I read this not knowing that it was the latest in a series, but that didn’t matter as the book stood alone. The element of the back story were introduced as they were needed.

I really enjoyed how the different elements unfolded as the book progressed and were delicately drawn together without seeming contrived. Although there were a lot of characters they each had their own identities and it didn’t get too confusing. The link between Nicki’s and Eve’s plot lines was an imaginative way of managing the multiple storylines and keeping them entwined.

I found this book really enjoyable and will look at some of the other books in this series. 5* from me

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.

Engaging detective crime drama which definitely kept me on my toes. Not only was I drawn to find the conclusion, with two parts unfolding in the story, but the introduction of so many characters had me re-reading parts to check who was who ( not so convenient on a kindle!). This is part of a series, so I expect reading others you’d already be familiar with many characters therefore easier to picture relationships.

Secret On The Fens by Joy Ellis is instalment number twelve for DI Nikki Galena and DS Joseph Easter which is set in a fictional town called Greenborough. Joy Ellis has managed to create a series that even after 12 books it is a series everyone still wants to read. She has the skill to keep her stories fresh, intriguing and interesting for us readers.
This time Nikki and the team are called out due to the discovery of intertwined bodies of a youngle couple found in a way that gives the impression they were lovers who committed suicide, which earns them the name 'Romeo and Juliet'.They can't identify them and they haven't been reported missing. The couple that look like they could have been Goths but without evidence it isn't going far although It doesn't take too long for the team to find evidence that points to murder.This investigation has the power to cause Nikki to lose her usual cool as it drags sad memories up for her personally. There is another girl missing who is connected to a criminal family with dealings on the Carborough Estate where it is beginning to look like a turf war is about to break out. On top of this they find another couple dead. Missing people, turf wars and murders will Nikki and the team manage to catch a killer, find the missing and control the violence as well?
Joy creates characters that are well rounded and wonderful that have grown in popularity as the series has gone on. Joy has created a team with such team spirit and warmth you can do nothing but enjoy them. As always her plot is brilliantly written and worked out and the descriptions of the settings make me feel like I am with them, it is so good.
A series that gets better every book I read, very highly recommended from me! Start from book one though!!
Thanks to Joffe Books and Joy Ellis for my copy of the book for my review today.

Yet another great novel set on the fens and featuring DI Nicky Galena. I've read all the books in this series and Joy Ellis has not disappointed with this latest offering. Centering around the Goth community and a series of puzzling murders I was kept guessing about the identity of the perpetrator until the very end. An engrossing read which I can highly recommend

A strong cast of characters with an intriguing mystery to be solved! This one has a large cast of characters and a crime with many layers of intrigue. Took me a while to get all the characters in line, but once everyone was established in the story it definitely added to the multi-layered crime to be solved. If you like a good mystery with intertwined characters, then go for it.

After loving all of the On the Fens titles, I'm really sad to only be giving Secrets on the Fens 3 stars.
The latest installment of Joy Ellis' Fens series has all of the twists and turns that you know from her books. However Secrets on the Fens had too many extra characters to keep up with and I felt that the sub story of Eve and Wendy was not needed and felt like filler for the book.

Detective Nikki Galeno and her crew are called to a murder scene deep within the woods in the middle of the night where the bodies of a young couple posed as lovers. There are no clues to the victims identity and also no evidence that is left behind by the killer. This case will have many complexities for the detectives than usual when Nikki's mother and her friend come across another set of bodies posed in the same manner as the first victims. With an apparent serial killer with an agenda, the team will have to move very fast because this predator has only just got started and isn't going to let anything or anyone get in his (or her) way.

This book is well-written with a wonderful and mysterious cover and has a cast of many characters with the Goth style of living seeming to be the most prevalent factor for this story. Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. I had great difficulty keeping track of who was related to who and which friend of what relative knew which victim whose other friend knew of the other relative who may or may not have known the other victim. For myself, there were just too many close knit characters who meant nothing to me and I found it very annoying and very slow without any suspense so even though there was a mystery in the background I found myself very bored with the whole story. In all fairness to the author I did not realize this was the twelfth book in the series so the large cast of characters would be known to most readers who read some of the previous books and enjoyed the familiarity of so many people being involved. This book has been given many good reviews by others but sadly it just wasn't my type of book since I just couldn't connect to any of the characters except Nikki and her team.

I want to thank the publisher "Joffe Books" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this story and any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have give a rating of 2 1/2 Disappointing 🌟🌟🌠 Stars!!

I have been a fan of Joy’s work for a while now. I haven’t quite caught up with everything that she has written but I am getting there. I especially enjoy the series featuring Detective Inspector Nikki Galena and Detective Sergeant Joseph Easter. ‘Secrets On The Fens’ is the twelfth book in the series and it is another corker from Joy Ellis. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Secrets On The Fens’ but more about that in a bit.
It took me no time at all to get into this story. In fact the minute I saw Joy’s name on the cover, that was it. As soon as I managed to get hold of a copy, I squirreled myself away and didn’t re-merge until I had finished reading the book. To say that reading ‘Secrets On The Fens’ became addictive is a massive understatement. I would pick the book up only intending to read a couple of chapters to fill in the odd half hour but I would become so wrapped up in the story that I would still be reading more than half a dozen chapters later. I soon got to the end of the story and I had to bid farewell to Nikki and Joseph.
‘Secrets On The Fens’ is extremely well written but then I think that to be true of all of Joy’s work that I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing. She certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and draw you into the story. The story starts with a bang, hits the ground running and maintained a fairly fast pace throughout. Reading this book was like being on a scaring and unpredictable rollercoaster with several twists and turns along the way. I found ‘Secrets On The Fens’ to be a gripping read, which kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Secrets On The Fens’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Joy’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Joy Ellis just gets better and better and Nikki Galena is a series that just keeps giving so I was very excited to read this new addition to the series.

This book has a lot going on there are 2 stories running in tandem which makes it all the more gripping. In addition there are stories around minor characters that bring added suspense to the stories. Bent coppers, lies, mysteries and murder all add to the adrenaline pumping action and then a missing person, one very close to both Nikki and Joseph. Can the team juggle all the goings on and find the clues that will lead to the cracking of the case?

I love all the characters in this series but most of all Nikki. She comes accross as hard but inside is a heart of gold and there is nothing she wouldn't do for the people she cares about and that includes the team.

The case is a hard one there are few clues and the murders are 'arranged' to confuse and they do that brilliantly. Before the team can start to move forward with finding the murderer they must find out what they can about the victims who all seem to be living secret lives. Brilliant story just brilliant.

And then in the background we have the case of the missing artist which is being investigated by Eve and Wendy and you can be sure to smile where this dynamic duo is concerned.

Laughter, tears, intrigue, suspense, secrets, evil and of course murder this book has it all and it is all wrapped up in an ending that will leave you gobsmacked. Absolutely brilliant read.

‘Secrets on the Fens’ by Joy Ellis is the first of this series I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. I love finding a new series to get my teeth into, and I know I will have many hours of pleasure reading more of the Detective Nikki Galena stories.
When the bodies of two teenagers are found in the woods, their positioning raises many questions. Someone had taken a lot of trouble to set the scene, but why? Links to the goth community and those interested in the study of gravestones further complicate matters. Meanwhile Nikki’s mum Eve and her friend Wendy have a mystery of their own as they look into the disappearance of a local artist many years before.
Both stories had me gripped. There was excitement, tension and suspense throughout. The build up to the solution was so well done and I loved the twists and turns. I really like the two main characters, Nikki and Joseph. They came across as the kind of intelligent, caring police officers we hope exist in reality. An excellent mystery.

I was given this ARC to review.

First read of a Joy Ellis book, and pleased that I have a few to catch up on.
What appears to be two young lovers found dead in a "strange setting" leads Nikki Galena and her team on a mystery tour to identify who they are. Then another two young lovers are found in another strange setting which obviously links them both - but how?
Links to local criminal families and concerns that this is starting a turf war keeps you guessing through the book.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This is the latest offering in Joy Ellis's Lincolnshire Fens based crime series featuring DI Nikki Galena and ex-special forces man, DS Joseph Easter, the two are in a below the radar relationship with each other, unwilling to be separated from each other. The bodies of two lovers are discovered in Saltmere Wood, posed lovingly together with a rose. The post-mortem reveals the pair were not a a case of a lovers suicide pact, but in fact were drugged and murdered. In an investigation that is slow to make progress, we once again encounter the police team of DC Cat Cullen, DC Ben Radley and PC Yvonne Collins. The case takes them into the world of goths, and sadly further murders. This was an intense crime read, full of suspense and tension which I found engaging and entertaining. Many thanks to Joffe Books for an ARC.

Joy Ellis never fails to deliver a proper who dun it police based mystery this time with a side order of historical mystery solved by modern Ms Marples. Set in the fens maybe but this is no backwater read, keeps a good pace throughout First one couple then another couple, all found asleep but forever but they aren’t couples so the mystery begins

Another excellent addition to the ‘Fens’ series by Joy Ellis. The characterisation in these books is exquisite - Rory being one of my favourite characters ever. Excellent and compelling storyline as ever - these books get better and better in my opinion.

DI Nikki Galena is based in the Lincolnshire Fens and covers a huge area with her team including partner and ex soldier DS Joseph Easter. They live together but have to keep this low key as, if exposed, one of them would have to move stations. It's great to meet again the loyal team of DCs Cat Cullen and Ben Radley, and highly experienced veteran PC Yvonne Collins still helps out when Supt Cam Walker can borrow her from uniform. Nikki is awoken by a call from the station in the small hours since two badger watchers in Saltmere Woods have stumbled across what at first looks like a tragic lovers’ suicide pact. With no names for them, the detectives refer to them as Romeo and Juliet. The post mortem shows the young man and woman have been murdered and the scene was staged. For some strange reason they have not been reported missing and with no identification for the goth looking pair, the case struggles to get off the ground. It’s a tough one for Nikki too, as it reminds her of the loss of her own teenage daughter. However there is a girl missing, Chrissie, and her brother Paul is desperate to find her. Their father is Derek Leonard, a cousin of Peter and Raymond, sons of the late Archie Leonard. While Raymond has carried on his father’s criminal dealings on the Carborough Estate where it looks like a turf war is about to erupt, Peter and wife Fran are straight and it was they who adopted Mickey, the boy Joseph saved some time ago. Paul is angry with his sister and the man he thinks she went out with, and despatches a friend to look for her but worryingly the friend never returns. Another lad is also reported missing. Cat has a contact in the goth community, Nova, who takes her to see a young couple. Winter and Edgar have been worried that the bodies in the wood might be their friends Branwen and Wolf but bizarrely they can only identify one person. So who was the other “lover”? Still hampered by the goths' tradition of taking chosen names rather than given ones (me, I am known as Vulture in some circles), the detectives are still making slow progress when another terrible scene unveils two more dead young lovers. More lives hang in the balance as, with four murders, missing lads and gangs at each other’s throats, it will take all the combined skills of the detectives to catch this killer. Oh, and Nikki’s mother Eve Anderson and her housemate Wendy Avery are setting off on an adventure of their own. As Nikki points out, they are like magnets for trouble so anything could happen!
This story is full of the wonderful characters that have grown to be so popular as the series has progressed such as Eve and Wendy, and much of this is due to how warm and human they are. I especially love pathologist Professor Rory Wilkinson, with his camp black humour and assistants Spike and “Cardiff” Erin. There is a great feeling of camaraderie within the team of detectives, and this makes the story all the more enjoyable. The plot is wonderfully clever and superbly delivered, the characters beautifully described, and the scenery and setting of these books is perfect, as always. This series just gets better and better!
There really is so much more going on in this story which I would love to tell you about but I have no intention of giving away any spoilers so you'll just have to go out and buy yourself a copy. You will not be disappointed!! 5*

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for giving me the ARC to read. This is the first book I have read in this series and there is no need to read the previous books as the characters and their relationships are well explained. I enjoyed that there was the major crime of murder that Nikki and Joseph were investigating along with the old mystery that Eve and Wendy were trying to solve.

The author has created some great characters, ones that you can easily like. Their relationships, whether personal or work related, were realistic and added to the storyline. The crimes had a unique twist that made it difficult to figure out who the criminals were. The case had a lot of trails which had to be traversed before the true picture of what really happened was discovered. The story flowed nicely and it kept me interested and turning the pages.

A couple of nocturnal naturists (they study night animals) find a dead couple of teens that are posed as Romeo and Juliet. Although it may look like a double suicide, it’s foul play. The youngsters were first drugged and then smothered but they were killed in different locations and then transported to the woods. Strangely enough, nobody comes to the station to report a missing person. A goth friend of Cat can identify the boy as Wolf but she doesn’t know his real name. The girl with him is not his girlfriend Branwen (also only know by her assumed name) who’s also disappeared.

Then a few days later, another teenage couple is found in a boat inside a tunnel that leads to a drain by no-one else than Nikki’s mother and her army friend.



This is the s12th book in an ongoing series. I hadn’t read the previous ones but I could follow just fine. It actually felt as if I’d known the characters for much longer because there are multiple references to events that occurred years ago. I’m quite happy to have requested this book as I wanted to read something by Joy Ellis for a while and I’m not disappointed at all. This was an excellent gamble. I’m only regretting that it took me so long.

On the outside, DI Nikki Galena is a tough, no-nonsense, hard-nosed copper with a sharp tongue. She doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Beneath the hard exterior, she has a heart of gold and is capable of deep compassion. You only have to look at her rescue of troubled teen Mickey who’s also gone missing. She cares deeply about getting justice for the victims and will go through fire for her team. Nikki is in a very serious relationship with DS Joseph Easter, but they must keep it a secret. When it becomes public knowledge, one of them will be put in another station. They want to avoid that.

But if it would happen, Joseph will the one to move away. He still feels guilty for choosing the job over Nikki in the past and almost losing her. He’s ex-special forces, an amazing cook and an attentive charming man. A lottery ticket, as we say in Flanders.

Professor Rory Wilkinson, the pathologist is another favourite of mine. With his Shakespeare quotes and a habit of talking to the corpses, he reminds me a bit of Ducky from NCIS.

The investigation into the couple’s murders is interrupted by chapters about Nikki’s mum Eve and her army buddy Wendy. They’re restoring a Victorian artist’s studio and botanical garden and discover a secret journal and some letters that all point to the Lake District where the man disappeared in unclear circumstances more than a century ago. These parts have the feel of a cosy mystery albeit one not without danger as not everybody is happy with their digging into the past. It works well as contrasting with the grittier underbelly of Greenborough where the 2 big crime families both mourn one of their children.

It is a complex and complicated investigation. Is the ‘love theme' of both double homicides a message? If so, to whom? To the police, the families, the victim's friends or someone else? Or is it all misdirection? Is it gang-related with both warring crime families having victims? Is it a jilted lover? Or does it relate to the Goth community? Maybe it’s an overzealous religious fanatic with a hatred for those? Nikki simply doesn’t know. Bring in a corrupted copper and you don’t know where to look first.

The subculture of Goths played an important role in the dead teens lives and we learn more about their beliefs and habits. It is a far more diverse group than I thought. And I’d never heard of taphophiles, (studying tombstones and cemeteries) a strange but no-doubt interesting hobby.

Byron, a cat that’s been made homeless by the killer finds a new and loving home with Cat and Ben.

At the back of the book, there’s an extensive glossary for those who’re not all that familiar with UK expressions.

I thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for this free ARC and this is my honest and unbiased review of it.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Joffe Books for the ARC.

This is Book #12 in the DI Nikki Galena series set amongst the Lincolnshire Fens - having read the whole of the series this book is just as absorbing, just as intriguing, as all the previous ones. So well-written with a complex plot where strands of sub-plots become woven into the whole, taking the reader off in directions which appear, initially, to have no connection at all.

A dog walker happens upon a fully-clothed couple in Saltmere Woods, they appear to be in an embrace - but they are dead. Nikki and her team call them Romeo and Juliet as they have no clue to their identities, apart from the fact they appear to be dressed as Goths. Shortly after, another couple, similarly dressed and also dead, are discovered in a small boat which has been tethered under one of the dyke bridges. Someone must know who these young people are - they do, only the connections have yet to be made as the area's two main gangster families have to come to an uneasy truce.
Meanwhile Nikki's mum Eve, together with her friend Wendy, travel to the Lake District to try and solve the mystery of the disappearance of a Victorian artist and, as always, get themselves into a bit of trouble with their amateur sleuthing, and someone at Nikki's station is on the take.

I just love this author's writing, the characters feel just so real and the dialogue, banter and humorous exchanges are just so natural and believable. Can't wait for the next instalment.

Initially I really struggled with this book and started it then left it and then went back. It is a slow burn but about 1/4 of the way I could understand what was happening and why there was so many characters. This may have been because I hadnt read other books in the series, so other people might get on better.

But once it got going and I understand how the characters interacted it was really good. I started really investing in the characters and now this is a series I must investigate further.

It is very well written.

I was given an advance copy of the book by netgalley and the publishers but the review is my own.