I received the book through NetGalley Read Now Program.

This story is one where the investigation leads you step by step to discover who the killer was. It follows DCI Oldroyd and his team as they try to discover who killed Judge FRaser and later on who wound up killing the Newsagent. Their list of suspects was small and they had witnesses of the event as well. The individuals who were identified as the killers did not lend themselves to being found. It was only after DCI Oldroyd went to a stage performance where everything started to click.

If you want to find out who the real killer was and what led DCI Oldroyd to his conclusion, then you must read this book. The ending will surprise you.

There has been a murder in a village in Nidderdale. To Chief Inspector Jim Oldroyd and his assistants this should be an easily solved case_- there was an eyewitness to the murder. Catching the eluxive culprit is tricky and when a second murder occurrs the case becomes more complicated. Well plotted, Christie-esque story with plenty of red herrings andplot turns. Not a fast read, but worth the time spent to enjoy story and the country atmosphere that is created.

This is the fifth novel in the Yorkshire Murders series by J.R. Ellis and I did enjoy very much! I will go back and read the first four. This novels starts off with retired judge Alexander Fraser ( goes by the name of Sandy). He had bought land in Niddersgill for grouse hunting. DCI Jim Oldroyd shows up to figure out who the shooter was. The bar worker named Kirsty had seen a local man that did yard work and odd jobs. But he disappears off the grid it appears. DCI Oldroyd has 2 sergeants helping him with the questioning so plenty of help but tons of twist and turns. Then a shop owner gets shoot in this small village. Such a small village but so many to question. What did they have in common? J.R. Ellis does a magnificent job of keeping you guessing clear to the end of this novel. Also, a wonderful job of description of the land and the surrounding villages.
Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an e-galley of this novel.

This is the fifth book in the series featuring Detective Chief Inspector Jim Oldroyd and his two team members solving the difficult cases in the Yorkshire Dales of England. This is a modern police procedural but the technology bit is toned down quite a lot so the reader rides along with the officers as they work out why this specific victim of murder was chosen. The motive is the stumbling block for the murder because there is an eye witness to what happened. That would seem to bode well for a quick resolution except that the murderer has disappeared and police wonder how accurate their witness really is.

This was my first book in this series and I enjoyed it quite a lot. The Yorkshire landscape is marvelously described and it brought back the vivid memories I have of exploring that area when I was visiting Britain. Oldroyd and his team are well developed characters by this time and I liked watching as they worked their way through solving the crimes. There was a pretty big segment where no progress was being made regarding a motive for the first murder and that went on for longer than seemed strictly necessary. Still, I'm looking forward to reading the previous books in the series.

DCI Tom Oldroyd is called out to the village of Niddersgill where there has been a murder. A witness can identify the killer but he seems to have disappeared. Soon motives can be found for this unlikable victim. DCI Oldroyd and his team investigate. Then there is another murder.
An enjoyable well-written murder mystery with its likeable characters and where the plot keeps you guessing.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Nidderdale Murders is a very English detective mystery. I love the little glimpses into all the characters, not just the main ones. The mystery is incredibly clever and one I did not guess at! It seemed like this was a book that used characters from other books and i would be interetested to read earlier ones.

Sandy Fraser is hosting a hunting party on the “Glorious Fourth” – the start of grouse season. Sandy’s a retired judge, loud and boisterous, not exactly enamored by all, especially by those who don’t like the carnage caused by his shooting, and that he doesn’t exactly pay his bills. So, when Sandy turns up shot dead and a witness sees the shooter -- Alan Green, a local gardener and odd job man -- it seems like a pretty cut and dried case. But in “The Nidderdale Murders” DCI Oldroyd and his crew will have their hands full.

Oldroyd thinks something isn’t quite right about the whole thing. Nobody in the village thinks that Alan Green is capable of murder, but since they can’t find him, no one can be sure. Speaking of the village, you’ll recognize these folks; our author, J.R. Ellis, presents people you’ve read in crime books from the past, present and surely in the future. However, Ellis has made sure that these villagers are just different enough that their thoughts and feelings and motives for murder are unique. You’ll want to keep reading.

It’s beginning to look like the “alleged” murderer is a ghost. Or at least, that Alan Green didn’t do it. The author is pretty adamant about it, actually.

During the investigative scenes, which are extensive, we get looks into Oldroyd’s personal life as he deals with his ex-wife and daughter, and as he decides to give himself something other than police work “to do.” And we find out what the chapter heading are.

Then – there’s another shooting, and the shooter is again identified easily. And the past becomes the present. “And all the world’s a stage.” Oldroyd sees it clearly, then, and can’t help but be impressed, as the reader will be.

Even though we’ve started out over the shooting of grouse, everything is summed up during a vegetarian meal. J.R. Ellis makes sure that “The Nidderdale Murders” will keep you turning the page.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for a copy of this book, in exchange for this review.

Great mystery! I’m quite a fan of mysteries set in the United Kingdom and this doesn’t disappoint. What starts out with a seemingly senseless murder (though the victim a retired judge and really hateful person) morphs into a wider array of unexplained events and the list of possible suspects continues to grow.
The setting is the idyllic little village of Niddersgill in the farthest reaches of Yorkshire. DCI Oldroyd and his team are called to investigate what seems to be a clear case with a reliable witness but as they continue to interview the locals and start putting the pieces together nothing is as it seems.
Before Oldroyd and his team can solve the crime there is a second murder. Time is running out to conclude the investigation before all of the suspects slip away.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, my comments are my own and unsolicited.

Another great thriller by J. R. Ellis! Pulls you in from the start and keeps you guessing the entire story. The plot twist at the end was a great addition and had me surprised! Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love Yorkshire, but was hoping for more. The writing style is quite simple, with lots of pedestrian dialogue and not much description of the characters or landscape, which would have made the story so much more vivid. Two-thirds of the story Is red herrings and dead ends for the police, which made it pretty easy to figure out. A fun enough, quick read.

This was a cute mystery. It’s a very easy read with likable characters and entertaining story. It is part of a series but stands on its own.

In a small remote village in 'England, a retired Judge is murdered, there is an excellent eye-witness, but the suspect cannot be found. DCI Jim Oldroyd and his team, Andy and Sheph are the investigating crew, their insights and personal chatter is spontaneous and witty. After a second eye-witnessed murder the situation really gets interesting and the townies and environmentalist throw a added spice to the mix!!! I was enjoying a simple pace thru the countryside and loving the characters and scenery then the plot takes a super fast twist, the pace speeds up and you can't put this book down until you know whats the outcome!! I loved the cultural aspect, and the dialect added "I feel like i'm there!!" effect. Take a break and really give this book a try, you will love it!!! #NETGALLEY#THENIDDERDALEMURDERS

The beginning of this mystery novel is unique. We’re shown who the murderer is right away because we look through a character’s eyes and see Alan Green. The problem is that nobody can find Alan Green, who, until this point has been a fairly regular visitor of the town pub.
I’d say this feels like a fairly standard English mystery, nothing wrong with that, except for that opening. Also the author does give us a strong setting, Yorkshire moors. Setting, particularly English settings, are right at the top of my list for what makes a good book. I did find it hard to keep track of some of the characters. Part of my problem my have been that this is a series book and well into the series. Overall, I very much enjoyed reading this mystery.
Thank you to Netgalley and all concerned who allowed me to have a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book set in the Yorkshire dales of England, a location I have never encountered before. Some of the local dialogue was difficult to understand but this police procedural was well crafted and the solution was a surprise with a great ending. The main character Oldroyd is one I would enjoy looking for more to read as this is volume 5 of the series. I didn’t feel as if I was reading out of sequence however. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for this ebook of #thenidderdalemurders to read and review ahead of publication.

The Nidderdale Murders is a whodunnit with an unusual twist. I kept getting the feeling of an old tv detective much of the time that I was reading, and the case kept me guessing until the end. However, the story is dragged down by flat characters and clunky sentence structure.

This book was hard for me to get into initially because of all the British jargon thrown at you from the get-go. As an American, I don’t know what a DCI is other than what the context gives off as clues. It also took me longer than I care to admit to come to the conclusion that a grouse butt was a type of hunting blind, not a bird’s rear end. A couple of times, I had to look up a term because I wasn’t familiar with what an item would exactly look like. This disconnect doesn’t affect my rating but did make it harder to get immersed in the story.

The case is the star of the story as it should be. Everyone is hiding something, and Oldroyd and his team must figure out what is pertinent to the case before it goes cold or the killer strikes again. Especially towards the end, it was a fun ride to the final reveal.

The characters never really came to life to me, though. There are sparks of personality, but nothing really sets anyone apart. A lot of this, I consider part of the clunky structuring. “It was...” is one of the most frequent starts to sentences and often where more detail in the proceeding sentence could have made the characters more real. There is also extraneous detail added that doesn’t add to the story. What type of house Henrietta has in London doesn’t add anything to what is happening in Nidderdale and is just dumped in seemingly out of nowhere.

Overall, if you are a fan of slow-paced police procedurals and mysteries, it is worth reading.

Apparently, this is the 5th in a series, it the first I’ve read. Even though I knew nothin about the characters or their previous histories, I was able to pick this up and follow the story. What I didn’t like about the novel is that there seems to be a lot of extraneous information that went on at quite some descriptive length at times and I found myself skimming and skipping over quite a bit of this. However, it was after I completed the book that I realized it was the fifth in the series. So, some of the information I found extraneous could have been interesting to someone who had read the four previous novels and was invested in the characters.

This book kind of reads like a Midsomer Murders television show in that there’s a DCI and his constables solving a perplexing case in a little village. The constables, of course, think the chief inspector is brilliant and he is- solving an otherwise baffling case. (Don’t they have any female DCI’s in the UK?) There’s a whole host of characters that feed into the story as witnesses and suspects and it can be rather difficult to keep track of all of them. This seems somewhat easier on a television show.

The premise is very much like Midsomer Murders. I love that show and I really liked this book. I only didn’t like a lot of the descriptions that went on or what I thought was extraneous but perhaps wasn’t to an avid reader of the series. That made parts of it boring for me and is why I gave it four stars. Still, it was a good mystery.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book and publish my review; the opinions expressed were my own.

Once again, access to books has me reading a series out of order. I enjoyed the first in this series, The Body in the Dales. DCI Oldroyd is an astute, older detective, determined to teach his two detective sergeants the proper way to research a crime. In some ways, he reminds me of Armand Gamache, Louise Penny’s wise soul of a detective.
This time, the crime should be an open and shut case. A retired judge is shot in front of the local pub and a witness sees who fired the shot. But the suspect can’t be found and there’s no clear motive for him. Oldroyd knows not to accept things on face value.
Ellis uses an omniscient third person POV, so we are granted access to info denied the detectives. Everyone seems to know more than they’re telling.
Ellis does a wonderful job of painting the landscape, which comes across as a character in its own right.
But the book moves slowly and at times drags. The victim wasn’t liked by anyone but yet no one seems to have a serious enough motive to want him dead. I wanted a little more action than this one delivered, despite a second murder in the same manner. I found the ending to be entirely too far fetched and unbelievable. Still, points to Ellis for thinking up something so unique.
I do enjoy the characters, so I still intend to go back and read the intervening books. I was sorry Allison didn’t play a larger role in this book as I enjoyed her in the first.
My thanks to netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy of this book.

I love this series of books.

Consistantly good writing, very strong believable characters.

The backdrop of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales makes them all the better.

The plots are dramatic and full of surprises.

Keep writing Mr Ellis!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. I am writing my honest opinion. I have to give only 3 stars to this mystery. The plot is excellent but the writing is terrible. Any budding writer learns the first rule of writing is "show don't tell". Mr. Ellis keeps telling and telling and telling. He writes interesting dialogue and then doesn't trust the reader to interpret on his/her own where it's going. He has to tell us. It got to the point where I just wanted to put the book down.
Because the plot was interesting and because I'm committed to finishing all books that I've been granted access to by Netgalley, I did finish it but it was a trudge.
Since this is Mr. Ellis' 4th Yorkshire murder mystery, I'm guessing he has a devoted audience. But there are so many well written, fascinating mysteries out there......
Mr. Ellis clearly loves the area of which he writes. That comes across quite well.
I'm going to leave it at that.

Book five in an excellent British themed mystery series. Detective Jim Oldroyd has a witness who observed the murder of a retired judge. The suspect he had no obvious motive, and old judge wasn't an invent. There are several villagers who have plenty of motives to kill him. And then... another murder. This is wonderful classic "whodunnit" novel. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the plot and the well developed characters. If this is the first in the series that you read, I highly recommend going back and reading them all.

I would like to thank J.R. Ellis, Amazon Publishing U.K. and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange free fair in honest review.