Great combination of author & narrator

Much like the work of Peter Grainger & Timothy Hallinan, I jump at the next book Joy Ellis writes. As with the rest of the books in this series, Ms Ellis does an excellent job of building characters I care about. Henrietta Meier does a fabulous job and distinctly narrates each character without “blending” vocal traits, a genuine feat and something many narrators don’t manage as well. I’m glad the producers have continued to work with Ms Meier with the works of Joy Ellis. Now if only Audible will get the rest of Ms Ellis’s works....

5 people found this helpful

One of my favorite police procedural series!

All novels in the DI Nikki Galena series by British author Joy Ellis are excellent. Buried on the Fens continues Ms. Ellis' record of only releasing great novels. All 7 of the series novels are standalone and can be listened to in any order. The setting is in an area of the east coast of England north of London known as the fens. (A fen is a low marshy area that frequently floods. During the 17th century steps were taken including building dikes to turn the area into agricultural land.)

I have nothing to add to the excellent publisher's summary except to comment that an unusual forensic tool was used to identify the killer. British actress Henrietta Meire narrates this series in the clipped accent of the fens area. Her narration never disappoints.

10 people found this helpful

Another great Nikki Galena mystery

DI Nikki Galena, Detective Sergeant Joe Easter, and the team are juggling two murders--a recent, bloody murder of a prominent, successful, local businesswoman, and the newly discovered, unofficial grave of a man believed to have drowned himself thirty years ago.

It's not good, especially since they're understaffed--and moreover, Joseph is being stressed and distracted by his ex-wife, Laura.

The businesswoman, Madeline Prospero, was a member of a secretive drinking club, the Briar Patch, and this proves to be a problem. Many of the women are lesbians, and very prominent and well-connected--and still in the closet. Legalizing same-sex marriage didn't make sexism and homophobia disappear. Nikki is under orders to be very careful with all of them, and not to question some of them at all.

The thirty-year-old skeleton unearthed in the church graveyard is surely less urgent, right?

Except strange things start happening around his grave. The children he was believed to have molested, all those years ago, are still improbably affected; not one of them seems to have moved past it at all.

Then more murders happen, some connected to the Briar Patch, some seemingly related to the old skeleton. Are the two cases connected?

This is seventh in a series, but I think it can be followed and enjoyed out of order. Nikki and Joseph, Joseph and his ex-wife and daughter, and the various team members continue to grow and develop in their relationships. It's a rich, lived-in community of people, and the story moves and is interesting.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

1 person found this helpful

Love this series

I like the setting, characters, and narration. I think the series is generally great overall. Thought that the lesbian aspect in this book was unnecessary and merely follows the current trend in pop culture. I am moving on to the next book in the series.

1 person found this helpful

"Buried Emotions, Buried Alive, Never Die"--JM

A disturbing story of deep seeded emotions, control over people,and evil. The controlling forces of fear and shame was not only prominent in the crime victims but in the police officers personal stories. Nice interweave of the multiple stories by Joy Ellis. The villain was a surprise. Joy kept me guessing! I appreciate Henrietta Meire's narration every time I listen to another story in the sequence. Well done!

WARNING: Lots of Cruelty in This One

I love the Nikki Galena series, I love the narration, all of that. I just want to warn readers that this particular story has a lot of cruelty to animals in it (not to mention some really sick cruelty to people). It's important to the story, wound throughout, and made it impossible for me to just read the story. If I'd known this in advance, I would have given this book a miss.

So, my rating: 1 star for the business with the animals; 5 stars for the quality of the book otherwise.

Non-stop action

Love the narrator, lively voice that changes with each character. Rory has to be my favorite character and her narration of him is spot on

Returned It!

While the story was tolerable, although a bit convoluted, the narrator was unbearable! Her version of the male characters was a monotone. In addition, she seems in a big hurry to tell the story, leaving no time to savor it. I’ll stick to narrators like Gildart Jackson, Antonio Ballerina, Napoleon Ryan and Rosalyn Landir, to name a few of my favorites. They tell a story as if each word is a treasure. What a disappointment this hurried narration of a (likely good) book proved to be!

Strong Series, Continues in Book 7

Di Nikki Galena and her team continue to clean up crime on the Fens in the seventh installment of the series, when a skeleton is found buried in the church yard . . . an old skeleton, posed in a frightening and unusual way, and obviously murdered. The thirty-year old murder seems to be linked to the new cases cropping up. I especially like the continuing back stories of Nikki's team, Jospeh, Cat, and the others. The subject matter of this latest book is sad and sick . . . but so is murder . . . and it is handled skillfully. I also like the fact that the series deals with homosexuality without being condescending or political. The author does not push it nor speak in a demeaning way of it. For a crime series, this series is realistic, without being overly graphic, and without pushing political views (in either direction) down your throat. The speech isn't sanitized, but is realistic. There are definitive good guys and bad guys. And the resolutions are ALWAYS worth the wait. BRAVO!!!

LOVE THIS SERIES! Thanks Kindle Unlimited!

I continue to love this series, although Buried on the Fens is probably my least favorite. But still a great listen and intriguing mystery! I love that the series is available through Kindle Unlimited, and adding the audio is minimal...yay Kindle Unlimited!