This was the sixth book The Yorkshire Murders series, but fortunately it is able to be read as a stand-alone book quite easily. I really enjoyed this fun mystery! It was very atmospheric, as it was set in a town best known for Dracula lore. The setting was a goth weekend that the town holds annually. The characters were great. I felt that I was able to get to know characters that had backstory from the previous 5 books, even though I entered in the sixth. It moved at a decent pace, although maybe a bit slow in some parts. Overall, it was an enjoyable read & I’ll likely read the others.

Terrific mystery set in a historic location with many interesting and original plot twists and turns! I absolutely loved this story. First the author selects the location to provide the atmosphere that allows this mystery to take off and draw the reader in. Do you believe what you see with your own eyes? In this case, maybe yes, maybe no. Read "The Whitby Murders" to find out.

Another great read, although I did find it slow in parts. You can read this as part 6 of the series or on its own if you haven’t read the previous ones.

I am loving this series, it just keeps getting better. This is a great who done it story, I was gripped from the start. I'm looking forward to reading more

This is book 6 in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series, and it takes Oldroyd out of his local patch, and into another jurisdiction, as he can't help to get involved, as his daughter is a primary witness. Luckily the detective in charge came up under Oldroyd and is happy to let him assist (INR it would never go that well!).It's an interesting closed room mystery, but I didn't find it as interesting as the prior books in the series- which is odd, as I DO love Halloween. It's not a bad book, and it definitely can stand alone from the series. If you're looking for a Summer beach read, it will fit the bill.

I really enjoyed The Whitby Murders. It is written in a writing style I enjoy and I found the characters interesting. I haven't read any of the previous books in this series but as they all are set in the Yorkshire area I will definitely be reading them in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for my ARC.

2.5 stars rounded up (and I'm afraid I'm being generous here)

The town of Whitby, England, makes the most of its connection to the Dracula legend and holds a Goth Weekend each year just before Halloween. Five young friends arrive from London and have reservations to take part in an escape room with a Dracula theme. They are all dressed in goth costumes and are eager to have a good time. But one couple, Andrea and Dominic, seem to be continually arguing and to their friends' horror, Dom pulls out a knife and stabs Andrea, escaping out an emergency exit. Police are called and the other three friends give their statements. It seems pretty cut and dried what happened here.

But is it? One of the friends, Louise Oldroyd, has niggling doubts and contacts her father, Detective Chief Inspector Jim Oldroyd. He gets permission to work with the local police who are investigating the case. The rest of the novel is a plodding police procedural.

Unfortunately, it was all too obvious to this reader right from the start what has happened here. The only reason to continue reading is to learn the why. I jumped into this series with book 5 and was eager to read this latest edition. Sadly, it was a disappointment.

I received an arc of this new mystery from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars, rounded down
This latest in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series is a bit of an odd duck. It takes place in Whitby, where Oldroyd’s daughter had gone for a Goth Weekend with her friends. One of her friends supposedly stabs another in full view of everyone. She calls her father to help. So, we are meant to believe that DCI Oldroyd is able to head over there, along with his DS to help in the investigation. We are also meant to believe that despite several eyewitnesses, the police would continue to investigate the murder (and a subsequent suicide) because of some gut feelings and no contrary evidence. Maybe police departments have fuller budgets in the UK…
While I like the characters in this series, this story seemed disjointed and in need of a better editing job. The omniscient POV seemed to muddy the waters. I felt the story might have worked better if we had heard from fewer characters. Ellis threw out lots of possible suspects and red herrings. But each red herring would be resolved within a page of being presented. There wasn’t any tension to the story. The key to the resolution was obvious to me within minutes of the first murder. This story just seemed amateurish. In truth, I liked the first two books in this series more than the last two I’ve read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy of this book.

I started this book last night when I took my Kindle to bed. I read for as long as I could remain awake and felt like I just had to make time to finish today. So, yes, I was enjoying it that much. I like the plots that feature good, old-fashioned detective work, and there was plenty of that. If the readers became impatience with the slowness of clues, it was because the officers were, as well. That's often what it takes. Time, persistence, patience.

I can recommend the book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC.
4 Stars!
Highly recommend.
You can read this as part 6 of the series or on its own if you haven’t read the previous ones
It was hard to put this book down. I was hooked from the first chapter.
This thriller was fun to read. It was short and enjoyable.
Well written, well plotted, engaging characters.

I love a good murder mystery and I liked that this was part of a series. While the mystery was original and I appreciated the history of Whitney and its ties to classic literature, the characters and the writing/dialogue felt flat/one dimensional.

This latest entry in the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series features a goth festival, escape rooms, DCI Oldroyd's daughter Louise and her friends, and of course, murder. DCI Oldroyd manages to spend some off-time with his partner in Whitby while he assists local police in figuring out how two murders may not be what they seem.

This move was sent to me by Netgalley on Kindle for review. It is character driven and the story is slow. However here is an intriguing mystery. Try it.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Amazon Publishing UK for the ARC.

This is Book #6 in the series; I've read a couple previously and they are all a reasonably enjoyable read.

DCI Jim Oldroyd's daughter, Louise, is spending a long weekend in Whitby at a goth festival with her friends group from London. With her that night was her friend Maggie, Andrea and boyfriend Dominic, and Ben; another, Jack was due to arrive the following day. Andrea and Dom seemed to be constantly bickering and, during an escape room adventure, Dom inexplicably stabbed Andrea to death, making his escape through an emergency exit and thenceforth, disappeared. The friends witnessed this - the CCTV camera recorded this - but Louise is not sure that everything is as it appears. Whilst the local police under the direction of Inspector Alice Granger start their investigation and their search for Dom, Louise phones her dad for help. Not being his "patch" he gains permission for himself and DS Carter to work with DI Granger and be there to support his daughter.

Jim Oldroyd, too, thinks that all is not what it seems.

This has quite a good storyline but very little in-depth characterisation. I found the most annoying thing was the constant sycophantic dialogue between the characters - all got rather tedious.

Good enough read.

At the October Goth Weekend in Whitby, Louise Oldroyd and her friends came down from London to participate in all the activities, especially an escape room. But all the fun turned deadly when one of the boys stabbed his girlfriend and escaped.
Louise was shocked but felt that something wasn't right and called her father, DCI Jim Oldroyd of HQ Harrogate, to come. He received permission and brought his DS Stephanie Johnson, with him. The circumstances seemed "cut and dry", that the boyfriend killed the girl and then committed suicide, but the facts just didn't add up and Oldroyd started to delve into the lives of the people involved.
A British police procedural with a unique setting and familiar characters from the previous books, as they delve into the intricacies of the case.
Thank you NetGalley for this e-galley of "The Whitby Murders".

I have not read the first couple of books in the series but this book stands on its own. The gothic setting with a Dracula tie in was well written and made the story line believable. I did not like that as the detectives came closer to solving the case the thought process was not shared as part of the story ... it came together fast and then there was a lot of follow up after the actual culprit was revealed.

2* Writing style was very amateurish and laboured. Lacked flow. DNF.

I couldn't finish this, as the writing was laboured and lacklustre and didn't feel organic. I couldn't warm to how the author felt he/she had to bumblingly explain things - I didn't get the impression they were a born writer, but perhaps someone who'd tried to learn the craft?

The characters were unlikeable and uninteresting and I DNF'd this about 3 chapters in.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Thomas Mercer/Amazon UK Publishing.

I had read the first two of Ellis’s “Yorkshire Murder Mystery” series, and they were pretty good, especially for a first-time novelist. But this is the sixth installment, which I got as an ARE, so I’ve skipped three books -- and I honestly don’t quite know what to make of it. By the time an author gets this far into a continuing series, one expects a smoother style, the result of experience, right? But Ellis had that already with his first book. And in certain ways, this one reads like it might have been his debut work.
The story this time is set in Whitby, the small, ancient port town in north Yorkshire, which is famous both for its 7th Century abbey and as the location of much of the action in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In fact, a number of British literary figures spent time in Whitby, and the town has capitalized on its fame in that regard by hosting the Whitby Goth Weekend twice every year, where aficionados of Goth and steampunk culture come to dress up and do their thing. And that’s the background for the murder witnessed by Louise, daughter of DCI Jim Oldroyd, head of CID at Harrogate, as one of her best friends stabs another of her best friends in a local “escape room.”
It all seems very straightforward to the rest of the shocked group of young people, all of whom have come up from London for the festivities, and also to Defective Inspector Granger of Whitby. But something about it all feels wrong to Louise, so she calls Dad and begs him to come over to Whitby and look into things, even though it’s decidedly not his patch. Granger, however, had been trained by Oldroyd and is delighted to be able to work with him again, so Dad is there like a shot. And the plot thickens, and thickens, and thickens again, with more than a few herrings strewn redly about.
It’s not the plot that’s the problem, though. It’s the way DCI Oldroyd, who has vast experience and a sterling reputation, seems to nearly lose it at numerous points in the investigation. He’s practically sobbing every time he thinks about his (grown) daughter being involved in a murder case. That sort of reaction is simply not credible for a senior copper. He would have developed a much tougher shell than that, even when family is involved, or he would never have risen so high.
There are also assorted problems with the author’s narrative choices, as when, during the “knocking on doors and talking to people” phase of the investigation, he describes what each of Oldroyd’s team is doing -- and then has them repeat, in detail, to their boss what they’ve found out (and which the reader has just read a few pages earlier) -- and then has them repeat it all again as they compare notes among themselves. That’s a classic novice’s error, and one Ellis avoided in his first two books. So why does he commit it now? It’s a puzzle. This is a pretty good story with a nicely constructed plot, but the author is in need of a sit-down with his editor.

Halloween is around the corner. Friends getting together for a fun weekend going to an escape room. Dracula theme, scary characters floating around can murder be next. Louise Oldroyd and her friends are looking forward to this fun time did she know two of her fellow goth's would be murdered. Once this happens Louise calls her dad DCI Jim Oldroyd a well respected detective from the Harrogate Police.
Why would Dominic stab his girlfriend Andrea and run away. Was this a prank gone wrong? Then there is Ben who tries to save Andrea's life while Maggie and Jack try to understand why. I love the background of this story. Dracula infused in England with many who done its. Every time DCI Oldroyd and his fellow officers get close someone possibly the murder throws them off the track. Yet Louise does not believe this is a cut and dry case like her friends do. Something does not add up. Why would Dominic kill Andrea? What happened to the owner of the escape room. Many of his employees are telling a different tale when it comes to him. Plus when all of these suspects are interviewed many of their stories change.
I know this is book six in the series so it was a little hard for me to get a clear background on Louise and her dad. I did like the characters and how they evolved. Plus having the Dracula background really made you feel you were in England involved in this murder mystery.
I enjoy the English mysteries so I want to thank Netgalley for the ARC. I will surely look up JR Ellis's other books. Enjoyed it and would recommend it if you are a fan of English mysteries like myself.

England, law-enforcement, procedural, murder, murder-investigation, red-herrings, family-dynamics, friendship, due-diligence*****

Sleight of hand, but where's the proof. DCI Jim Oldroyd's daughter is present when a good friend of hers (and several others in attendance) is stabbed while at an amusement. She doesn't feel right about it and calls Oldroyd who gets permission to go outside of his patch and finds himself working with someone who has positive memories of him mentoring her. But there's a lot of inconsistencies in what appears to be an open and shut case, so there's plenty of police work to do. Great plot with very clear characters. Finest kind!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Amazon Publishing UK via NetGalley. Thank you!