A good read. Fast paced but lacking a cutting edge thriller aspect. Great on the crime part, not so much the thriller.

This book moves very quickly, and there is a lot going on, both from the past and in the present. However, the author is adept at weaving everything together so that it all fits and the pace moves quickly. Nikki and Joseph are fantastic characters, and it was really interesting to see Joseph’s relationship with his daughter develop. The lives of the main characters are a huge part of the appeal in Ms. Ellis’s books. And this one had an added spooky element which made the police work all the more interesting!

The best Nikki galena book I have read yet. Intriguing and full of mystery. A great story that kept me interested throughout

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I had expected. Too much crime and not enough thriller, but it’s a solid story that others will probably enjoy.

Nikki Galena and her team are investigating a cold case which has far reaching tendrils. Can they discover the killer before another young girl is murdered? Racing against time Nikki and her team come across harrowing evidence and a ruthless assailant.

Thank you Joy Ellis for a good old fashioned mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was well written with believable characters.
Thank you also to Joffe Books and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book

Another DI Nikki Galena mystery from Joy Ellis, and this series just gets better. A years old mystery is dragged into the present day as further evidence emerges, The Norfolk fens setting is atmospheric, and this is a real page turner.

Oh my! I loved this book I couldn't stop reading , I finished it in a few days . Very entertaining and full of Twists . One of the best crime thrillers I've ever read .

In this book, DI Nikki Galena and her team are investigating some photos found in a satchel in a cottage hidden among some trees in a large fenland farm. The photos are of Jennifer Cowley who went missing 15 years ago. She had been stalked by a young man who was convicted of her murder, even though her body was never found.

In the satchel, Nikki also finds the recent photo of a girl who looks just like Jennifer. Also, the farm-owner’s wife has been receiving pagan artefacts. There is also the storyline of a man who preys on widowed older women.

The author does a great job of weaving the different storylines together and the ending ties everything up very nicely. I just love that this is part of a series, 11th book actually, as now I have the 1st 10 books of this series to look forward to. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Joffe Books, for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Joy Ellis is a master storyteller - with the ability to really piece together various storylines into one bigger picture plot, and I love trying to see how it all fits together and wraps up nicely. And this book is really a prime example of this, when the gang begins investigating three seemingly unrelated cases, which quickly begin to swirl into each other the deeper they dig: One involves a series of weird gifts being left a at a remote farmhouse, the other involves a weird discovery at an abandoned cottage buried deep in the woods on the farmhouses’ property, and the last involves a predator the crew has been trying to take down for quite some time.

This is the 11th book in the Nikki Galena series, an while it technically could be read as a standalone, some fo the plot points and dramas do carry over from previous installments, so I wouldn’t really recommend starting with this one.

The relationships between the group are all pretty established at this point, and it is nice to see how they’ve really come along, with the focus, in my mind, of this book being the relationship between Joseph and Tamsin, which I enjoyed, since I have wanted to see more of them throughout the series. In fact, I really enjoyed seeing more of Tamsin and watching her character develop much more in this story - especially in the end of the novel, which really made me see her in a new light.

The only thing that made this a four-star, rather than a five -star read was that at times, it felt like maybe there was a little too much going on. Like, there were so many plots and subplots going on, it was hard to keep track of everything going on and who all was involved in each. I wish there had been more of a focus on some of the major points. But Joy Ellis does weave things together nicely, so things were wrapped together well, so I cant really complain too much.

Overall, this is another great addition to the series, and I, as always, look forward to more!

WOW, what a read! The plot was intense, powerful and thrilling and held me captive all the way through! The characters fairly leaped off the page, and the tension was palpable. If you are looking for a book that you just CAN’T put down, then this is DEFINITELY the book for you!

Great story of folklore and suspense . Brilliantly written and I felt as though I knew the characters.

I have been waiting for this book to come out and I wasn’t disappointed

To start with I should point out that this is now book 11 in the series so you should really read some previous ones to get a better understanding of the team dynamics.

Joy’s books keep getting better and this one is no different.

The main arc of this book follows Nikki and her team as they investigate the unearthing of a dead body. The body was found by accident when DS Easter’s daughter finds some photographs in a house hidden amongst some trees on woodland that she is helping clear.

When DI Nikki Galena and her team study the photographs they realise that some are of a girl who was murdered years ago, and who’s murderer has just been released from prison, but also some of a girl who has recently been reported missing.

Whilst they are in the house the body of a dead person is also discovered so they then have to trace this person, along with trying to find out who has been squatting at the abandoned cottage.

The main story is a brilliant detective story with enough twists and red herrings to keep anyone guessing throughout.

The sub plot involves the rest of Nikki’s team trying to catch a man who is sexually assaulting older women, but always seems to get away with it as it is his word against theirs. As they work their way through all the evidence a surprise assistant appears who could blow the case wide open for them.

As with all of Joy’s books this is a brilliant story which kept me hooked and guessing throughout.

I’ve enjoyed Joy Ellis’s DI Nikki Galena police procedurals before. Hidden on the Fens, the 11th in the series, has a promising premise. A mysterious derelict cottage in the woods appears to hold clues to an old crime – and the threat of a new one, both involving teenage girls.

The cottage was hidden for decades until the landowner began clearing the wood. Meanwhile his parents, two agreeably eccentric academics, say they know nothing of its history but his mother is receiving odd ‘offerings’ on her doorstep, which appear to be linked to witchcraft, her field of study.

The nature of the crime, the remote location, the juxtaposition of the forward-thinking landowner who is intent on conservation and the setting, which is unchanged for decades, conjure an atmospheric world. Added to that, there is a personal angle. The environmental consultant working with the landowner is married to another officer, and is the daughter of Galena’s sergeant and partner, Joseph Easter.

Galena and the team are interesting characters, there are lots of connections and developing relationships (although you can dip in and out of the series, as I have, and the books still make sense). I was initially really enjoying this one too, but around the middle my interest started to sag.

I think there are a couple of reasons. First, there is a lot of extraneous detail that slows the book down. It matters to Galena (and to Ellis) who is doing what shift, and what task they have outstanding, and a little bit of detail can add flavour to the reader, but there is too much housekeeping and it weighs down the pace for the reader.

I also felt disappointed by the eventual resolution of the story. It wasn’t as twisty as I’d hoped and the behaviour of some of the secondary characters strained credulity.

So, Hidden on the Fens is not, for me, Joy Ellis at her best, but it was still good to catch up with Galena and the team and I’d be happy to read another.

This book was just okay for me. 80% in, it felt like the writing had been handed over to someone else with no clue. I will not be continuing with the series. This killed it for me.

I enjoyed this nicely paced and well written book. I believe it's part of a series, but I read this as a standalone and it held up very well. I'll be keeping an eye out for the earlier stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Hidden on the Fens by Joy Ellis.
Detective Joseph Easter’s daughter discovers a cottage hidden in some trees on a large fenland farm. Someone has been living there.
The farm-owner’s wife has been receiving sinister pagan artefacts, including a witch’s knife. Are they some sort of warning or message?
Joseph and his daughter search the cottage and find an old satchel. Inside are photos of a beautiful girl, Jennifer Cowley. She went missing fifteen years ago. She had been stalked by a young man, who was convicted of her murder, even though her body was never found.
WHEN DI NIKKI GALENA EXAMINES THE COTTAGE, SHE FINDS SOMETHING FAR WORSE.
And in the satchel is a more recent photo of a girl who looks just like Jennifer.
The man who killed Jennifer is recently out of prison. Has he struck again?
At the same time, DC Cat Cullen and Dave Harris are trying to get evidence against a man who preys on widowed older women. Vernon Deacon is seemingly a pillar of society, with very influential friends. His victims are often not believed, so their job is not easy.
I really enjoyed this book. Although I haven't read the whole series I will be. I like Nikki's character. Hope there is more to come. 4*.

It was completely absorbing and thoroughly entertaining. There was a large cast of characters and despite being part of a series, it read nicely as a stand alone. I love the way characterization was done and the plot executed. I'm a big fan of traditional British police procedures, and Ellis has become my another go-to-author whenever I'm in mood for a well-constructed mystery. Fantastic!

Thanks to #NetGalley, #Joffe Books and #Joy Ellis for a advanced review copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

This was my first book by this author and in the Nikki Galena series. It definitely works as a stand-alone, although I have heard from other reviewers that it's good to read the other books as well to learn more about the characters histories. (I will be doing this retroactively.)

I found this book very enjoyable and entertaining. The characters were well written and the plot moved along swiftly. The story begins with a hidden cottage being found in an old copse of woods that is to be cleared and the dead body found within. The story continues with many plot twists and turns culminating in an ending that you will not see coming! I highly recommend this title and this author!

4.5⭐

I was so pleased to see this Book by one of my favourite Authors. I have read all of Joys books and am never disappointed. This had it all. Cold case murder, Pagan rituals, a missing girl and a creepy cottage hidden away for years. Another brilliant book .