The Whitby Murders

Oldroyd's daughter Louise and her friends are in Whitby for the Gothic festival. While taking part in a panic room challenge, tragedy occurs.

It looks like a clear cut case, but Louise thinks something's not quite right.

So she calls her dad....

Another excellent adventure for Jim Oldroyd and his team

2 stars

Clunky writing & a convoluted plot dampen what could otherwise be a fun murder mystery. The Dracula theme was still fun in a kitschy way.

[What I liked:]

•The twists in this mystery were more confusing than they were building up to an intriguing climax, but once the details were all laid out at the very end I could appreciate the murder & how it was pulled off. Still not very believable, but creative.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•Clunky dialogue, & the writing is odd. There is a lot of summary, but it often happens mid-scene even at key moments. It kept pulling me out of the story. Also lots of info-dumping.

•The MC has a family emergency & asks for a few days off work, okay; so his boss assigns his coworker to be his chauffeur & emotional support while he’s on leave? Very odd. That wouldn’t fly in the US. Or maybe I’m misunderstanding what happened there.

•The crime was a bit convoluted, but it was the murderer’s motivations that were really over the top. When they revealed their hand, it felt very melodramatic.

•The women characters in this are super controlling, treating their partners like kids & rationing sweets & booze. It’s weird.

CW: murder, physical assault, suicide

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Goth weekend in Whitby. DCI Jim Oldroyd’s daughter Louise has come with her friends from London. A weekend of dressing up starts with a visit to an Escape Room. When they come out a death will have occurred and 1 will be on the run. This story will show can you really believe your own eyes? Do you really know your friends? A great fast paced mystery with good solid police work leading to a not so straightforward case. You really fall in love with the setting of this mystery. Whitby has so much more to offer including Dracula.
I was given an arc of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A murder with three witnesses. But one of them doesn’t believe what she saw. And I am not sure I believe what I read. This wasn't a bad book...it had a ton of potential but it just went off the rails and got overly complicated and confusing. Someone else described it as clunky and that's probably a good word to use. The ending was wholly unbelievable and I am not sure how the writer even got there. It was disappointing. It was also hard to find any likable characters. This part of a series so maybe I will go back and read the ones that came before this one to see if it helps but this book just didn't quite work for me. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advance copy of The Whitby Murders, the sixth novel to feature DCI Jim Oldroyd of the Harrogate Police.

Oldroyd’s daughter, Louise, and her friends are in Whitby for the Goth Weekend and to kick things off they visit the local escape room. Once there things don’t as planned when their friend, Dominic, stabs his girlfriend, Andrea, and runs off. With three witnesses and CCTV the case seems cut and dried, but Louise has doubts and asks her dad to investigate.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Whitby Murders, which has an intricate plot with plenty of misdirection. I must admit that I guessed some of how it was done, probably a first for me in this series, but I had no idea about the perpetrator or the motive.

I like this series for the plots as they are real brain teasers, offering ingenious and sometimes convoluted solutions to seemingly impossible crimes. This novel is slightly different with its immediate suspect and eye witness accounts, although as any true crime aficionado knows eye witnesses are notoriously unreliable, and is more a question of unravelling what exactly happened and why. It is fun trying to outwit a devious killer and I found the mystery gripping and compulsive.

It must be said that the plot is the only thing in this novel worth raving about. The characters are rather one dimensional and the dialogue rather saccharine with all the praise and mutual support going on. I lie, this novel has given me a strong urge to visit Whitby, although maybe not on Goth Weekend (I left that kind of thing behind in the 80s and feel too old to revisit). It sounds like a lovely part of the country with an interesting history.

The Whitby Murders is a good read that I can recommend.

Louise Oldroyd and her friends are attending the Whitby Goth Weekend. When experiencing an escape room puzzle one of the group stabs another. She calls on her father DCI Jim Oldroyd for help. Former colleague D.I. Alice Granger welcomes the help of his team.
I found the group of people annoying, and didn't care for the characters of the police or their interactions and dialogue. Other stories in the series have been better.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC with the promise to review. This story is a satisfying true locked room mystery set in an escape room. It is mostly in Whitby in the UK - a spot famous for Dracula. It is extremely atmospheric and creepy and the mystery is twisty and difficult to solve. I really enjoyed the detectives as they worked to figure out the puzzle. I totally recommend this lovely British mystery with delightful characters.

Louise Oldroyd and her friends are in Whitby for Goth Weekend. They are starting off the fun weekend with a visit to a local escape room.

Their friend Dominic, stabs his girlfriend, Andrea, while in the escape room and takes off!

Three witnesses and CCTV the case seems cut and dry! But Louise has her doubts about what really happened. She reaches out to her Dad, DCI Jim Oldroyd, to help investigate.

Can you really believe your own eyes? Can the murder be caught before it’s too late?

I really enjoyed the story line!

Although the dialogue bugged me a little bit.

Thank you J. R. Ellis, Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the advance copy to read in return for my honest review!

The story is an interesting one and I read to the end so I did engage with it. I did not work out who the murderers were but perhaps that was because their motivation was hurriedly explained near the end and was unbelievable. The plot took leaps which propelled it along but were not satisfactorily explained. I thought the explanation of how the murder was committed was clever but just not who did it or why. Ultimately, the characters were not rounded out.

I’m a big fan of this series. The cases are always original and the characters and suspects quirky enough to make the plots entertaining and suspenseful. This time, Oldroyd’s daughter Louise witnesses a murder in an escape room during a Halloween goth festival in Whitby (which I had forgotten is the setting of a large part of Stoker’s Dracula). So many elements right in my wheelhouse. And yet, I figured out the twist early on, so it was just a question of who was behind it. I enjoyed the novel, as usual, even if it probably won’t become one of my favorites. I liked the character of Louise before but in this book she does something so incredibly, irredeemably stupid, that I stopped rooting for her and I worry it will affect future novels. The rest of the book is suspenseful and entertaining, the Gothic atmosphere is skillfully depicted and the references to Dracula just add to its charm.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Amazon Publishing UK!

Quite a classic detective novel which reads like watching an episode of midsomer murders (which isn’t a bad thing. The author has a tendency to over explain things and the characters were a little too confusingly similar (I got a bit lost about Deborah and Steph etc) but I liked the story and thought it was overall a good read.

An enjoyable, quick read!

I am a fan of the DCI Oldroyd series and this book doesn’t disappoint.
The story is set in Whitby , and the murders take place during the famous Goth weekend.DCI Jim Oldroyd’s daughter Louise is visiting Whitby with a group of friends and they visit an escape room. During their visit the group witness one of their friends seemingly stab and kill his girlfriend. It is seems a clear cut case, or is it as straightforward as it appears ?
I enjoy J.R Ellis’ style of writing it’s easy to follow and and entertaining. The characters are affable and genuine in their nature, the book is a sound police procedural and the Whitby setting finishes it off perfectly .
Highly recommended.!

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK.

The Whitby Murders by J. R. Ellis. Yorkshire Murder Mystery #6. Amazon Publishing UK, 2021.

Friday evening plans for Louise and her London friends, in Whitby for Goth Weekend, include dressing in Dracula-related costumes and solving escape room puzzles. When one runs off after stabbing his girlfriend in front of the others, she asks her DCI father to help.

This book is my first experience with the DCI Oldfield and the Yorkshire Murder series, perhaps why I found character development insufficient to really get to know and engage with any of them. At times I found the writing awkward.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. The Whitby location and Goth Weekend setting is perfect and well described. The plot’s red herrings fooled me along the way to an ending that I did not see coming.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of The Whitby Murders for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #TheWhitbyMurders #NetGalley

Thanks to #NetGalley the publisher Amazon Publishing UK and the author J R Ellis for providing me with a digital ARC #TheWhitbyMurders in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way. This is the first book by J R Ellis that I have read and I look forward to reading more by this author. This book is the 6th in a series and we follow DCI Oldroyd to Whitby where his daughter and her friends are in an Escape Room and see one of their group murdered. This book comes highly recommended.

The book had a great opening and then....it was too long, much of the dialogue was tedious and the basic mechanics of the murder kind of obvious to anyone who has read many mysteries.

Great twisted story where DCI Oldroyd has a personal connection which brings him to Whitby to help solve a strange death.
Excellent series of books.

I read this series out of order. So this is book 6. I think it’s worth me going back to the start of the series to get more of a back story. Still worth a read. Think that this for me was a really good read but start at the beginning!

This is the sixth book in the Yorkshire murder series. Although I have read three others in the series, it isn't necessary to follow what's happening. Louise Oldroyd is in Whitby with four friends for the Whitby Goth weekend. They were wearing costumes as they went to a locked room place. They make it out of the first room into the second, and hear Andrea shout "How dare you!" to her boyfriend Dom. He produces a knife, lunges at her, and runs out the emergency exit. Louise's friend Ben runs to help Andrea as Louise follows Dom and can't see where he disappeared to. They call 911, but Andrea is dead before the police come.

Louise calls her father, DCI Jim Oldroyd, saying that something doesn't seem to be the way it looks.
Oldroyd comes to Whitby with DCS Steph Walker. They go to work with the local Chief, Alice Granger, who trained with Oldroyd and is happy to have their help. Andy, another of Oldroyd's DCS's and Steph's significant other is sent to London to investigate all the players. They find that a sarcophogus in the room next to the locked room is a trick one, and it has Dom's blood in it. The more they investigate, the stranger things seem. Dom sends texts saying he is sorry, and then asking them to meet him. However, when they arrive he runs away. Then Dom appears to commit suicide. When Dom is pulled up from the water, his phone is not on him. Oldroyd must find the truth and protect his daughter before someone else dies.

The book becomes very exciting as we finally find out who killed both Andrea and Dom!

The Whitby Murders - J. R. Ellis

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review thanks to Amazon Publishing and Netgalley.

A murder with three witnesses. But one of them doesn’t believe what she saw…

Halloween, Whitby. DCI Jim Oldroyd’s daughter Louise is in town with friends for a goth festival. But their visit to an escape room ends in bloody murder when one of the group stabs his girlfriend and flees the scene. It’s a crime with three witnesses—but Louise refuses to take what she saw at face value.

The Whitby Murders has an intricate plot with a lot of misdirection. After reading, the Nidderdale Murders (Book 5 in the series) I thought that I would be able to determine the murderer this time, I was wrong!

This is a fast-paced mystery, with a very easy to follow plot. If you are new to the series, there is not much character development as this is done over the series but I don’t think that this detracts from the plot.

Rating 4/5

Though promising I was deeply disappointed in this story. The characters and plot appear to me not credible ( the daughter being involved in the murder investigation). The characters reveal themselves so immature, even the inspector! I wonder how old the author is? I shall not publish this review.

During the Goth festival in Whitby a group of friends visit a Dracula themed escape room that ends in one of the friends stabbing his girlfriend. A crime of passion. With three witnesses. But Louise Oldroyd isn't convinced it's that simple and neither is her father DCI Jim Oldroyd. As the investigation progresses, the more complex the web of deceit appears but Oldroyd is determined to get to the truth...

I was drawn to this book by the plot and the fact that it is set in Whitby, somewhere I'm slightly familiar with. I've not read any of the previous books in this series but I didn't feel that I needed to, it was still easy to follow.

I was immediately hooked by the intricate case and that it was not as simple as it would first appear. I had my suspicions of 'who' but no the 'why' so it was still a very enjoyable read, especially the last 30% when everything started to come together.

I did occasionally feel like there was a lot of detail and extras happening that I was struggling to connect or drew away from the plot. But it ended up being a solution that made sense and didn't feel like it was out of the blue, you start to see the clues that were there throughout the book. I would highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for a review.

Was looking forward to this book immensely as a fan of JR Ellis and living close by to Whitby a seaside town in the northeast UK a spot famous for Dracula. It is extremely atmospheric and creepy and the mystery is twisty and difficult to solve. I totally recommend this lovely British mystery with delightful characters.

A group of friends have travelled to Whitby for the famous Goth festival but things do not quite turn out as planned. A visit to an escape room goes horribly wrong when one of their party is murdered and Louise asks her father DCI Oldroyd for advice. Louise seems to have inherited her father’s instincts as she is sure that all is not as it seems. An enjoyable murder mystery.

This is the first book that I have read by the author but it certainly won't be the last! A fantastic storyline and very well-written. Intriguing characters and I really didn't know who was behind the murders until the very end. The description of the setting was also very well done as Whitby has a huge part of my heart and it made me want to return there! A twisty plot with plenty of entertaining scenes. Will be recommending this to everyone!

Thank you to the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this.

This book appealed to me initially as Whitby is my home town. Obviously to anyone who has visited, the star of this book is our town itself (although I am biased)
I feel this book could work well as a stand alone novel yet fits in well with the others in the series.
The escape room setting was something New and I thought it was a great touch.
My one problem, we would never, ever say we were going out in “the old town”; it’s “in town” or “down town” regardless of where you live around Whitby not that any other readers would find an issue with this.

The Yorkshire Murder series reaches book number 6 with The Whitby Murders which is a solid police procedural novel that will appeal to previous readers of the series and those who enjoy easy reads.

Yes the plot is convoluted and some of the characters one dimensional but overall it was an ok read

It’s Goth Weekend in Whitby, a picturesque seaside village which just happens to be the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Louisa Oldroyd and her friends enjoy the festivities by taking part in a Dracula-themed escape room. The foursome makes their way through the puzzles of the escape room and suddenly, inexplicably, Dom stabs Andrea and flees. The other members rush to help her, but the girl bleeds out and dies despite their attempts to staunch the bleeding.

In a neighboring village, Detective Chief Inspector Jim Oldroyd has a demanding job and a complicated relationship with his ex-wife. When his daughter calls from Whitby to tell him she’s just witnessed a murder, his fatherly instincts override his police training, and he rushes to her side. Satisfied Louisa is only shaken and not injured, he takes a closer look at the facts where he finds reason to suspect the solution to the murder isn’t as cut and dried as it seems to be.

Oldroyd and his coworkers join the local police in the investigation and uncover disturbing and contradictory information. The story follows Oldroyd, his daughter, and the remaining members of the group of friends as the investigation proceeds through many a twist and turn.

It’s got all the makings of a good, British mystery and delivers a pleasant read. Here are a few things I want to point out:

Things I Like
Sufficiently complex plot—Enough is going on to keep my interest (and that’s not easy these days.) We have Goth Weekend (see next bullet), an escape room, a murder, an apparent suicide, shady dealings by one and all, and a bit of romance.

Lots of local color—The Whitby Goth Weekend is a new one for me—can’t believe I’ve not heard of this before. I loved the descriptions of the festival, the village, and the other bits of history the author points out along the way. Made me want to read Dracula again—and, more importantly, discovering the Whitby Goth Weekend exists compels me to don my blackest dress for the next one—after the plague is over.

Inobtrusive backstory—The author doesn’t do huge info-dumps. The backstory unfolds in an organic manner most of the time as the mystery progresses. I can’t explain how much I appreciate this!

Things That Need Work
British mysteries often take a leisurely pace, but I felt The Whitby Murders needed some jazzing up. The book would benefit from a good revision to remove repetition. The author is writing in multiple points of view and sometimes goes over the same ground from different perspectives. In my opinion, this slows down the action. It’s a good mystery just the same. And the author clearly differentiates between characters as the POV changes, so I didn’t feel lost or untethered (any more than usual, anyway).

Character development is good—but not great. The characters have a lot going on and the author does a fine job of building each one—BUT with so many characters I needed some specific traits upon which to hang my hat. Efforts were made in this direction, but I can’t say the character development is any more than adequate.

Missed opportunities to write action scenes--Too often, the action is described after the fact in dialogue or narration instead of in a scene in which the event is lived by the characters. This falls into the dreaded realm of Telling-And-Not-Showing. This manifests in a couple of other ways, too, which results in anti-climactic paragraphs and unrealized potential.

I give The Whitby Murders 4 blood spatters out of 5—which is my amusing Gothic way of saying it’s a decent story, well-worth a read. I would recommend it to a friend who enjoys cozy mysteries or British police drama.

This book originally appealed to me as Whitby is one of my favourite places to visit! Whilst reading I was picturing all the places we go too which made me enjoy this book even more!!

The story picks up from the get go! Although for me it was a bit far fetched at times! I liked the setting of the escape room and that we’re being made to believe what we saw in the escape room was one thing but then actually it wasn’t, I thought this was a good base idea.

I didn’t realise that Oldroyd actually appeared in other books around Yorkshire so I now need to read them!!

It’s rare that a thriller keeps me guessing with what’s going to happen next but this one really did surprise me.

#NetGalley #TheWhitbyMurders
This is the sixth book in the Detective Chief Inspector Oldroyd Series and it doesn’t disappoint.
His daughter Louise is attending the goth weekend in the Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby when two of her friends are caught up in a murder.
Louise was a witness but cannot quite understand what she saw and calls on her dad to investigate.
A fast paced read that will keep you reading.

It's the Autumnal Goth Weekend in historic Seaside Town of Whitby ,which in itself is split into two halves both with their own atmospheric character the New Town & across the Swing Bridge ,The Old town from where you can climb the 199 steps which lead to St; Mary's Church & then further along the stunning ruins of Whitby Abbey. A group of friends have come to Whitby to have fun & dress up for Goth weekend ,but something goes tragically wrong & two of the group die ! One of the group Louise Oldroyd has a deep instinct that all is not as straight forward as it seems & contacts her father Jim Oldroyd who is a Police Officer. It had some interesting twists & turns & it helped even more because I have spent a Holiday & also many very enjoyable days out in this unique North Yorkshire Coastal Town so this helped my visualization of what & where things were happening . This is the first book by J.R. Ellis I have read & I am now going to try some of his other ones .#FB, #NetGalley,#Goodreads,#Amazon.co.uk, # Instagram , #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/c566f42be23a0e25d120e78a3454e2d427c4beee" width="80" height="80" alt="50 Book Reviews" title="50 Book Reviews"/>.

Wonderful thriller!
I enjoyed this book. I will definitely pick up more by this author. Thanks to publisher and NetGalley for this wonderful ARC.

In fairness, I’ve never read a previous book in this series, but I felt like I didn’t know the characters or their relationships well. The story itself was unnecessarily complex and a bit confusing. Solving the mystery seemed to happen suddenly - especially since much of the book was spent (it felt) with the detectives not having any clues. The ending was too “scooby doo” for me - walking through the crime and how the detective solved it.... Not particularly well written, in my opinion. I received an ARC of this book from #netgalley and I’m appreciative.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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".

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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

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.

It’s Halloween in Whitby & DCI Jim Oldroyd’s daughter Louise is in town with friends for the goth festival. Their visit takes an unexpected turn when an escape room ends in murder when one of the group stabs his girlfriend and flees the scene. It’s a crime with three witnesses but Louise refuses to take what she saw at face value. She calls her father & he gets permission, along with DS Carter, to help solve the case, assisted from the sidelines by Louise. This is no straightforward crime of passion.
This is the sixth book in the series & another well written book but I had to suspend belief that Oldroyd & his sergeant would be able to go & investigate. However I did enjoy the twists & turns plus the red herrings & I was kept guessing as to the motive. I would prefer more character development but the books are all about the plot & they certainly deliver on this. I loved the setting of Whitby & brought back many fond memories of time spent there
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

If you are like me and occasionally enjoy the guilty pleasure of watching episodes of Midsomer Murders . . . this book will be right up your alley! It had a few fast curves, but overall it settled into a fine cozy mystery set in Dracula’s old hunting ground.

It was so fun to learn about the bits and pieces of this story that were inspired by Bram Stoker’s classic as well as Whitby’s own local lore and charms.

Detectives carefully tracking down the leads and examining the clues. Friends of the victims left completely baffled. There were a couple of spots that felt a bit formulaic and/or sluggish, but overall an enjoyable read.

I’d like to thank the author, NetGalley, and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read an advanced copy of The Whitby Murders for an honest review.

Escape Room Murder...
It’s Halloween in Whitby and DCI Oldroyd’s daughter, Louise, is on a night out with friends when their escape room fun ends in murder. With a killer on the loose it’s another case for Oldroyd. Very enjoyable murder mystery - the sixth in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series - each book in this series has been entertaining reading, definitely of the more relaxed and gentle variety despite the murders. Characters are well drawn and Oldroyd a very likeable protagonist indeed. Each is a standalone mystery despite being part of a series in terms of characters. The plots are entertaining, often of the locked room variety - the solutions often complex to seemingly impossible crimes

I was attracted by the title as I have been to Whitby and know the area pretty well. A quick read that doesn't tax 'the little grey cells' too much. Ideal for a long train journey! I can see this is book no. 6 in the series so I will definitely be going back to the first one. Not sure I found the reactions for some of the group completely believable after the event(s) but a satisfactory ending anyway. Despite the murders it certainly made me want to return, if only for the famous fish & chips! Thanks to Netgalley.

When a group of friends decide to spend goth weekend in Whitby, little do they know that in an escape room they will witness a horrible murder of one of their friends by her boyfriend. It looks like an open and shut case but one of the friends confides in her father that something isn't right. So her father DCI Jim Oldroyd comes to talk to the local police and an intense investigation begins.
I enjoyed the story, although it did drag in spots and was repetitive in places, it was an entertaining read with plenty of twists.

a murder with three witnesses--but one doesn't believe what she saw...thus the story begins. A creatvie mystery that includes an escape room! Good plot and good old fasihioned detective work! An enjoyable read! Thank you netGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am new to this author and really should not have started with book 6, but The Whitby Murders turned out to be an entertaining and easy to read cosy mystery, even without knowing what has happened before.

I was predisposed to like it of course because it was set in Whitby with mentions of Harrogate and Leeds - all places I remember well from my University days. DCI Jim Oldroyd makes short work of solving a murder which is not at all how it first seems. I spotted how it was done pretty quickly and guessed who did it, but I had to read the end to understand why.

I enjoyed all of the main characters and very much liked the friendly way they all related to each other. Maybe it was a little fanciful with everyone being so supportive of each other and never a cross word spoken but it was also very relaxing. I liked it enough to have acquired books 1-5 anyway!

This is the sixth book in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series by J R Ellis. Detective Chief Inspector Oldroyd and the team are back to investigate an unusual case. This time a stabbing murder at the Goth festival in Whitby, witnessed by three people. DI Oldroyd’s daughter is one of them, complicating the hunt for the killer. With the usual amount of misdirection and concluding reveal for a police procedural, this is an enjoyable read. Overall, a gentle English crime read with a three-star rating. With thanks to NetGalley and the author for a preview copy for review purposes. All opinions expressed herein are freely given and totally my own.

The Whitby Murders is the sixth instalment in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series featuring DCI Jim Oldroyd of Harrogate Police. Set against the backdrop of the seaside town of Whitby, Yorkshire, where the ruined Gothic Whitby Abbey was Bram Stoker’s inspiration for “Dracula” after he took regular holidays in the area in the 1890s; it was even where he started writing the classic masterpiece. Summer has turned to autumn and Oldroyd's daughter Louise and a group of four friends travel from London to spend Halloween at the annual Whitby Goth Weekend, an alternative music festival that transforms the quaint town into a gothic paradise every October. This biannual festival comes to life in both the spring and fall of each year, attracting a plethora of excited goths, steampunks, emos, metallers, bikers and other unique revellers from all over the world. It's a celebration of all sorts of weird and wonderful characters, goth culture and arts. The festival is about drinking, shopping, dancing, and listening to music. Representatives of all subcultures are welcome—goths, punks, bikers, Victorian vampires and steampunk folks. They soon decide to try their luck at a Dracula themed escape room they had made reservations for, but dressed in costumes and ready for a night of fun, the group is concerned and irked when couple Andrea and Dominic spend the night arguing continually culminating in the shocking murder of one of the group. It's then that Oldroyd receives a call from Louise who is both panicked and in shock but it's clear there is also some confusion too.

To their horror, Dom had pulled out a knife and stabbed his girlfriend before making a quick escape through the emergency exit. It's a crime with three eyewitnesses and an abundance of CCTV so it is assumed to be an open and shut case but this is more complex as Louise approaches her father and insists that there was something very wrong with the whole tragic incident. She doesn't believe what she saw. It is out of DCI Oldroyd's jurisdiction but the local police allow him to assist them in their intensive investigation to locate Dom and apprehend him. When the witnesses keep changing their stories, it becomes obvious Louise was on to something. What exactly happened inside that escape room that fateful evening? This is an enthralling and compulsively readable procedural with a multilayered and intricate plot with some clever twists and turns and good use of misdirection. Ellis can be relied upon for his complex and intriguing mysteries - his plotting is cleverly executed and the fact that here we seemingly have witnesses to the brutal murder makes this a little different but no less riveting. As the mystery unravels about the circumstances surrounding Andrea's killing I was utterly gripped and absorbed, and I enjoyed the extra development of the characters. And last but by no means least the setting is a character in itself with the vivid descriptions of the coastal scenery making you long to be there. This is an atmospheric, quick-paced and immersive read from start to finish. Highly recommended.

I really loved this book!! It had so many twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next!! This was my first book by this Author, and it won’t be the last!! Quick read!! Highly recommended!! You won’t be disappointed!!

I so wanted to LOVE this book but I couldn’t. Dracula references + escape room + murder mystery? Sign me up. But it was uninteresting and barely held my attention. There were way too many characters and jumping around. The investigation was slow and clunky and the characters were boring. I did gave an extra .5 for the writing because it is apparent that the author is a very talented writer. I guess I chose the wrong book in the series.

The Whitby Murders is the sixth book in the DCI Oldroyd series set in Yorkshire, and unfortunately the one I’ve enjoyed the least. These all work as stand-alone mysteries although you do gradually learn more about the detectives and their families as the series goes on. While I did like the premise of a murder committed during a “goth weekend” in Whitby (these are real events - have a look at Google images!) and the Dracula history, the plot and the police investigation were literally unbelievable and the writing, exposition and dialogue were all clunky, tiresome and repetitive.

Oldroyd is alarmed and upset to receive a call from his young adult daughter Louise, who has witnessed one of her good friends stab his girlfriend during a Dracula themed Escape Room game, then run off. She can’t understand or believe it so asks him to investigate, and fortunately the detective in charge is a former colleague so happily agrees to his involvement. Looking into the group of friends, Oldroyd and his team discover their secrets and past resentments, but what could motivate such an elaborate murder?

These books are all old-fashioned locked room-type mysteries set in modern times (although with no mention of covid), with complicated and often convoluted criminal plots unravelled Poirot-style, with all revealed at the end by a Scooby-Doo-like villain - complete with a “if it weren’t for those ***** kids” rant! Elements that I have indulged previously annoyed me more this time: if you’re going to use an omniscient narrator who knows everyone’s thought processes, we should learn the detectives’ deductions as he goes along, rather than have them all painstakingly explained at the end. I found it preposterous that a prolonged criminal investigation to a multiply witnessed murder would be pursued in various jurisdictions because of a mere hunch, especially once the perpetrator is found. Also that the police would allow civilians - some witnesses - to take part in the investigation, and not use modern technology like tracing a cellphone!

The procedural parts dragged as characters are interviewed then the findings gone over again in conversations amongst the team, there’s an awful lot of repetition. Many of the characters’ names are too similar - Granger & Garner, Morton, Hampton & Hinton, Walker & Watkins - I was grateful for my kindle search button as I had to keep checking who was who. Also there are too many scenes of Oldroyd’s personal life - we don’t need to hear about every walk on the beach with his girlfriend - and what’s the obsession with his weight and the women in his life controlling what he’s allowed to eat?! On the plus side, I didn’t guess the who, why or how and the plot was explained satisfactorily with most loose ends wrapped up. I liked the descriptions of Whitby and the way Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel was woven in - I have read it but had forgotten much of the plot. I like the ongoing series characters and the way they are allowed to have mostly normal happy relationships without too much drama - I just don’t need as much detail!

Overall this was Okay but not great - if you like this type of Golden Age-inspired crime, I do recommend the earlier books in the series rather than starting with this one - also for fans of Peter Robinson’s DCI Banks series which this also resembles (in a good way.) I probably will continue the series in the hope that some of these issues are eminently fixable.
Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon UK for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review.
The Whitby Murders is published on May 27th.

Dracula, drama and deception fill the pages of The Whitby murders. Louise Oldroyd and her friends are in Whitby for a Goth weekend, including a visit to an escape room featuring Dracula. While in the locked room, their friend Dominic brandishes a knife, stabs Angela to death, and to the horror of is shocked friends, flees through a hidden side door. It seems simple on the surface - it is a locked room, after all. But Louise has her doubts about the scene and calls her father, DCI Jim Oldroyd. He and the local police investigate those involved. Nothing makes sense until another murder and a simple description lead them toward a solution in this complicated case.

The Whitby Murders combines elements of a police procedural with a complex mystery. All the characters are well drawn, particularly Louise, her father Jim and Stephanie Johnson, Jim’s partner. The local history, especially Bram Stoker and Dracula, is fascinating. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and J.R.Ellis for this ARC.

The Whitby Murders takes DCI Jim Oldroyd off his beaten track to Whitby in the far north of Yorkshire. Whitby plays a prominent part in Bram Stoker's Dracula; the Count leaves the ship bearing him to England in the form of a huge black dog. The ruins of Whitby Abbey overlooking the town make a perfect setting for "Goth Weekend" when tourists invade for spooky good fun. DCI Oldroyd's young adult daughter, Louise, and a group of her friends head off to one of Whitby's "escape rooms." There, they role-play and try to escape from the room with the clues supplied. Things go drastically wrong when one of a couple, Dominic, stabs his partner, Andrea, to death and escapes. The couple is known to have a volatile relationship, and CCTV says that is what happened. But Louise has a gut feeling that something is wrong. She calls in Jim, hoping that he can look into the case.

There is nothing I like more than a classic locked-room mystery, but I am afraid The Whitby Murders missed the mark for me. The plot seemed unnecessarily complicated; I had the "who" but not the "why" figured out quickly. I also thought that the Whitby detective was entirely too cooperative with Jim messing about with her case, even though they were former colleagues. That being said, I did enjoy the characters, as usual, especially Andy Carter and Stephanie Johnson, Jim's investigative team.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy. I have read and enjoyed the previous books in the series much more than this one, so this was a bit disappointing. The opinions are my own.

This is the latest book in the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries. I had not read any previously so was a bit confused? It starts out with six friends heading to Whitby for a Goth weekend at an escape room. Dominic and Andrea were fussing and fighting throughout the night and the unthinkable happens Dominic stabs Andrea in front of the friends. Louise who is Detective Jim Oldroyd’s daughter was very suspicious of how it looked so she calls her Dad to come help with the investigation. It was hard to keep up with the many characters maybe because this was the first book I read in the series? There was a famous painting that had been stolen from Andrea’s apartment after she had got killed and it was enjoyable seeing how they figured that out. And, it did seem like this could happen very easy in an escape room! Just not enough figuring out the why’s in my mind.

I received this ARC for free from Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I I have read all of this series and I have enjoyed every one of these stories. This one was very fun to read because of the Gothic theme. I can’t wait to see what else is going to go on with these characters. More mystery and mayhem??

I read this book as an ARC mainly because I have enjoyed J.R. Ellis's previous books.
This one has an added twist, DI Olroyd's daughter is present at the murder and is uncomfortable with the obvious solution, so she brings her dad into the picture.
As always, the characters are well defined and believable, the plot twists and turns, and the climax is frightening.
Recommended for all mystery readers.

I really liked the idea of this book and the fact that this wasn’t a normal murder mystery story. I think at times it was hard to get into because the reactions to what happened just didn’t seem realistic or believable. I did find that the story got a little bit better the further along you got and the ending was super engaging to read. I really couldn’t figure out exactly who the real murderer was until the end which makes it a good and suspenseful book.

This book kept me guessing. Every time I thought I knew who the murderer was I was proven wrong. An easy read and I had a difficult time putting it down.

Louise Oldroyd, along with several of her close friends, had traveled from London to Whitby for the Goth Festival, as they all enjoyed dressing up in strange and unusual costumes. As added entertainment, the group decided to visit Dracula’s Lair, an escape room in town. Andrea and her boyfriend Dom were arguing with each other, somewhat spoiling the happy mood of the others, but no one was prepared to see Dom suddenly lash out and stab Andrea, then disappear out the emergency exit. Ben tried his best to save Andrea, performing CPR, but it was too late.

Terribly upset and frightened, Louise called her father, DCI Jim Oldroyd, an important detective, and begged for his help, as it didn’t seem possible that Dom would kill Andrea. After getting permission from his superiors, DCI Oldroyd went to Whitby to comfort his daughter and begin investigating the case.

Not having read the previous five books in this series, I didn’t know anyone’s back story, and being from California, I have no idea how police investigations are conducted in the UK. Maybe it’s possible for an officer to just show up and take over a puzzling murder investigation. It just seemed wrong to me. The investigation itself meandered around and I got impatient waiting for the case to be solved. Overall, it was a confusing read, and was not a journey I particularly enjoyed.

A bizarre murder/suicide occurred at a Goth festival in the Yorkshire town of Whitby near Halloween. DCI Jim Oldroyd is asked by his daughter, who witnessed it, to come help. Oldroyd's offer to help the local police is gratefully accepted and the case benefits from the senior officer's experience and expertise. This is an interesting story but the writing is rather wooden and the author explains far too much instead of letting the action speak for itself. Still, it's such and interesting plot, and the location is so well described that the book is worth reading. It's the sixth in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series.

DCI Jim Oldroyd’s daughter Louise is in town with friends Maggie, Ben, Dom and Andrea for a Goth festival. The group decide to enter an Escape Room game-3 rooms and one hour to find clues and the key to escape.
In the second room Dom and Andrea argue, there’s a murder with witnesses, Louise is immediately suspicious. The Escape Room supervisor Elaine and ‘Dracula’ Owen are worried for their jobs but helpful.
Louise asks her father to come to Whitby and assist with solving the crime, she’s relieved when he suspects that there is more to this story than a cut and dried murder. Everyone’s a suspect, investigations take time, there are more murders uncovered. A visit to the house that Andrea inherited from her aunt uncovers a missing painting, the key to the murderer!
A devastating close call for Louise and finally those responsible for the horror in Whitby are exposed.

I enjoyed the way this mystery unravelled, so many different scenarios to be considered, a book that keeps you wondering whodunnit! The murderer wasn’t revealed until the very end of the story. Well written!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Let me start by saying that I've never read any of the earlier books in the series, so I was not familiar with the recurring characters.
I didn't enjoy this book very much. The dialogue was very stilted, the characters a bit one-dimensional and the plot pretty convoluted. Maybe if I'd been more invested in the characters back story I would have enjoyed it more, but I don't think so.

I am new to this author and really should not have started with book 6, but The Whitby Murders turned out to be an entertaining and easy to read cozy mystery, even without knowing what has happened before. The book was enjoyable and I did like the characters will look into previous books.

This book felt like an Agatha Christie type novel where as Agatha's detective's would gather the suspects together, Oldroyd managed to arrest the murderers but in a similar vein to Agatha Christie's books, Oldroyd got the murderer to confess everything.

The chapters I found very long and the same ground is covered over several times, whilst being retold to and by different characters throughout the story.

DCI Jim Oldroyd is an old friend by now. I've read all novels in these series. But have to admit from the start, this one, the 6 installment, has let me wanting. It felt like reading TV scrip or even script for voice-over.

The characters remained the same. I loved Oldroyd and his team, his daughter. Introducing new characters worked as well. But the relationships, the development, moving from one place to another, from one event to another... I found it to be a bit to 'white noisy'.

Anyhow, The Whitby Murders is an interesting read if you like crime, English countryside, Halloween and all things Dracula. Yes, this story is set on Halloween eve at the place where Dracula supposedly arrived when he came to England. And it all rolls from here.

On the surface, there is a murder, a suicide and a body in the dumpster. But Oldroyd would not be Oldroyd if he did not see beyond the surface, especially if his own daughter is involved.

Reader gets a very twisted story of human nature and things people are capable of. At the end of it all, Dracula and his creator Bram Stokes would have been able to imagine the evil and cunning and audacity of young people in this story.

The Whitby Murders reads like a Murder She Wrote made for TV movie. I could see the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries being made into a television series.. Book 6, in particular, would be more engaging, had you read the books that came before in the series.
This outing takes you to the coastal town of Whitby where a goth festival is taking place with tourist dressing up to get into the spirit. A group of friends meet up at a spooky escape room where one of the friends stabs another friend from within the group in plain view of all, thus starts the mystery. One of the friends is Louise, the daughter of DCI Jim Oldroyd. The reader assumes he is in all the earlier books. He takes on the case. Why he does so makes no sense as it appeared open and shut and happened in front of several witnesses. But his daughter feels something is off about it all.
It's all mildly entertaining.

I've read several of the earlier books in this series, and found this one the best so far.

Set in Whitby during the Goth festival, this book ties in the town's true connection with the Dracula story to a murder that occurred in an escape room. DCI Jim Oldroyd's daughter Louise is enjoying the puzzle of the room with several friends, when one of the group, Dominic, stabs his girlfriend Andrea in front of them all.

Louise calls in her father to help investigate, as she is sure that all is not what it seems.

I'm not sure that the police would truly continue to investigate this (and the other murders that occur) from the initial evidence - which appeared very clear cut. The investigation seems a little off too, as civilians are allowed to be involved. But aside from this I found the book an enjoyable tale. Plenty of good twists and turns keep you guessing. The relationships between Oldroyd and his ex-wife, and his current interest Deborah added to the story. The setting itself adds plenty of atmosphere to the story.

Having developed a fondness for show from the UK, I have also along with stories. This is also the first time I've read this author. In this it has the time being Halloween bringing mayhem and murder. DCI Jim's daughter Louise being a witness to that murder. Old Roy and DS Carter are called in to the case along with help from Louise. They don't have a easy trail or straight forward set of clues either. Then there is not just one murder but more so that this will have us turning the pages in anticipation.

This is the first installment of the Yorkshire series I have read so perhaps that is the reason I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped The personal lives of the characters took away from the mystery portion of the book., which was interesting, although I found the investigation far-fetched and cumbersome. However, I continued reading to see why the murders were committed (which ended up being a Scooby Doo-like overview). The setting with the Goth/Dracula vibe playing a large part in the story added a fun, unique feel to the story . Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Interesting mystery. Starts a bit slow but enjoyable for British mystery fans. Apparently part of a series. I have not read the previous books.

Has promise, but too heavy on exposition and expository writing. A good weekend or beach read for a casual reader; mystery fans will guess the ending quickly.

A wonderful summer read that will keep you occupied for hours. I couldn’t put it down until I finished. The story is well written and the plot is easy to follow. I enjoyed the detective which reminded me of the great Inspector Morse series. I look forward to more from this author.

This is the sixth book in the DCI Oldroyd series, but only the second that I have read so the characters are all still a little new to me. This book is set in Whitby, a coastal town in northern Yorkshire which is known for being a setting in Bram Stoker's "Dracula". The town capitalizes on this by hosting goth weekends where aficionados of goth and steampunk gather. Oldroyd's young adult daughter is attending the festival weekend with friends. They are going through an escape house with a Dracula theme when the unthinkable happens. A couple that is in the friends group has been fighting and while they are in one of the rooms, Dom stabs his girlfriend Andrea. Everyone is in shock as Dom flees the room. Another friend runs to Andrea and she dies in his arms. Oldroyd's daughter Louise calls him in to help with the investigation because she can't believe what she has seen.

What I enjoyed most about this story was the unique setting. It made me very curious about the town of Whitby, the whole Dracula backstory, and the Goth weekends that actually happen there. I enjoyed the previous book in this series that I read, so I was willing to go along with the story and see where it went. Like other reviewers, I found the plot a bit outlandish. First, would another detective be able to go to another jurisdiction and tell them how to run the case? It seems unlikely, even though Oldroyd had a previous relationship with the detective in charge. Also, the fact that detectives would be willing to investigate what seems to be such a clear cut case with several witnesses stretches belief, but is of course the reason for the mystery.

I found this a pleasant read and I was willing to suspend belief with the questions above, and just go with the story. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Amazon Publishing UK for allowing me to read this ARC.

This book was well written and entertaining and a quick read.

This genre doesn't really appeal to me though. It is written with a much younger crowd in mind.

Would I recommend this book? Certainly.

I am a fan of all things British.. movies, TV series, thrillers.. famous detectives etc. Thus,, I really enjoyed The Whitby Murders.
The lead detective is an unusual character and his staff complements him. The story line was thin.. not really believable .. but fun to try and solve the puzzle of who done it. A light read, a pleasant romp, a clever premise.. read on.

This book started out with a great premise. It just did not make the 5 star grade. It had a great murder scene and then was slow and repetitive in execution. I found it easy to figure out the murderer and wondered how the modern forensics could have missed a big clue.

This is the first book that I’ve read by J R Ellis. It won’t be last. It is a very easy reading book. I loved Oldroyd’s quirky working ethic but it certainly brings results. And his daughter obviously shares his enquiring mind. Although it nearly got her into trouble this time. Thank goodness for Steph!
And Andy and Steph have a lovely developing relationship. Even though this is the first one I’ve read I didn’t feel that I didn’t know what was going on. And I will be reading more.
Whitby and Dracula obviously go well together and it’s nice that Whitby Jet even gets a mention. Having been there it’s easy to imagine the goings on.
I can’t wait to read others

DCI Oldroyd's daughter (Louise) goes up to Whitby with a group of friends to be part of the Goths who go there to celebrate Halloween. Whitby is the site of where Bram Stoker set his novel 'Dracula' and it has become a magnet for Goths and the like at that time of year. They go to a "Locked Room" Escape where you have to answer questions to find keys to get out of the room.

While in the locked room, one couple of Louise's continue an argument they were having before they got to the venue. All of a sudden, the male of the couple pulls out a knife and stabs the woman in the heart. She is dead almost instantly, though people in the group try to revive her. The murderer has gone out the emergency exit and when the chase after him, they find the alley outside to be empty. Louise of course immediately calls her father.

There begins a massive manhunt to find the murderer, with Oldroyd being given leave from his post to assist the local constabulary any way that he can. Once he hears the evidence, Oldroyd begins to think that even though three people were there when he stabbed the girl. that there is something odd about the whole thing. The first question is why was he carrying a knife?

From herein Oldroyd assisted by one of his DCs with him in Whitby and the other looking for information in London, begin to track down information that only shows more and more inconsistencies. When can you not be sure of something that happened right in from of you.

Another great book in this series!

While the beginning of the book didn't instantly grab my attention I did appreciate the locked room feel to the mystery that was created. I would highly suggest anyone interested in This type of mystery give this book a read. Seriously though stick with it through the slightly slower start to this book and you won't be disappointed. I'd give this a book a 4.5 out of 5 only for the sheer fact that I almost put it down a few times but am super happy I pushed through,

When a group of friends play at being Goths and visit an escape room in the stunning Yorkshire town of Whitby they have a horrifying night, which leaves one of them dead and leads another to commit suicide. Is this murder really what it seems, though?

Luckily, one of the friends, Louise, has a father who is a police officer who thinks that there is more to the case. He investigates together with other police officers, including the sympathetic Stephanie, who is friendly with Louise. His investigation takes him from Yorkshire to Leeds to London, on a trail involving several red herrings and odd characters...It helps if you have read Dracula, though! I have read Frankenstein, but not Dracula.

An exciting story, engaging characters, vivid descriptions of the dramatic Yorkshire scenery and allusions to Dracula kept me reading late into the night. It was hard to guess the conclusion! I will definitely read more of J.R. Ellis's books!

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Whitby Murders is about a murder that happened in front of 3 witnesses in an escape room. Louise and her friends see another friend stab his girlfriend in front of them and they find it hard to believe what they saw. The couple had a great relationship even though they sometimes argued. The friends are in the small town of Whitby for a Goth Festival. Louise refuses to believe what they saw is really what happened. She feels that something isn't right so she calls her Father who is a Police Detective in a nearby town. One of the local police used to work with Louise's father so he gets permission to work this case. The suspected murderer fled the scene as soon as he stabbed the victim, .however, the friends receive texts from him.
The case gets more complicated as they investigate the murder. They learn that this is no straightforward crime of passion.

With a violent murderer on the loss, they fear for their safety however the police tell the group of friends that they must stay in town a few days as the investigation continues.. This is an interesting book with hidden secrets that cone to light. I recommend this book.

Another great installment of this series and definitely recommend it.
Coming back to this series is always so comforting, between the characters, plots, locations, and writing, the author never disappoints.

This is my first book by this author and I picked it purely due to the cover, a view from to top of the 199 steps in whitby.
I found this book very hard to read, the dialogue was very repetitive, the information the detectives gathered were repeated about 3 times through out the book.
This book reminded me of programmes like mid summers murders and poirot.
Since whitby is like my second home I liked reading and recognising places.
Although I probably won't be picking up another in the series.
Thank you netgallery for this advanced copy of this book.

I like this series and look out for the latest book however, I found this book rather disappointing. It started off well but half way through I guessed how and who had committed the murder and lost interest. I will continue to read the series and hope this was a one off.
Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion.

This is my first J.R. Ellis novel and honestly I was pleasantly surprised. I completely enjoyed the mystery surrounding the murder while also learning a little about the story of Dracula. It was an interesting read in that the characters were well developed and easily relatable. My only critique of this novel was the ending. I felt like it could have been summed up a little faster, but I understood why the author chose to do it the way it was done. Still all things considered I still highly recommend this novel.

I liked it! It is Goth weekend and the small town of Whitby is full of fun seekers. A group of friends have gathered to escape to have fun. I liked the town and all the fun activities. The escape room sounds like a ton of fun. But then friends die. Louise calls her dad because he is a big time detective. He and his assistant help the local police unravel the mystery. I liked the twists and turns. I didn't see the end coming at all. Good story, good twists, good ending.

I finished this book a month ago and have dragged my feet in writing the review. My hesitation is in that I got an advanced copy from NetGalley but know that if I’m honest, I was not impressed with this book overall. My rating would be closer to 2 1/2 stars.

I’ll start with the positive. The outline of the actual murder is quite good and clever. With better, more fleshed out characters this could have been really impressive. Unfortunately, there was way too much telling and not enough showing.

Now for the not so positive. The characters were not terribly believable. They ranged from wooden and one dimensional to irritatingly woke-tastic. The inspector was grating in his desire to be more progressive, with his besetting sin being a tendency to eat too much. It reminded me of job interviews where when asked their worst quality the candidate either replies that they care too much or tend to be a workaholic. *cue the massive eye roll*

Now for the murderer… the dissembling at the end could have been amazing but instead was a little too reminiscent of Paul Reubens’ character in the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” original movie. The only thing missing was the extended and exaggerated death scene with the murderer comically kicking the wall and moaning.

I so wanted to really like this book but there were too many issues. While I didn’t absolutely hate it, I would not be inclined to read anymore of the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.

Not a bad book, though I am not raving aboutit either. I liked the setting, in Whitby and the premise (a group of friends go for goth week). Though I found the explanations sometimes too long winded and the crimes were a clumsily done. It couldhave been open and shut, but a couple of the characters had the feeling that there was more to it. I guessed the culprit quite early on.
The derective is, according to all brilliant and solves the case with a couple of brainwaves. Though I was glad to read about how the conclusion was reached, as previously mentioned , the descriptions were long winded.

Although part of a series, this is the first one I have read, perhaps I would have hac more patience if I had read more .

Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56754272-the-stalker

The only thing I liked about this book was the location. I adore Whitby. I could picture the settings very clearly in my mind. Sadly, I disliked just about everything else.

My mother is prone to watching third-rate TV police dramas in the afternoons. This book reads like one of those. I suspected it was a first novel or something in the 'fan fiction' genre because the writing was so plodding, clunky and 'tell-don't-show'. I'm astonished to discover that this author has been writing for many years.

I love this genre (normally) but I lean towards the more literary end of crime fiction - Val McDermid, Kate Atkinson, et al - and this was just too simplistic, too obvious and irritating. At the end, the killer comes clean in a big "I'd have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those pesky kids" which seemed to have been taken straight out of an episode of Scooby Doo. Why would any murderer explain their actions in such detail? Don't they know that juries still make mistakes and he might have 'gotten away with it' if he didn't tell this bumbling policeman every little trick in the book?

Very poor. Sorry but I just can't recommend it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers.

The Whitby Murders is another book in a series but JR Ellis. It starts with a Goth weekend that turns tragic. DCI Oldroyd’s daughter is witness to a murder that occurs in an escape room, so of course she calls her father. It started a bit slow but keep going because it's worth it in the end. I enjoyed this book, the relationship between Oldryod and his daughter and the constables he worked with. Some knowledge of Dracula might enhance the story but it's not essential.
Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book.

Whitby, on England's east seashore, was cast as the landing place of Dracula in Stoker's classic novel. Since then the town has used this for tourism.. DCI Oldroyd's daughter Louise and a group of friends are participating in a horror themed escape room when inexplicitly one of her friends stabs his girlfriend and flees. Doubting the scenario Louise calls on her dad and his team. The experienced cop also feels things are not as they seem and other odd events and more deaths ensue. This is mid series and is a solid police procedural which stands on its own merit. The historic setting and goth details add flavor to a well plotted investigation.,. The characters are well developed and I was especially drawn to the two female officers and the way their contributions were portrayed. The minor characters were realistic and distinctive. each adding their bit. This is the first I have read from this author but will continue the series and I think it would appeal to other British crime readers.

To be honest, this was a "did not finish" book for me. I found the writing stilted--there was a lot of *telling* rather than *showing* about the characters, which made it difficult to get into. Sorry!

The Whitby Murders is the sixth in J.R. Ellis's Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series featuring D.C.I. Jim Oldroyd. This instalment takes place during the (real life) Whitby Goth Weekend, a goth-themed festival based in the picturesque coastal town of Whitby, and timed to coincide with Hallowe'en. As many readers will know, the town of Whitby is closely associated with the legend of Dracula, both as a major setting and because author Bram Stoker's inspiration for the novel is attributed partly to a holiday he spent in the town during the 1880s.
This case has a deeply personal element for D.C.I. Oldroyd. His daughter Louise calls him to request that he come to Whitby from his base in Harrogate, after a close friend of her is murdered, a horrifying event to which she was a witness. Louise and five of her friends have travelled from their working lives in London to Whitby for the Goth Weekend, sharing an airbnb and looking forward to a weekend of "partying, dressing up and general fun" (loc.58). The six friends attend a Dracula-themed escape room activity, and it is there that the fun weekend turns to tragedy.
Fortunately for Oldroyd, his superior officer, D.C.S. Walker, is happy to authorise him to take time away from his Harrogate workload to hotfoot it to Whitby at a moment's notice, taking D.S. Stephanie Johnson with him. Not only that, but the officer in charge of the murder investigation, D.I. Alice Granger, is a former colleague and acolyte of Oldroyd's, and is more than happy to accept his unofficial assistance with her investigation, in which his daughter is one of the suspects. It's all a little too cosy to be believable, to be honest...
Balancing her work with her maternal obligations, Granger carries out her official investigation, hampered somewhat by the large goth-visitor population in town. Comparing notes with her as they go, Oldroyd and Johnson meanwhile undertake their own deeper dive into several leads, including searching for the missing prime suspect, interviewing the escape room's rather curious employees while trying to track down its mysterious owner and uncovering a counterfeit jewellery racket in which the victim may or may not have been involved. After Johnson returns to active duty in Harrogate, her colleague and partner, D.S. Andy Carter, heads south to London to probe further into the lives of the victim, her partner and the other members of Louise's circle of friends. All the lines of enquiry eventually converge on the thrilling unmasking of the villain.
I've enjoyed reading each of the instalments in J.R. Ellis's series, and The Whitby Murders was no exception. However, I felt that there was just a little too much going on in terms of intertwined plotlines. I found several of the clues rather heavy-handed and the character behaviour at times completely unbelievable. That said, I felt the core plot of the mystery was well-conceived and the conclusion satisfying. For readers who are willing to suspend disbelief a little, and persevere through the myriad of distractions in terms of alternate suspects and motives, The Whitby Murders is a good, solid detective story in the traditional mould. I look forward to further instalments in the series.
My thanks to the author, J.R. Ellis, publisher Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

The Whitby Murders is sixth in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series, but can be read as a standalone, most of the background information about DCI Jim Oldroyd and his group of detectives can be gleaned from the current story.

I liked the setting of Whitby (one of the locations written about in Bram Stoker's Dracula), it added to the creepy atmosphere for the murders that take place. I also liked DCI Oldroyd and his fellow detectives, particularly Stephanie and Granger, but thought some of the other characters (Oldroyd's daughter's friends who were witnesses to the initial murder) were unlikeable and maybe a little shallow. This murder mystery had some good twists and turns, pointing the police to alternative suspects, and a satisfying wrapup at the end, I would like to read more books in this series.

A Dracula Festival Weekend Turns Deadly

Whitby in the far north of Yorkshire hosts a Dracula Festival because this is where Dracula enters England in the shape of a large black dog. People flock to the festival for fun and to be slightly frightened. Louise, daughter of DCI Jim Oldroyd, and her friends are no exception. They’re dressed as Goths and are headed to an “escape room” where they solve clues and try to escape.

The group is congenial but Andrea and Dominic, who have been partners for awhile, are taunting each other and fighting. They group doesn’t attach importance to this behavior, they often do this, but tonight the bickering has tragic consequences. In the escape room, Dominic stabs Andrea to death and vanishes. The friends are horrified, but as Louise replays the scene in her mind something seems off. Her instinct is to tell her father.

I enjoy the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries. This is the sixth book, but can be read as a standalone. The Yorkshire scenery is beautifully describes and Jim’s cases are always complex and interesting. This one is no exception.

The pace is not fast, but it fits the area and the nature of the crime. I enjoyed the inclusion of Louise in a major role in this novel. She’s an intelligent character with some of her father’s instinct for crime.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

RATING: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 🌟/5
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SYNOPSIS: Detective Oldroyd is at it again...this time in Whitby! A game at a Dracula 🧛‍♂️ escape room 🔑 goes wrong. Leaving 1 friend dead, 1 friend a suspect, and his daughter possibly involved. Y’all this was so GOOD!
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PROS: The plot twist at the end is what I’m living for right now! I love the authors writing style and how the stories of all of the detectives 🕵️‍♂️ , suspects 💀 and friends intertwine! 😬 Such a great read!
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CONS: NOTHING 😬

This is the sixth book in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series. Once again we have Detective Chief Inspector jim Oldroyd on the case. Oldroyd's daughter Louise is in Whitby for a goth weekend when one of her friends gets murdered by her boyfriend. Louise doesn't believe the boyfriend would kill his girlfriend except Louise was looking at him when it happened. She calls in her Dad to look into the case.
I love this series and the characters are just fun. Highly recommend these books.

Didn’t enjoy this book, much as I wanted to. Didn’t feel for the characters, struggled with the pace, found the revelations too stagey, and didn’t enjoy the plot. What I did like was the way it’s connected to reality - Whitby, Munch, etc.

A great read, which was unpredictable with twists and turns throughout. I liked the settings, as they were familiar, so easy to follow. The story was a little confusing to begin with, but once it got going, the plot fastened and became more thrilling. I really enjoyed the authors writing style and how the chapters were set out. It was very well written in relation to the change of character scenes throughout also. There was some strong character development. Very different to thrillers I have read before, and would definitely read another book by this author.

I picked up the first of the Yorkshire Mystery series on a recommendation from Amazon, and I’ve been enjoying the series since. I don’t think that The Whitby Murders is the strongest volume in the series, but it’s still worth a read. So, If you’re new to the series, I might start with the earlier books, in order to be more familiar with the characters, and also because they’re a little bit better than this one. That’s not to say that this is terrible, though. I did enjoy the characters and setting -- Dracula and Goth Weekend are right up my alley, and I love “locked room” type mysteries. I just enjoyed the earlier books in the series more.

Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the opportunity to read and review The Whitby Murders.

I keep putting this book down and I’m only picking it up because I promised to review it. I have not finished it and the worst part is that I don’t care.

This is a book in a series that I have not read. I loved the description- the goth weekend, Halloween, and an escape room. It felt a bit too mocking of the goth weekend, which immediately turned me off. The book isn’t fast-paced at all, which typically isn’t an issue for me but I can’t say I like spending time with the characters.

I enjoyed this book immensely. British police procedural novel at its finest. Well crafted mystery, grand characters, and I will be looking forward to more.

Thanks to Netgalley for the Whitby Murders by J.R. Ellis. I admit that I may have done this book a disservice by not having read the previous books in the series since this book six. That said, I only found this mystery okay, not great. It was obvious from the beginning who the murderer was but not why. I found it hard to keep the characters apart because there was really not much character development except for the main detective. I might give this series another chance and begin at the beginning because I always hate it when someone unkindly reviews a book in a series I love and then they say they haven’t read any of the other ten or twenty books in the series. So, maybe it’s just me.

I could not get on board with this story at all, unfortunately. The characters were all wooden and I didn't care about them at all. The women were all weepy and started sobbing every other sentence. The murderer is easy to figure out and the motive is laughable and unbelievable.

I appreciate the advanced copy. I wanted to like this much, much more than I did, and that makes me sad.

The Whitney Murders is a very well written and entertaining murder mystery. Good character dynamics and a nice setting. Mystery fans will love this book.

I suppose at times, this is just the way things go: I've had two DNFs in a row. This time, it's The Whitby Murders.

Unlike the last one on my DNF list, this one didn't have a huge number of characters flung at the reader in the first few chapters, so it wasn't that. No, it was the writing, which I didn't like. At all; Why?

First, it's just meh.It's easy enough to read, don't get me wrong, but there's just no pizazz to it. It's a very dry recitation of what's going on and what the characters are saying and feeling. It feels to me to be a bit amateurishly written, and the head hopping within the same chapter, in my opinion, should have been edited to at least contain each head in its own chapter. There is also a great deal of repetition of things. The ream investigating the crime lays out some information they've found. Then they have to lay it out for everyone. Then they go over it again. That sort of thing made me skim here and there, and I stopped at 60% on my Fire.

Second, in dialogue, people are often doing something while they speak ("Blah blah blah," she said, smiling at him.) or there are far too many descriptors after the dialogue that are entirely unnecessary if the character's mood can be discerned from what they're actually doing. Example: a woman and a man, who are a couple, are having some kind of argument. ("Suit yourself then!" Dominic shouted aggressively, and hung at the back of he group, apparently in a sulk..) Do we really need to know that he shouted "aggressively? Aren't most people aggressive when they shout? This was the last in a round of dialogue involving two people.. There are only four exchanges, and we have "shrieked", "said", "replied", and the aforementioned aggressive shouting.

Three, there are a huge number of filter words in this. The latter example above is a good one. "Apparently" in a sulk? "So and so looked bewildered" - how? Raised eyebrows? Furrowed brow? "No, Dad, no!" Louise was getting increasingly agitated and her voice was getting louder." We got the louder part - she is, after all, shouting. And if she's getting agitated, how do we know this? There is a bit of back and forth with her father, and at a time when dialogue tags could be helpful, along with some kind of descriptor. But there is nothing that indicates she's getting wound up. Is she pacing? Fidgeting in her seat? Don't know!

Four, there is a large amount of telling versus showing. This also involves filter words, but applies as well to the author telling how someone feels versus showing us, or just giving us an infodump about a character. For example, the "apparently in a sulk" business. Who is making this determination? How could they tell he was "apparently in a sulk"? What exactly was he doing when he was hanging at the back of the group? When we get an infodump, we really do not need to know virtually everything about them right at that moment in a narration. Show us what they're doing to assign them the characteristics you want them to have. That will let the reader draw a fuller picture of the characters, and even if those conclusions are not what you planned, they will at least not be cardboard cutouts.

Five, there are certain things that have to be taken with a giant grain of salt. Senior DI able to just walk out of his office after getting his daughters call, and head to the town she's staying, and taking a DS with him? Red herrings presented (good) but being cleared up in a page or two (bad)? The police continue to investigate a murder with not just eyewitnesses but video as well that backs them up, because of a gut feeling the daughter has? That all seems unlikely, as does the DCI father seemingly on the verge of tears whenever he thinks about his daughter close to the murder. He's a veteran police officer. Why is he on the verge of tears about this all the time? We also get a great deal of narration about his personal life that adds nothing to the overall story.

Again, sorry for the DNF on this.

Two stars out of five (rounded down from 2.5 stars).

Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the reading copy.

This is in a series but can be read alone which I did. J.R.Ellis I have read their books before so I knew it would have to be a good one which it was but I have read better from this author.. Three witness one-time crime what really happened? The storyline is good but I got confused in places that didn't make sense to me! The characters were very well believable but something just didn't come across for me. It's possible to see the same thing but in different ways but the way it's laid out for me just got me confused..I went back and teachers I had already been but just have up. Just cause I did doesn't mean you won't understand in certain places.. I made it to the end but was disappointed because I never had this problem before with this author.. Whitby Murders,is a good read maybe for some but it just wasn't for me but you give the book a chance you may fall in love with the story!Received from Net Gallery

This book revolves around Whitby, England, which apparently was a major scene for the Dracula story by Bram Stoker. A group of friends goes for a goth weekend and terrible things happen. One of them stabs his girlfriend to death in an escape room. But Louise Oldroyd doesn’t think it is as simple as what they all saw. She asks her dad, a major crime-fighting detective for help. The book follows how he helps the local police investigate and reach a resolution.

It is well-written, just not exciting. Maybe it suffers from my having just read a bunch of fast-paced thrillers. It did keep my attention and, through a series of twists, reaches a conclusion that isn’t terribly obvious until it gets close.

This was the sixth book in the Yorkshire Mystery Series, starring DCI Jim Oldroyd and his team.

The key part of the book is focused on the picturesque location of Whitby where Jim’s daughter and her friends enter a locked room scenario, where one of the friends is murdered, apparently killed by another of the the friends, and they go on the run. However Louise doesn’t believe what her eyes have seen, and contacts her father for help.

As usual with these books the sections focusing on the main characters and developments in their life’s are the favourite parts of the book for me, and therefore to get the most out of them you do need to read the books in order.

The book was well-written and had a good, and clever plot. I do feel l however the books would feel more pacy if they were separated into smaller chapters.

Overall I would recommend the book if you enjoy crime fiction but it wouldn’t be one of my favourite series and it is important to read the other books first.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for providing a copy of this book for me, for an an open and honest review.

I had fun but also found the plot confusing and sometimes unbelievable.
The goth background was a lot of fun and I love how it starts.
It's an entertaining read, had a lot of potential but didn't deliver.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Very creative writing unbelievably atmospheric description of Whitby and whole Dracula legend.Good to catch up with Jim Oldroyd and his team again a great story line a group of friends meet up in Whitby for a gothic themed catch up which leads to murder well worth a read…

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great storyline with excellent characters. I would highly recommend this book as it was a great read.

This story makes you question what the protagonist sees and thinks.

She saw it with her own eyes so why can’t she believe it? Because nothing is ever as it seems, especially on Halloween.

A great British crime procedural. It is well written and enjoyable.

The Whitney Murders by J. R. Ellis

There is a murder, with 3 witnesses, but one of them doesn’t believe what she saw.

This was a very interesting murders mystery. The author certainly kept you guessing as to how the murders were staged. Many interesting characters. I enjoyed this book.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

I have been to Whitby on the north east coast of England numerous times, so it was a delight to bask in those memories through this book. I loved how the history of the town was detailed in the plot and was engrossed by the premise. The murder seemed totally unsolvable and the main suspect seemed legit as a real possibility. I liked the back and forth between the characters involved and the way the characters questioned their friendships after the murder. It wasn't a real gripper for me but many elements of it were vey well done. It is always enjoyable to have a murder set in a place that you are familiar with. It really adds to the authenticity.

The Whitby Murders is the 6th book in the Yorkshire murder mystery series by J. R. Ellis. Released 20th Aug 2020 on Amazon's Thomas & Mercer imprint, it's 283 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book and the rest of the series are currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
These books are well written engaging procedurals which are tightly plotted, set against the Yorkshire countryside: hills, moors, and fells. Although it's part of a series, it works quite well as a standalone. There are references to occurrences from previous books in the series, but they don't play a central role in the action and readers new to the series won't have any troubles keeping up. Although most of them are straight procedurals out of the local police department, this one sees Oldroyd and a colleague on loan to Whitby to help clear up a murder in which his own adult daughter is a primary witness. There are lots of interesting local historical tie ins and the author does a good job of conjuring local creepy atmosphere with the Bram Stoker Dracula tie-ins.

I enjoyed the writing and I really liked Oldroyd's relationship with his family and colleagues. He's an honest and compassionate officer and the development of the plot and denouement were satisfying and well written. Looking forward to more in this series which compares quite favourably with P.D. James' wonderful Adam Dalgleish books. This would be a fine selection for public library acquisition, and for fans of English procedurals.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A group of friends meet up for a fun weekend at a Goth Festival, but things turn dark when on friend kills his girlfriend and then flees.

It's a crime with three witnesses ... and one of them refuses to believe in what she actually saw.

It's a locked room mystery with a murky atmosphere surrounding all. The plot is complex and the pace is very slow. The characters are well developed. I always look for a bit of credibility when crimes are committed. I found a few things that had me stretching my imagination. The 'who' seems to have been revealed early .. the 'why' took a little longer. Although 6th in the series, this can easily be read as a stand alone.

Many thanks to the author / Amazon Publishing UK / Netgalley for the digital copy of this murder mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I really enjoy J.R. Ellis novels and this was no exception. Lots of twists and turns, leaving you guessing throughout. The plot was complex until the end. Great read. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance read copy!

Great whodunit and a great addition to the series. The plot kept me guessing throughout.
Many thanks to Amazon UK and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved the setting of this book: a Goth weekend in the village of Whitby (where Bram Stoker had Dracula first land upon arrival to England), and a murder in a Dracula-themed escape room. Great atmosphere was built up and the mystery was intriguing. However, my problem was that the author started overexplaining everything as we go towards the end. At first I appreciated him reminding us who characters were when they came up in the story, but by the end it was too much. I felt that he thought we were children who needed every single bit explained to us. I also had a problem with some of the solution and motivations ascribed to the murderer. So it started off promisingly enough, but at the end was spoiled by too much explanation. We get it, all right! Trust the reader a bit more.

This was an excellent poice procedural which touches the soul.

What a charming and refreshing police procedural mystery this was. I was captivated by the Whitby setting, famous for its Bram Stoker, "Dracula" connection. The story is set in mid October during a Goth-themed weekend. There's a group of friends which engage in a goth-themed escape room event. Unfortunately, not everyone makes it out of the room alive. The murder looks rather cut and dry at first blush but is it? One of the group members thinks there's something a bit odd about the goings on and contacts her dad, DCI James Oldroyd, requesting that he review the case for himself. Oldroyd is highly respected and admired by his colleagues for his amazing ability to resolve the most difficult of cases. He is thoroughly committed to his job and can never seem to turn off his analytic brain when it comes to solving a mystery. That's great for the police department but a bit rough on his loved ones. There's a tremendous depth to his character. On one side, he's incredibly good at his police work without any display of arrogance. He is a leader by example. Yet, there is also a touch of humility and introspection to his character.

The writing is solid and well based in historical facts related to the region in which the story takes place. There are touches of poetry throughout the book and at times the dialogue is a touch philosophic. The cast of characters is tremendous and well developed. The pace is steady up until the last quarter of the book at which point the urgency accelerates and one's heartbeat rises, with the story resolving into a satisfactory conclusion when all is said and done.

This is the sixth book of the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series, It can, however, stand well enough on its own and not leave the reader lost in missing details fleshed out in previous installments. I have read three of the series' books and will eventually get caught up on the others as the series is quite good.

I am grateful to publisher Thomas & Mercer for having provided a complimentary electronic copy of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Publisher: ‎ Thomas & Mercer
Publication date: ‎ May 27, 2021
No. of pages: 283
ISBN: 9781542017466

I have never found J.R. Ellis to be an exciting author but this #6 Yorkshire Murder Mysters is more plodding than most. Murder is obvious, motive unlikely. I didn't care for it.

I received a free electronic copy of this ARC from Netgalley, J.R. Ellis, and the publisher, Amazon UK. I have read this novel of my own volition and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am addicted to the British police procedural, and this is a good one. J. R. Ellis has a prolific back stock of stories to get us through this cold winter.

I loved that the chapters began with a stanza from the Lyke Wake Dirge from Mina Harker's Journal in Dracula. It sets a find tone for the tale to follow. We are with North York Moors Detective Chief Inspector Jim Oldroyd and Inspector Alice Granger as they work from the headquarters of the Harrogate Division of West Riding Police over the Harrogate Stray. Whew. The story itself is not nearly so complex as the locale.

Bram Stoker published his Dracula novels from Whitby beginning in the 1890s. This novel starts with Whitby's annual pre-Halloween nod to the steampunk/goth and Dracula influence among, for the most part, teens and twenty-somethings. Kids who rally to any occasion that allows them to dress-up and play-pretend. High-schoolers, college kids, and young adults show up from all over England, and the Whitby locals do their best to bring back the world of Dracula for an evening of fun. And it is all fun, until the bodies begin to drop.

A big thank you to the author J.R. Ellis the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid review.

This is a typical British whodunit book with an interesting premise. A group of friends travel to a city to enjoy the Goth/Horror weekend complete with costumes and characters all over the place. They have plans to go to a Dracula themed Escape Room. While in the escape room, one of the group is stabbed to death by her boyfriend----right in front of them all. And yet, even though it has been recorded on CCTV, one friend just does not feel that it is so simple. And so she brings in her father, a Yorkshire Detective, who assists in the investigation.

The premise was good and interesting, there were clues and red herrings, and a unique ending. However, the writing at times seemed simplistic and stilted. Further, once the reveal was done, the book kept going on and on......it detailed exactly how the murder was done in minute detail, and then the detective revealed in minute detail exactly how he had solved it. And then it still went on. Stop the madness. Solve the mystery. Finish the book.

How well do you really know your friends? Are they really as well intentioned as they appear? These are the questions that Louise Oldroyd faces after she is witnesses one of her friends murdered by another friend. The couple has a history of arguing but this is beyond any fears the group of friends had for them which causes Louise to question if she really saw what she thinks she did. Fortunately for her, her father is a deeply respected detective DCI Jim Oldroyd, Oldroyd knows the local authorities in Whitby and very slowly, the detective team starts chipping away at the details of the lives of these young people. Secrets are revealed about the friends and Louise learns friendships can be deadly.

Solid read though a little slow to build. If you are a fan of this series, you will want to read this book.

I enjoyed returning to Yorkshire for another DCI Oldroyd case! This time Jim’s daughter is involved and the personal connection raises the stakes.

Louise is in town with friends for a goth festival. But their visit to an escape room ends in bloody murder when one of the group stabs his girlfriend and flees the scene. It’s a crime with three witnesses—but Louise refuses to take what she saw at face value.

With Louise’s help, Oldroyd and DS Carter work to solve the case, encountering a tangle of lies and deceit along the way.

Just meh for me. A group of friends decide to spend a weekend in a little town in Yorkshire, famous for its goth festival. One of the attractions is an escape room, featuring, you guessed it, a Dracula theme. While there, Dominic stabs his girlfriend, Andrea. Or does he really stab her? We get the who right away, we just don't know why. And the why is where the story plods along. Louise was part of the group in the escape room. Her father is the well-known DI Oldroyd. He is able to leave his usual post and go hang out in Whitby with one of his assistants, as they try to solve the case. The story moves in a lot of different directions and loses some of its focus, at least for me.

This is book 6 in this series and I dont think I will be going back and checking out the previous ones. I chose this book as I am a fan of visiting Whitby but other than the location I dont think much else appealed to me. I found it a bit repetative and disappointing.

I didn't realize that this book was number six of the series. I am going to go back and read the first five books then pick this book up again.

I was looking forward to this one as I love a good British mystery. Becoming acquainted with the dialects and villages is especially fun. Sorry to say but learning about Whitby and its connection to Bram Stoker's Dracula was the only redemption for slogging through this one. The characters had very little personality. Everyone seemed to speak with the same voice and repeat themselves endlessly. The whodunnit was immediately obvious. Every emotion was flat, stereotypical, and/or unbelievable. I'll be skipping the rest of the mysteries in this series. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ebook in exchange for a frank review.

Coincidentally, I finished this book late October with the neighbours displaying witches and spiders webs. This seemed to help with the murder mystery set in Whitby with the town's Dracula connection!

The setting and murder taking place in and around an escape room was another bonus and this I enjoyed.

I found the writing slightly awkward and would have thought the narratives would contain more ''basic'' language, possibly with a swear word in it?.

One of a small gang of friends is found killed and another member of the party, Loiuse brings her dad to help solve the crime - he is after all a DCI (Jim Oldroyd).

A few twists and a satisfactory end but not as exciting as I hoped.

Thanks to Net Galley and Amazon Books Publishing for the chance to read and review.