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  • Their Lost Daughters

  • Audible's breakthrough crime author of 2018
  • By: Joy Ellis
  • Narrated by: Richard Armitage
  • Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (13,229 ratings)
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Their Lost Daughters

By: Joy Ellis
Narrated by: Richard Armitage
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Listen to clips from the audiobook

<i>Their Lost Daughters</i>
Jackman learns of the body on the beach
<i>Their Lost Daughters</i>
Marie is haunted by an unsolved case
<i>Their Lost Daughters</i>
The deadly history of the marsh, as told by Gary
<i>Their Lost Daughters</i>
Jackman introduces the team’s newest recruit
  • Their Lost Daughters
  • Jackman learns of the body on the beach
  • Their Lost Daughters
  • Marie is haunted by an unsolved case
  • Their Lost Daughters
  • The deadly history of the marsh, as told by Gary
  • Their Lost Daughters
  • Jackman introduces the team’s newest recruit

Watch our exclusive trailer

Their Lost Daughters has been hailed as “the next big thing in crime fiction” by Digital Spy. Step into this dark and menacing world with Richard Armitage.
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And Joy Ellis, the book's author

Joy Ellis started her career as a flower seller in Mayfair in the 1960s, before going on to open her own florist in Surrey. When the recession hit, Joy had a career change and became a bookseller, and attended a writing course in Greece where she was mentored by Sue Townsend. She now lives in the Fens with her partner Jacqueline, where the flatlands and marshes provide inspiration for her eerie plotlines.

Introducing Richard Armitage, our star narrator


Richard is well-known for his array of film, television and theatre work, including The Hobbit, Spooks and The Crucible. His trademark baritone voice has earned him recognition, too, through his performance on many notable audiobooks as well as in TV and radio show narration. This experience shines through in Armitage's gripping performance of the Jackman and Evans series where he plays host to a plethora of characters.

Summary

Introducing Audible Exclusive Their Lost Daughters, the first in the Jackman and Evans crime series, written by Joy Ellis, Audible's breakthrough crime author of 2018.

Deep in the muddy fields of the Lincolnshire Fens, a teenage girl is found wandering, delirious, claiming to have been drugged at a party. Metres away, the drowned body of another girl is found on an isolated beach. And all this on a small stretch of land where, nearly 10 years ago, the shocking disappearance of a young girl remains an open case.

For DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans, the pressure is on to bring the perpetrators of these shocking crimes to justice. Are the crimes linked? Who are these young girls? And what on earth is going on under the green and pastured land of the Lincolnshire Fens?

An Amazon Kindle number one best seller, Their Lost Daughters by Joy Ellis is performed by the incredible Richard Armitage (The Hobbit) and available exclusively at Audible. Be prepared for your pulse to rise and your nights to be disturbed as our breakthrough crime author of 2018 weaves her dark web of mystery. Perfect for fans of Sarah A. Denzil, LJ Ross and Denzil Meyrick.

About the author

Joy Ellis is not your ordinary newcomer to crime fiction. She started work in the 1960s as an apprentice florist in Covent Garden before opening her own flower shop in Lincolnshire. Later in life, she began to consider a career change towards crime writing and attended a workshop in Greece led by Sue Townsend, author of Adrian Mole. Ellis has now left the flowers behind and dedicates her life to writing gritty crime thrillers set in the Fens, where she lives with her police officer partner.

About the narrator

Richard Armitage is a British actor known for his vast array of film, television and theatre work, including The Hobbit, Spooks and The Crucible. His trademark baritone voice has earned him recognition, too, through his performance on many notable audiobooks as well as in TV and radio show narration.

His audiobook credits include The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde featured in The Monster Collection, David Copperfield, and Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, and this experience shines through in Armitage's gripping performance of Their Lost Daughters.

©2017 Joy Ellis (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Meet Joy Ellis

We travelled to the Lincolnshire Fens, the home of Joy Ellis and the setting of the Jackman and Evans series, to find out more.
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Critic reviews

"If you’re a crime fiction fanatic, Their Lost Daughters could well be your next obsession." (Digital Spy)

What listeners say about Their Lost Daughters

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Smokin' Start to a New Series!

I often hate it when books get quite such a push as this one has because once you've listened to the interviews, seen the short trailers and read the background expectations are so high the result is often disappointment. As a result I don't doubt that this one will get some negative reviews as a result. Personally though I think it deserves most if not all of the hype. I took to Jackson and Evans from the off! They make a great pair and they are thrown into a twisty and evil-mannered plot that's enough to make your hair not only stand on end but get up, pack its bags and leave! Well, that's my excuse anyhow.

The devious mind that came up with all of this could surely not belong to the mild-mannered, highly approachable Joy Ellis in the Audible interviews! Well, somehow it is; they say you need to watch the quiet ones. Of course an audiobook only reaches the top levels when the partnership between author and narrator has genuine chemistry. Again, there's no doubt about that here. Armitage is of course a bit of a celeb but he's full of character and charm and their is clearly a glowing mutual respect between him and Ellis. His performance is assured and full of character-driven depth.

The odd thing is that Audible seem to be billing volume 2 of the printed series as volume 1 of the audio version and vice-versa. Presumably they felt this one had the biggest wow factor and in truth the next one in the series which I have already pre-ordered will have to go some distance to beat this one. The obvious concern is that the missing back story from the original volume will detract from the enjoyment of this one but although it is hinted at I don't think you'd notice unless you already knew.

I'll not say it was a 100% perfect. Some of the police procedure felt a little weak to me, an undercover operation in the first half of the book felt poorly thought out and I am sure would have caused much more considerable consternation than the story indicated. Occasionally parts of the dialogue did seem a little stilted to me. These are very minor things though and I have no qualms at all in recommending this one to those strong-stomached individuals who like an edgy and creepy police thriller.

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96 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Very disappointing

I fell for the Audible hype and bought this. It’s really very pedestrian and second rate. The most ludicrous plot that gets increasingly bizarre as the book trundles laboriously on. Boring, one-dimensional characters, very average writing and, the final nail in the coffin, not particularly well read either. People in this fenland area all sound as if they come from up north! Welsh accents wandered in and out characters seemed to deliver their lines at the same pitch and tempo regardless of whether they were meant to be whispering or shouting et cetera. Compared to writers like Ian Rankin or Anne Cleaves this is really a very poor effort.

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88 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

wow, was this overhyped

I feel a bit stupid for falling for the hype but hey life is for discovering new stuff and sometimes you get gold. not in this case though.
theres nothing in this book to justify the big hype it got.
its a reasonably mundane detective drama, pretty slow paced, the detective and sidekick pretty unmemorable.
Nothing like a Rebus or a Wallander.
Sorry Author but I just cant understand why audblie hyped this particular book - unless it was to test if they could push sales of their middle of the road material.

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77 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Such a badly written book

I honestly don't understand why this book has received so much hype on audible. It is so badly written and the characters are two dimensional, I couldn't care less about them.  There are so many cases that are thrown at the same team and even more appearing through the book that are all apparently going to be solved at the same time as part of the same crime.

Basic police procedure is not followed and the opportunity to look at evidence that could help identify a body is to hand and not even thought about.

Every cliche under the sun is used, it's almost as if it's a write by numbers book.  When an 'expert' is required they don't use the ones that the police would have on their database but people who they happen to know.  They bring in a phsychologist right after explaining how they don't like them. He then says he doesn't believe in profiling and then goes on to profile the killer.  They also don't make full use of the experts that they have brought in.  The forensic anthropologist actually tells them she's got more information that they need to know but they don't bother to listen. Then when they keep banging on about finding out more about that victim they don't think 'Oh hey maybe the expert can tell us more about her', no they just keep saying, we need to find out more about her and doing nothing.

The officers seem to see qualities in the people they are interviewing that are in no way described by the author and that clears them of being a suspect.  They seem to spend half their time driving back and forth to the station instead of staying out and doing police work.  And the days must only be about 3hrs long as they always seem to be tired and working late and being sent home every five minutes.

The only redeeming feature of this book is Richard Armitage, I could listen to his voice all day long. But even he seems fed up with what he's reading.

This is a total mess of a book and I will certainly not be getting any more from this author.

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74 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

thoroughly disappointing

I purchased this, following what seemed to be a pretty big launch including TV adverts and a fair amount of emails and within the first hour I was already regretting it. It is like a paint by numbers approach to a detective story. The plot line is thin, but worse is the dialogue. I found myself cringing at how the characters were supposed to be conversing. I would not be recommending this book to anyone.

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51 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Richard Armitage can’t save this one

I have NO idea what the hype is about this one.

Richard Armitage’s performance is good but the writing is SHOCKING - it is like a check list of lazy thriller cliches stacked one on top of the other. And once she’s come across a phrase she’s proud of, she really likes to get her money’s worth out of it (if she used “saline liquid” in place of “tears” once then she used it a dozen times)

I found myself actually wincing and shouting as she stamped through one cliche after another.

If it is later revealed that this was written by an algorithm, I will be found on the nearest rooftop screaming “I TOLD YOU SO!!!”

Possibly the worst thing I’ve listened to on audible (and my library has 400+ finished titles in it - I think I’ve returned only 4 titles out of all of those and this was one of them) I kept going purely because of Richard Armitage and all the hype it had received - I kept waiting for it to get better. Take my word for it; it doesn’t get better.

Do. Not. Buy.

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40 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Amateur feeling. Flat and unrealistic

Jumbled yet predictable story with two dimensional characters. Conversation dialogues are so stiff 70s porn dubbing flows better and has more realism. The whole force must have gone to Sunday school as none of them utter any profanities. (accompanying dodgy music may have added something). Gary is supposed to be a clever copper comes across like Benny from crossroads . Cooks a good breakfast though .The chief inspector must have watched too many superman movies to think that slicked back hair glasses and a change of clothing are all you need to do as not be recognised.

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38 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The best audio book of 2018?????

Some hints for DCI Jackman since he clearly needs help: if someone is attractive and constantly tired they are a good guy, conversely if they are ugly and not well liked, arrest them immediately since they are definitely baddies.

Can’t wait for the big reveal to find out Jackman affords his million pound windmill and house maid on a £50,000 salary. Possibly taking bribes or re selling confiscated smack.

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34 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Cracking mystery beautifully read

An excellent story with lots of twists and turns. Read by the chocolate voiced Richard Armitage who has more voices in his repertoire than I've had hot dinners.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Complicated and muddled

The storyline could have better had the characters not all morphed into 1. I was lost most the time, it was hard to follow as the chapters all pooled together. Although the reader was good the characters voices were pretty much the same apart from the Scottish and welsh for obvious reasons. I wouldn’t recommend listening to this book, maybe reading it would make it clearer. Not great at all

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17 people found this helpful