kind of like that in place of the perfect guy that is actually presented. I love the idea of a man hell bent on catching a killer as he frantically pursues gold braid and pips. The final book could have him finally attaining all possible honours and decorations, which fills him with happiness, as the families who were brought justice by his obsessive need to be the best, congratulate him heartily. It worked out for them all, regardless of what motivated him.
  
  In the actual book, I can't see why Jackman will have trouble earning respect, as he seems to be brilliant, handsome, insightful, talented, etc.
  I'd like to know more about the privileged background though. As mentioned above, he once had a horse, which I think is the only insight into his life outside of work so far.
• 
  Fiona (Titch) Hunt

  I would like to thank the author who wrote this awe inspiring book about a man's journey into a mind of a woman who he's never met.
  
  This psychological thriller had me turning pages whilst it took me so time due to other commitments to read it. Never read this author before (but would read her other books). The title makes you think of 1 way the story will go and then as you carry on reading the book, it takes a turn and goes a different way.
  
  The characters are really believable and make you feel as if you're on egg shells with the detectives and you even have some blackmailing in the storyline as well.
• 
  Nancy

  This book and the others following in the series are rated with four-plus stars. Got the book+audio on Amazon through Kindle Prime for free on 12/6/19. (That offer is no longer available.) The book is good, and I liked it; but to me, the storyline is weak and the actual murderer was easily identifiable not long after introduction into it. The main flaw I found was the lack of police procedure. The main suspect turns themself in at the beginning of the book and the force spends all their time trying to prove his innocence. No other avenues or suspects are looked at.
  
  Putting this one down to a first book and keeping positive that the ones that follow will get better.
• 
  Lorraine Southern

  Audible listen, excellent story and narration by Richard Armitage - as always!
• 
  Deanna

  A strong 4 stars.
  
  This is my first read from this author. Aside from hoping for a little more nuance and complexity in the main characters as the series progresses, this is a satisfying first in the series.
  
  There’s plenty of mystery despite some foregone conclusions, and the writing is smooth and sure-handed. I’ll probably start the next one soon.
• 
  Pat

  I read this book over a year ago and wrote the review but it didn't make it onto Good reads at the time, so here it is. This was a very solid and enjoyable police procedural with solid, likeable characters, a new series for Joy Ellis.
  
  Poor Daniel Kinder has turned himself into the police confessing to a brutal murder. The only problem is, the police don't think he did it. Daniel is convinced he is the son of vicious murderess, Francis Thayer, and as her tainted blood runs through his veins, he has inherited a propensity to kill. Unfortunately he also suffers fugue states and has no idea what he does during these episodes so he thinks, obviously, he murders women.
  
  DI Jackman and DS Marie Evans can't ignore his confession but set about conducting a thorough murder investigation by the book. More women are killed but there is still no evidence to rule Daniel in or out. It was an engaging read, very well written and well plotted. I guess I might have preferred it if it had been more dark and gritty (it was all very proper) but that is my only gripe.
• 
  Gary

  This is the 1st book in the DI Jackman and DS Evans series by author Joy Ellis.
  'The Murderer’s Son' is my first read of a Joy Ellis book and was a fairly decent read. Not a classic but enough promise to give her writing another read. A police procedural crime novel where a brutal serial killer is on the loose in Fensland, England. The book starts with a flashback when twenty years ago a local farmer and his wife were brutally stabbed to death. French woman Francois Thayer was convicted of the murders and subsequently died. Now in present day Allison Fleet is found murdered in her own kitchen, brutally stabbed. Following the death Daniel Kinder walks into police station and confesses to the murder.
  I enjoyed the main two characters and expect them to get better in coming books when further information is shared. A decent start to the series and a fair read.
• 
  Trudy

  3.5* next one is better!
• 
  Yellagirlgc

  I received a copy of this book for a review.
  
  I've waffled on the rating and review but im gonna attempt it. I had little connection with anyone in the book. The storyline of someone being a murderer's son and following in their parents footsteps is one that intrigued me from the blurb. It just fell flat. It was an okay read with little emotion from me while reading other than hoping for more.
• 
  Allie

  The repetition of the same phrases was hard to listen to, the characters are poorly described and obvious tropes, and the writers seems pretty out of touch with what it is like to be queer. I almost stopped listening to it several times. First, when the characters were first described; the female police officer was immediately objectified, "more attractive than any 45~ old should have the right to be" while the male character's admirable extreme loyalty and other positive personality traits were described.
  
  Secondly, when the the two characters are supposed to be having a "sentimental chat" about the character Kevin being silly for not having coming out already. His boss tells him his evangelical dad probably won't react badly and will accept him. Then, Kevin was emotionally touched to tears by that? This writer clearly hasn't had the experience of coming out to their extremely pious parents or is blissfully unaware of how many people STILL are doing that with a very negative result.
  
  The characters also just seem to fall flat, they felt contrived and one dimensional. They fall in classic tropes, a damaged gorgeous older woman who has a sexy male dominated hobby and genius techy mean girl? Yawn.... I'm tired of reading stories with shallow female characters who don't have the complexity of an actual person. Unfortunately, the male characters were just as shallow. I felt like after 30~ chapters I know nothing about any of the characters besides thee three or four bluntly stated traits that were used to describe the characters in the first or second chapter. Honestly, I don't really want to know more.
• 
  Joyce

  5 stars
  
  How often do you get in the position where you are trying to prove a negative? A young investigative journalist comes into DI Jackman and DS Marie’s police station confessing to a brutal murder. While they don’t believe he did it, they have no proof one way or the other. Something is “off” about him. He claims he can’t remember. Is he faking it to get an inside story for his paper? Is he a clever murderer? Or is he simply a confused young man? With the discovery of more bodies, the tension mounts.
  
  This is a mystery with a different point of view. Through twists and turns we eventually discover the truth. (Although I guessed it earlier, it didn’t spoil the book at all.)
  
  There are also several delightful subplots which only added to the strengths of the novel.
  
  What truly made this book was the interaction between DI Jackman and DS Marie and the rest of the team. I liked the way their personalities complimented one another. It reminded me a bit of DI Lynley and Sergeant Havers in Elizabeth George’s novels.
  
  All in all a very good book. Well thought out, well written and steady paced. I look very much forward to the next (hopefully), DI Jackman book.
  
  A very big thanks to Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this most excellent book.
  
• 
  Joan

  Immensely disappointing. There were huge chunks of unattributed dialogue involving more than two people, the characters were as two-dimensional as a sheet of tissue paper and utterly cliched. Every trope seemed to be included - the weird computer freak, the motor-bike riding woman, the utterly handsome and perfect inspector. The only character who came 'alive' on the page, and who I actually cared about, was Kevin who played a fairly minor role. I ended up skimming through the book to find out if my prediction was correct. (It was)
  
  I have been looking for British crime novels - preferably a series- but this isn't one I will continue.
• 
  Andrea

  My rating for this book is 3.5 stars,my first read from this author it took me 30% before getting into this book found it a slow read and took a while to engage with the characters. This book starts with Daniel confession he said he murdered a woman but did he as the police wasn't convinced.more women are murdered.DI Jackson and DS Evan's on the case will they find the truth.I will continue with this series and hope I enjoy the next book more.
• 
  Miriam on hiatus

  5 stars audio
  4 stars story
• 
  Zoé-Lee O'Farrell

  Well, this is my first foray into a Joy Ellis book and I meet Jackman and Evans. I picked this one to listen too mainly because a certain Mr Richard Armitage narrating it, who was I refuse.
  
  The Murderer’s Son was an interesting book, Daniel Kinder hands himself in to the police station stating he has killed someone and that he is the son of a vicious and nasty murderess. Jackman and Evans do not quite believe his story and set up to try and prove it wrong, but things go awry. Although they have the “murderer” in jail, another murder has been committed and now starts the clock ticking.
  
  It was interesting to see how this story would unfold; not often do you get a story where the so-called murderer hands themselves in willingly. This does make you think straightaway, are they murderer or is it a big hoax to distract everyone from a bigger plan? Or maybe I have read too many crime books?! I liked the dynamic with Jackman and Evans, there is no romance, only a slight of one-sided feelings from Jackman and that was touched upon so breezily you could miss it. I do hope we don’t have the will they or won’t they, as I do think it could ruin these two, especially as Evans is still grieving for her husband.
  
  However I did find Daniel’s story so intriguing, is he who he says he is? What secrets are being kept from us and him? Why doesn’t he remember his life before he was 5 years old? But then to be fair, I don’t really remember my life before 5 years old. I loved listening to the secrets slow unfurl, and when we got to the shocking conclusion my heart did go out for Daniel in the end.
  
  I loved how the parallels to the past were used a lot in this case. You have the elusive and murderous Francois Thayer, who Daniel believes to a stage of obsessiveness is his mother. You see the loose threads of her killer spree running so close to the present day you wonder if it is the same killer. Is Daniel copying the past?
  
  The other link to the past is for DS Marie Evans, a man from her past has turned up, in the form of Guy Preston, someone who Evans has worked with in the past, to the extent where she saved his life from a serial killer. With Guy, there is something not quite right for him, he has a bit of a Stockholm syndrome and sees more to his “friendship” with Evans than there is.
  
  Whilst we have the duo on the hunt for the “real” murderer we have a subplot which I really enjoyed and wanted more exposure involved Zane Pruitt and Kevin Stoner. I have to say Stoner was my favourite character (ok Orac is a very close second) in the book and what he endured at the hands of Pruitt made me so angry! I hope he gets more book time; you see Stoner goes from hiding who is, to accepting who he is, I do love me a bit of character growth like that!
  
  Not going to lie, although I did enjoy this book. I was completely distracted by Richard Armitage narrating it. I thought the accents and the voices he put on were good (and I did have to chuckle at his female voices) and even him just talking normally, but it was distracting. I found I was listening more to the sound of his voice at times and not the storyline! There are 2 other narrators that do this to me, so I did find I missed bits and need to concentrate a lot more when listening but this is just me! Aside from that his narration worked for me, it has made me want to keep on listening to the series.
  
  This is a strong start to the series for me and I am interested in seeing how the team develops and grow in the future, so much so I already have the next book lined up on audible to listen to…once I have finished my review.
• 
  Books 'n' All Promotions

  My Rating 5 out of 5 stars
  
  This is book 1 in the Jackman and Evans series and, while it does work very well as a stand-alone, I would recommend reading them in sequence so as to extract full enjoyment from what is an excellent book. That said, I did read Book 2: Their Lost Daughters a few months ago and really enjoyed it so this book has been on my 'to read' list.
  
  The story begins 20 years ago with the brutal murder of a farmer and his wife. The murderer was caught, imprisoned and has since died. Fast forward to the present day and another brutal murder is committed on the patch of DI Rowan Jackman, DS Marie Evans and their team. They are sifting through the evidence when a man walks into the police station and confesses to the murder. Jackman and Evans think this is too easy and they would be right but just what is going on in Daniel's head and life?
  
  This is a very gripping story with a lot going on as the team try to untangle the web and uncover the clues. However, there are complications at every turn and all is not as it seems as we join the team on an adrenaline pumping journey through the twists and turns of the case. As more murders are committed and people are running away and going missing this is one very gripping book that is impossible to put down.
  
  I love Jackman, Evans and the team as we learn about them and their lives. They develop very well throughout the book and, as I have grown to expect from Joy, there are no chunks of descriptive text as their personalities develop and we learn about their past lives.
  
  This is an excellent start to what is developing into a fantastic series you won't want to miss. Definitely worth every one of the 5 stars and a must read for anyone who likes psychological thrillers, police procedural or any kind of crime fiction. I will definitely be reading every book by this author.
  
• 
  Annette

  Lots of twists and turns in this crime thriller, the outcome is totally unexpected and I look forward to the next in the series.
• 
  Amina

  I did enjoy it, so why three stars? It's because the culprit was too obvious.
  I won't be giving a summary as the blurb does a pretty fair job.
  This is the first book in the series and we simply get to know the team, how it works and how these characters did develop. There was little action, some intrigue, a solid plot and the whole thing isn't bad and it gives you the will to pick up the second book.
  I really liked what Joy Ellis did with the female character of Marie, she looks like any woman you can meet on the street, unlike other female detectives I came across lately, Marie has exceptionally normal eyes and hair color, she is a biker and a devoted friend, tough and vulnerable, has high morals and that's what makes you like her very much.
  The rest of the team are as normal and real as they can be, there's a joining soon character *fingers crossed* can't mention the name or there will be spoilers.
  The novel is well paced, it doesn't get dull, and even if you find out the who done it, you keep reading until the end.
  A series I'll be more than glad to follow!
  
  
• 
  Linda

  I'm glad that I read this book. I don't normally read books that are very realistic from this genre, and, from the excerpt, this one seemed like it would be realistic. I got the book on sale from audible. Otherwise, I surely wouldn’t have given it a chance. It turned out to be the kind of murder mystery that is more in keeping with my taste. I like my murders to be sanitized, without too much gore. I don’t want to be inside the brain of a reprobate for long, so cookie cutter villains that give an elucidation at the end are fine with me too. The “good guys” are likable, and the writing is good. The only drawback for me was that there were so few options for the killer that it wasn’t difficult to figure out his identity
  
  If you like your murder mysteries to be gritty and realistic, skip this one. If you prefer your serial killer mysteries to be almost wholesome, this is the book for you. This was a 3 1/2 book for me, but I like to round up, so 4 it is.
• 
  Steph 🦋 (trying to take more breaks from social media)

  This book wasn’t for me. Boring plot, stale characters and dialogue and generally just very uhh. Didn’t connect to the book at all and ended up giving up on it. We only live for so long and there are way too many good books out there, so I don’t see a point continuing with a book I don’t at all enjoy.
• 
  Jean

  I enjoyed this one, good characters !