About the book…

A DERELICT COTTAGE HIDDEN IN A COPSE OF TREES. A MISSING GIRL WHOSE BODY WAS NEVER FOUND. HAS HER KILLER RETURNED?

Detective Joseph Easter’s daughter discovers a cottage hidden in some trees on a large fenland farm. Someone has been living there. The farm owner’s wife has been receiving sinister pagan artefacts, including a witch’s knife. Are they some sort of warning or message?

Joseph and his daughter search the cottage and find an old satchel. Inside are photos of a beautiful girl, Jennifer Cowley. She went missing fifteen years ago. She had been stalked by a young man, who was convicted of her murder, even though her body was never found.

WHEN DI NIKKI GALENA EXAMINES THE COTTAGE, SHE FINDS SOMETHING FAR WORSE.

My thoughts on Hidden on the Fens by Joy Ellis…

Normally, by the time I’ve made it to the eleventh book in a series (yes, eleventh!), I’m a little jaded. Sometimes, I know I’m reading from a sense of loyalty to the author or their characters, not because I’m actually excited about picking up the book.  Thankfully, this isn’t the case with Joy Ellis’ Nikki Galena series.

With each book, the stories get better (more complex and compelling) and the characters become more like people I want to know (rather than just a sum of their dysfunctional parts). Here, it starts with a son visiting the police station concerned about occult ‘gifts’ been left on his mother’s doorstep before moving onto a grizzly discovery in an abandoned cottage and a race to save the life of a young girl.

In between, there are twists, turns and red herrings, some of which come from a seemingly unconnected case involving and local conman Nikki’s team just can’t pin anything on.  As with all the books in the series, I often feel the sub-plot could be a story in its own right – there is never anything rushed about them, or the characters.

Was there anything I didn’t like about the book? No, not a thing.  I can highly recommend it for those who like police procedurals and strong female characters. The only thing it is worth saying is, as with all series, sometimes things might not quite make sense because of what has gone before (though I would say here, its less of a concern than in other series I’ve read).

Highly recommended!

Enjoy!

Emma x

Note: I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.  All thoughts, feelings and opinions are my own.