Nikki Galena is called in to investigate a murdered couple and finds herself in the midst of a gang war. The scene reminds the police of Romeo and Juliet and the warring families adds to this impression. But then another couple are discovered…
Secrets on the Fens is the 12th book in Joy Ellis’ Galena series. The books can be read as stand alone stories but there are threads from previous books that are continued in this one.
The main murder plot is strong and takes a long time to unpick due to the complicated family relationships. Nikki and her team need to persuade witnesses to reveal their secrets to understand the motive behind the killings which in turn leads to the culprit.
Nikki’s mum Eve is hot on the trail of the missing artist that she has been searching for in previous books. She still manages to get involved in the murder case and also has medical concerns she is hiding from her friends and family.
I admit that I found the first part of the book quite confusing as there seemed to be a lot of characters. There are the police, the warring families and the victims have real names and aliases. Nikki’s mum has her own subplot with yet more characters! Once again, the pathologist Rory steals every scene he is in. He continues to be my favourite character in this series.
Secrets on the Fens is a solid police procedural novel.
Secrets on the Fens BLURB:
FROM TWO-MILLION SELLING AUTHOR JOY ELLIS COMES ONE OF THE MOST EAGERLY AWAITED MYSTERIES THIS YEAR.
One moonlit night, the bodies of two young people are discovered lying entwined on a blanket in the woods. The young man is clutching a red rose. It appears to be a lovers’ suicide pact . . .
Until Detective Nikki Galena and DS Joseph Easter look more closely. Romeo and Juliet, as they decide to call them, were murdered somewhere else and brought to the woods. But why?
Then another young couple are found dead, again beautifully posed as lovers. And Nikki knows they have a twisted serial killer on their hands. Who are the next victims?
EVERYONE HAS SECRETS. BUT SOME PEOPLE WILL KILL TO KEEP THEM.
What readers are saying about JOY ELLIS
“Just wonderful to read.” Carole
“Holds the reader’s attention from the first word to the last.” Nicki R.
“Compulsive reading, I loved it.” Viv
“Riveting tale from start to finish.” Lynne
“Absolutely engrossing.” Olga
“Brilliant book which kept me gripped from page 1.” Barbara
THE DETECTIVE
DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she’s seen a girl die in her arms and her own family destroyed. She’s tough on criminals but fiercely loyal to her team.
THE SETTING
The Lincolnshire Fens: great open skies brood over marshes, farmland, and nature reserves. It is not easy terrain for the Fenland Constabulary to police, due to the distances between some of the remote fen villages, the dangerous and often misty lanes, and the poor telephone coverage. 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.
UK #1 BEST SELLER WITH THEIR LOST DAUGHTERS, DARKNESS ON THE FENS, THE FOURTH FRIEND, BEWARE THE PAST, FIRE ON THE FENS, AND THE GUILTY ONES
OVER 2 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!
“I was born in Kent but spent most of my working life in London and Surrey. I was an apprentice florist to Constance Spry Ltd, a prestigious Mayfair shop that throughout the sixties and seventies teemed with both royalty and ‘real’ celebrities. What an eye-opener for a working-class kid from the Garden of England! I swore then, probably whilst I was scrubbing the floor or making the tea, that I would have a shop of my own one day. It took until the early eighties, but I did it. Sadly the recession wiped us out, and I embarked on a series of weird and wonderful jobs; the last one being a bookshop manager. Surrounded by books all day, getting to order whatever you liked, and being paid for it! Oh bliss!
And now I live in a village in the Lincolnshire Fens with my partner, Jacqueline, a highly decorated retired police officer, and our four barking mad Springer spaniels. If I do get any spare time, which is rare these days, my one relaxation is painting, especially using soft pastels. We have been here for twenty years now and although I’ll never be a true ‘Yeller Belly’, a native born to this county, I have adopted it as my own. I love the mists, the big skies and the endless waterways. All my books are set here on the Fens, and why not? The location is perfect for murder!”
Molly, a homeless woman, leaves her precious bag at the library. It is packed full of papers with rather sinister notes written on them. The librarian passes the bag to retired cops Matt and Liz to sort through but, before they can start, Molly’s murdered body is discovered…
The Bag of Secrets is the sixth book in the Matt Ballard private detective and crime thriller series.
Matt and Liz have several cases on the go: shoplifting, a missing teen and now this mysterious bag. When they find out that Molly has been killed, they are asked by the police to help investigate as it isn’t a high priority. They are lumbered with working with a senior officer’s grandson who has a lot to learn about compassion and avoiding assumptions.
The mystery develops as it becomes obvious from the post mortem and information from other homeless people that Molly wasn’t quite what she appeared. This ties in with the bag of notes that the detectives sift through to make sense of the death. Meanwhile Matt is becoming increasingly worried about missing teen Liam.
The narration is in the third person. Most of the focus is on Matt and Liz but we also get chapters that show the other characters including unnamed people acting suspiciously with obvious secrets.
I really like Matt and Liz’s characters. There is a touch of gentle humour about their relationship and their love and respect for each other as well as the compassion they have for those involved in their cases are an important feature of the book.
The Bag of Secrets is an engaging crime thriller.
THE BAG OF SECRETS (Matt Ballard #6) by Joy Ellis
A GRIPPING NEW CRIME THRILLER FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND BRITISH BOOK AWARDS CRIME & THRILLER OF THE YEAR NOMINEE JOY ELLIS.
From three-million-selling author Joy Ellis comes the book that everyone will be reading this Christmas.
Matt and Liz may have retired from the police, but that doesn’t guarantee a quiet life.
An abandoned carpet bag full of mysterious handwritten notes. A body in a marshy lagoon.
Matt is intrigued when his partner Liz brings home an old carpet bag she found dumped in the local library. It contains a pile of mysterious handwritten notes. Liz is convinced the bag belongs to Old Molly, a local woman who lives on the streets.
The following day, a body is discovered in a marshy lagoon. It’s Old Molly. Suffocated with an expensive men’s handkerchief.
Molly clearly knew something that got her killed. Liz believes she was trying to tell them something important. She calls on her nephew David to help decipher the carpet bag notes.
Meanwhile Matt is hired to find teenage runaway Liam Cooper. Liam has been missing for ten days now, and Matt has a very bad feeling about him.
A few days later, a second body is discovered in an old barn out on the fens.
Matt and Liz must piece together the cryptic clues Molly has left for them before more people die. The answers lead to the remote fenland village of Marshdyke-St-Mary — and a series of shocking secrets stretching back many years.
DISCOVER A TOTALLY ENTHRALLING CRIME THRILLER.
This utterly gripping crime thriller is perfect for fans of L.J. Ross, Peter May, J.D. Kirk, Angela Marsons, J.M. Dalgliesh, Elly Griffiths or Ann Cleeves.
THE SETTING England’s rural fenland is a strange place, with its never-ending fields, winding tracks, and long straight droves (the old livestock routes) that lead to nowhere. The lonely lanes are flanked either side by deep drainage ditches and are, for a good part of the year, filled with tall, whispering reeds. Closer to the Wash, high seabanks form a barrier between river and marsh, and the richly fertile soil of the drained land. But when the mists come down, as they so often do, perspective is destroyed and all sense of direction lost, and then the fens become a rather frightening place of mystery and danger. Somewhere that you do not want to be at night.
UK #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE JACKMAN & EVANS AND DI NIKKI GALENA SERIES; SHORTLISTED FOR BOOK OF THE YEAR FICTION: CRIME & THRILLER AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2021
OVER 3 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!
Joy grew up and lived in Kent, trained in floristry in Mayfair and ran her own highly successful floristry business in Weybridge for many years. In the mid-1990s, she followed her lifelong love of books, first as the manager of an independent bookshop in Leatherhead, Surrey, then as a writer. When she retired, Joy and her partner Jacqueline and their two spaniels settled in a village just outside Boston, captivated by the Lincolnshire Fens.
Joy’s happy home life is far removed from her storylines, however, and while she loves living in the misty Fens, the area provides a remote and eerie backdrop to her novels. Joy is also able to add the authenticity vital to any crime thriller by drawing on Jacqueline’s inside knowledge, to confirm procedures and the reality of tackling brutal crime and criminals in a modern police force.
Two students are found dead and retired police officers Matt and Liz are called upon by a bereaved mother to investigate. Both young men were photography students and someone will do anything to prevent their photos being sent to the police…
Trick of the Night is the fifth book to feature Matt and Liz as they investigate a case as private detectives using their former police knowledge.
The book opens with Alex and Toby realising they have photos that put their lives in danger. Soon afterwards they both die of carbon monoxide poisoning in a terrible accident at home. But Alex’s mum thinks the deaths are suspicious and the police aren’t interested so she begs Matt and Liz to investigate. Her grief is heartbreaking and authentically written.
In a separate plot strand, Kellie’s nine year old brother has gone to stay with their aunt but goes missing. This is hugely emotive due to his age and health. The two cases begin to link up and we see some chapters from other perspectives that show the danger lurking under the surface of the town. The missing child and suspicious behaviour build the tension and Matt and Liz soon require police assistance.
Trick of the Night has intricate and emotional plot strands with lots of twists.
TRICK OF THE NIGHT by Joy Ellis
A GRIPPING NEW CRIME THRILLER FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND BRITISH BOOK AWARDS CRIME & THRILLER OF THE YEAR NOMINEE JOY ELLIS.
From two-million-selling author Joy Ellis comes one of the most highly anticipated mysteries this year.
Matt and Liz may have retired from the police, but that doesn’t guarantee a quiet life.
A deserted building. A face in the window. A face that shouldn’t be there.
Photography student Toby Unsworth has found the location for the perfect night-time shoot. A cobbled street in the old part of Fenfleet. Later, when he looks at the images on his laptop, he thinks he sees a woman’s face in the window of an old, disused building. He asks his housemate Alex to come and take a look . . .
Two days later, Toby and Alex are dead. Carbon monoxide poisoning. An unfortunate accident. But Alex’s mother doesn’t believe it. She hires Matt and Liz to find out the truth.
Meanwhile, nine-year-old Simon is missing. He was staying with his Aunt Jessie in a cottage on the edge of the marsh. And his older sister Kellie is increasingly worried.
Matt and Liz’s investigations reveal that something very big and very dangerous has descended on the small market town of Fenfleet. And if they don’t get to the bottom of it, more deaths will follow.
DISCOVER A TOTALLY ENTHRALLING CRIME THRILLER.
This totally gripping crime thriller is perfect for fans of L.J. Ross, Peter May, J.D. Kirk, Angela Marsons, J.M. Dalgliesh, Elly Griffiths or Ann Cleeves.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT JOY ELLIS:
“The suspense starts on page one and continues through the twists and turns until the very surprising ending.” Linda Strong
“OMG, this book was fantastic. I absolutely loved it. I was gripped from the first page, but as the tension and suspense mounted throughout the book it just got better and better. And that ending, well, just WOW!” Dawn
“I absolutely loved it.” Viv
“Will keep you guessing until the end of the book.” Barbara
“What a book!!!” Sian
“I was so engrossed I sat up way too late to finish it in one sitting.” Elaine
THE SETTING
England’s rural fenland is a strange place, with its never-ending fields, winding tracks, and long straight droves (the old livestock routes) that lead to nowhere. The lonely lanes are flanked either side by deep drainage ditches and are, for a good part of the year, filled with tall, whispering reeds. Closer to the Wash, high seabanks form a barrier between river and marsh, and the richly fertile soil of the drained land. But when the mists come down, as they so often do, perspective is destroyed and all sense of direction lost, and then the fens become a rather frightening place of mystery and danger. Somewhere that you do not want to be at night.
ALSO BY JOY ELLIS THE BESTSELLING NIKKI GALENA SERIES
1: CRIME ON THE FENS
2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS
3: HUNTED ON THE FENS
4: KILLER ON THE FENS
5: STALKER ON THE FENS
6: CAPTIVE ON THE FENS
7: BURIED ON THE FENS
8: THIEVES ON THE FENS
9: FIRE ON THE FENS
10: DARKNESS ON THE FENS
11: HIDDEN ON THE FENS
12: SECRETS ON THE FENS
13: FEAR ON THE FENS
DETECTIVE MATT BALLARD
1: BEWARE THE PAST
2: FIVE BLOODY HEARTS
3: THE DYING LIGHT
4: MARSHLIGHT
5: TRICK OF THE NIGHT
STANDALONES
GUIDE STAR
JOY ELLIS
UK #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE JACKMAN & EVANS AND DI NIKKI GALENA SERIES; SHORTLISTED FOR BOOK OF THE YEAR FICTION: CRIME & THRILLER AT THE BRITISH BOOK AWARS 2021
OVER 2 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!
Joy grew up and lived in Kent, trained in floristry in Mayfair and ran her own highly successful floristry business in Weybridge for many years. In the mid-1990s, she followed her lifelong love of books, first as the manager of an independent bookshop in Leatherhead, Surrey, then as a writer. When she retired, Joy and her partner Jacqueline and their two spaniels settled in a village just outside Boston, captivated by the Lincolnshire Fens.
Joy’s happy home life is far removed from her storylines, however, and while she loves living in the misty Fens, the area provides a remote and eerie backdrop to her novels. Joy is also able to add the authenticity vital to any crime thriller by drawing on Jacqueline’s inside knowledge, to confirm procedures and the reality of tackling brutal crime and criminals in a modern police force.
Christie visits the fens to conduct research for her employer’s book. She stays with her cousin Liz and partner Matt, retired cops now private investigators. The couple are investigating a woman’s disappearance and are then invited by the police to help with a murder enquiry. But Christie soon provides them with another case…
Marshlight is the fourth book in Joy Ellis’ Matt Ballard series but it can be easily read as a stand alone novel.
Matt and Liz have failed to locate their friend’s missing sister and now their latest case is a murder. However, this plot takes second place as the main plotline for this novel emerges: the majority of the first half of the book is dedicated to Christie and her developing friendships and antagonistic relationship with the locals. As a result of Christie’s interactions, she is involved when a woman goes missing.
Christie and the range of local characters provide a new dynamic as personal politics are established. Gina is a fabulous character that it perfect for us to love to hate and we share Christie’s suspicions about her behaviour. This is explored over the first half of the book to allow plot developments in the second half when the disappearance occurs and is investigated.
The setting of the Fens is vividly brought to life with Christie’s excursions to research the area for her employer’s book. The atmosphere created by the curious light phenomenon is unsettling and provides a great backdrop to the muliple plotlines.
Marshlight is an enjoyable mix of psychological and crime thriller. I have read and reviewed book 3 in this series, The Dying Light. Take a look at the blue links in the list at the end of this blog post for my reviews.
MARSHLIGHT (Matt Ballard #4)
A new psychological thriller from bestselling author and British Book Awards Crime & Thriller of the Year nominee Joy Ellis.
MATT AND LIZ MAY HAVE RETIRED FROM THE POLICE, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN A QUIET LIFE.
An old friend’s sister disappears without a trace. There’s no sign of foul play, but she’d been acting very peculiarly . . .
Meanwhile, Liz’s cousin Christie comes to stay. She takes an immediate — and uncharacteristic — dislike to the local bookshop owner, Gina. Why does everyone put up with her awful behaviour?
HUNTING WILL-O’-THE-WISPS ON THE MARSHES CAN BE A VERY DANGEROUS HOBBY.
Christie is convinced that Gina is manipulating everyone around her. Is she onto something dangerous or just pushing her new friends away?
No one believes her suspicions until another friend goes missing late at night on the misty Fen marshes.
Can Matt and Liz uncover the truth in time to save lives?
DISCOVER A TOTALLY ENTHRALLING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
What readers are saying about JOY ELLIS:
“The suspense starts on page 1 and continues through the twists and turns until the very surprising ending.” Linda Strong
“OMG, this book was fantastic. I absolutely loved it. I was gripped from the first page, but as the tension and suspense mounted throughout the book it just got better and better. And that ending, well, just WOW!” Dawn
“I absolutely loved it.” Viv
“Will keep you guessing until the end of the book.” Barbara
“What a book!!!” Sian
“I was so engrossed I sat up way too late to finish it in one sitting.” Elaine
THE SETTING England’s rural fenland is a strange place, with its never-ending fields, winding tracks, and long straight droves (the old livestock routes) that lead to nowhere. The lonely lanes are flanked either side by deep drainage ditches and are, for a good part of the year, filled with tall, whispering reeds. Closer to the Wash, high seabanks form a barrier between river and marsh, and the richly fertile soil of the drained land. But when the mists come down, as they so often do, perspective is destroyed and all sense of direction lost, and then the fens become a rather frightening place of mystery and danger. Somewhere that you do not want to be at night.
JOY ELLIS
UK #1 BEST SELLER WITH THEIR LOST DAUGHTERS, DARKNESS ON THE FENS, THE FOURTH FRIEND, BEWARE THE PAST, FIRE ON THE FENS, AND THE GUILTY ONES
OVER 2 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!
“I was born in Kent but spent most of my working life in London and Surrey. I was an apprentice florist to Constance Spry Ltd, a prestigious Mayfair shop that throughout the sixties and seventies teemed with both royalty and ‘real’ celebrities. What an eye-opener for a working-class kid from the Garden of England! I swore then, probably whilst I was scrubbing the floor or making the tea, that I would have a shop of my own one day. It took until the early eighties, but I did it. Sadly the recession wiped us out, and I embarked on a series of weird and wonderful jobs; the last one being a bookshop manager. Surrounded by books all day, getting to order whatever you liked, and being paid for it! Oh bliss!
And now I live in a village in the Lincolnshire Fens with my partner, Jacqueline, a highly decorated retired police officer, and our four barking mad Springer spaniels. If I do get any spare time, which is rare these days, my one relaxation is painting, especially using soft pastels. We have been here for twenty years now and although I’ll never be a true ‘Yeller Belly’, a native born to this county, I have adopted it as my own. I love the mists, the big skies and the endless waterways. All my books are set here on the Fens, and why not? The location is perfect for murder!”
ALSO BY JOY ELLIS THE BESTSELLING NIKKI GALENA SERIES Book 1: CRIME ON THE FENS 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS
3: HUNTED ON THE FENS 4: KILLER ON THE FENS 5: STALKER ON THE FENS 6: CAPTIVE ON THE FENS 7: BURIED ON THE FENS 8: THIEVES ON THE FENS 9: FIRE ON THE FENS 10: DARKNESS ON THE FENS 11: HIDDEN ON THE FENS
A woman being driven out of her home due to attacks on her property. A relationship on the rocks after a child’s death. A change in career direction for two retired police officers.
This is the first of Joy Ellis’ Matt Ballard series that I have read. I was expecting a police thriller but The Dying Light has multiple layers and is more of a psychological thriller due to its focus on the mental health and relationship breakdown of Matt’s friends Will and Kate.
Matt has retired along with his partner Liz and they are starting out on a private detective venture. They offer to help their neighbour Emilia whose garden has been trashed and offensive graffiti painted on her walls. Meanwhile, they also try to help Will deal with a difficult emotional period and the book has further grief in store for him.
The mental breakdown of Kate is uncomfortable to read yet feels very realistic. I wasn’t sure if the creepy and sinister events and setting were hinting at a supernatural element to the plot. The criminal element to the plot was quite subtle and the investigation took second place to the tense relationships and emotional concerns of the main characters. This made the tone of the narrative very different to the other books that I have read by Joy Ellis (highlighted in list below).
Wow, what an ending! The final pages had my heart breaking and my jaw dropping: completely unexpected but no spoilers from me!
The Dying Light is the third in the Matt Ballard series and I would like to catch up with the previous books to see him in action as a police officer.
THE DYING LIGHT a totally enthralling psychological thriller with a stunning ending (Detective Matt Ballard Book 3)
From multiple #1 best-selling author Joy Ellis, comes a psychological thriller that will have you glued from first page to last.
WHISPER FEN HOLDS DARK SECRETS
As the mists roll over the fens and enigmatic lights twinkle in the distance, only the locals know their way along the hidden paths through the mysterious watery terrain of one of England’s most beautiful and sometimes dangerous places.
Detective Matt Ballard may have retired but there’s still plenty going on the fens to keep him busy.
Someone trashes an old lady’s garden and daubs her isolated cottage with hateful graffiti. Emilia Swain seems to be totally harmless, so why is she being targeted?
Matt’s best friend Will and his wife Kate moved to Holland House to put their past behind them. But Kate’s mental state is deteriorating and she’s obsessed with the tragic history of the house and an old doll she finds in the garden.
And why is Kate suddenly friends with a loner who haunts the fens?
Has the dreadful past come back to haunt the present owners?
Former detectives Matt and Liz want to help their friends and neighbours. But how can you help people who don’t want to be helped?
DISCOVER A TOTALLY ENTHRALLING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER FROM JOY ELLIS
What readers are saying about JOY ELLIS
“The suspense starts on Page 1 and continues through the twists and turns until the very surprising ending.” Linda Strong
“OMG, this book was fantastic I absolutely loved it. I was gripped from the first page but as the tension and suspense mounted throughout the book it just got better and better and that ending, well just WOW!” Dawn Jones
“I absolutely loved it.” Viv
“Will keep you guessing until the end of the book.” Barbara
“What a book!!!” Sian
“I was so engrossed I sat up way too late to finish it in one sitting.” Elaine
The Setting
England’s rural fenland is a strange place, with its never-ending fields, winding tracks, and long straight droves (the old livestock routes) that lead to nowhere. The lonely lanes are flanked either side by deep drainage ditches and are, for a good part of the year, filled with tall, whispering reeds. Closer to the Wash, high seabanks form a barrier between river and marsh, and the richly fertile soil of the drained land. But when the mists come down, as they so often do, perspective is destroyed and all sense of direction lost, and then the fens become a rather frightening place of mystery and danger. Somewhere that you do not want to be at night.
ALSO BY JOY ELLIS
THE BEST-SELLING NIKKI GALENA SERIES
Book 1: CRIME ON THE FENS
Book 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS
Book 3: HUNTED ON THE FENS
Book 4: KILLER ON THE FENS
Book 5: STALKER ON THE FENS
Book 6: CAPTIVE ON THE FENS
Book 7: BURIED ON THE FENS
Book 8: THIEVES ON THE FENS
Book 9: FIRE ON THE FENS
Book 10: DARKNESS ON THE FENS
DETECTIVE MATT BALLARD
Book 1: BEWARE THE PAST
Book 2: FIVE BLOODY HEARTS
Book 3: THE DYING LIGHT
JOY ELLIS
UK #1 BEST SELLER WITH THEIR LOST DAUGHTERS, DARKNESS ON THE FENS, THE FOURTH FRIEND, BEWARE THE PAST, FIRE ON THE FENS, AND THE GUILTY ONES
OVER 2 MILLION BOOKS SOLD!
“I was born in Kent but spent most of my working life in London and Surrey. I was an apprentice florist to Constance Spry Ltd, a prestigious Mayfair shop that throughout the sixties and seventies teemed with both royalty and ‘real’ celebrities. What an eye-opener for a working-class kid from the Garden of England! I swore then, probably whilst I was scrubbing the floor or making the tea, that I would have a shop of my own one day. It took until the early eighties, but I did it. Sadly the recession wiped us out, and I embarked on a series of weird and wonderful jobs; the last one being a bookshop manager. Surrounded by books all day, getting to order whatever you liked, and being paid for it! Oh bliss!
And now I live in a village in the Lincolnshire Fens with my partner, Jacqueline, a highly decorated retired police officer, and our four barking mad Springer spaniels. If I do get any spare time, which is rare these days, my one relaxation is painting, especially using soft pastels. We have been here for twenty years now and although I’ll never be a true ‘Yeller Belly’, a native born to this county, I have adopted it as my own. I love the mists, the big skies and the endless waterways. All my books are set here on the Fens, and why not? The location is perfect for murder!”
Nikki Galena is called in to investigate a murdered couple and finds herself in the midst of a gang war. The scene reminds the police of Romeo and Juliet and the warring families adds to this impression. But then another couple are discovered…
