Crime on the Fens

Exxcellent British police procedural

Having lived in the UK for some time years ago it strikes me that many readers will not know about the Fens mentioned in the title of Crime on the Fens. The Fens, also called Fenland, is a below sea level portion of eastern coastal England. It is located in County Essex about 50 miles northeast of London. Like coastal Holland (The Netherlands) it was reclaimed from the sea many centuries ago and it is protected by dikes from the waters of the southern portion of the North Sea. Fenland is the same latitude as Rotterdam.

Protagonist Detective Inspector Nikki Galena is a tough cop who manages to stay in trouble because she believes results matter more than rules. In this novel after being issued a final warning about her tough/illegal methods of capturing drug dealers she is assigned as her 30 day partner Detective Sergeant Joseph Easter, a cop with his own issues. They work well together to her surprise. This is an excellent and worthwhile novel. I hope later novels in the series will be released in audio format.

Narration by actress Henrietta Meire is outstanding. Her Essex accent is so good that it must be genuine. The Essex accent is more clipped than most English regional accents and can be more difficult for Americans to understand.

172 of 175 people found this review helpful

Entertaining and a great length

I decided to listen to this audiobook for a long car drive home and it was the perfect choice. It was always action-packed, never a dull moment, and easy to keep up with. The narrator changed her voices for the characters so it was easy to tell who was speaking. Her presentation of the novel was outstanding. I enjoy the novel itself and I was left with no questions and it was compelling to get to the end.

24 of 24 people found this review helpful

Very interesting police procedural

As I was browsing Audible, I just discovered this book. Not knowing either the author or narrator, I was hesitant to use a credit, but I'm very glad I did. Nikki Galena is evidently an excellent detective, but is on the verge of being thrown off the force for her heavy-handed and unorthodox methods of getting arrests. She is told she will now have to partner with a man who also needs a change, known to his team as "Holy Joe," and the two figure out how to work together for the sake of their careers. This makes for interesting character development through the story, as they take on a case of missing young girls, and tackle the maddening situation of kids leaving around, and sometimes wearing, gruesome masks, everywhere--and nobody understands why.

I found the story to be fast-paced, the writing good, and the narration is well done. Quite like this book--hope there are many more in the series.

69 of 73 people found this review helpful

Promising start

Any additional comments?

Interesting introduction to DI Nikki Galena. A mostly realistic mystery with human motivation and nicely realized characters. Ellis manages to fill in some, but not all, of the backstories in believable dialog, giving weight and history to the characters and their relationships. The lead detective's almost instant rapport with her knew Sergeant felt a bit fake, but worked for the larger story. The ending was well done, not falling into the trap of making it too pat or too conveniently tying up every loose end. Instead, you have hope for some characters, a certain grim reality for others, and the feeling that you would like to see where the nascent partnership of DI Galena and DS Easter will go.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Engrossing

The author has written a detective story with just enough difference to make it an interesting read.

Our protagonist is Nikki Galena, a hard driving female Detective Inspector. Galena is focused on avenging her daughter who is in a permanent vegetative state in a hospital after she was a victim of crime. Galena is being forced to work with Detective Sergeant Joseph Easter, whose reputation is as questionable as hers. Galena heads a team investigating the disappearance of a young girl. The story takes an unexpected turn toward the end.

The book is well written and the plot twists and turns as the suspense builds. The characters are complex and our hero is a strong tough character. I enjoy books with strong women heroes. The story takes place on the Lincolnshire Fens in England. I did not know what a Fen was until reading this book.

Henrietta Meire does a good job narrating the book. Meire is an actress, author, voice over artist and audiobook narrator.

60 of 64 people found this review helpful

Promising Series!

This book has been on my "wish list" for awhile. Even though review were good, I wasn't convinced it was a book I'd like. When this title appeared as a "deal of the day" I bought it. I'm very glad I did.

At this start of this story DI Nikki Galena is a very troubled person. As the story progresses we learn of the terrible events in her life that have left her so emotionally damaged. We also learn of events that offer her hope of a happier life. It is this hope that has me looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

There is serious crime going on in this story. The plot is intricate and the story moves along at a quick pace. When I got to the last 90 minutes I had to keep listening to the end.

I've gone from being "not sure" about this series to an enthusiastic fan.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Okay, lots of cliches

I almost returned this in the beginning when the DI's gruff boss refers to her as a "loose cannon". She is, of course, the best copper on the force with a rule-breaking attitude that discourages others from partnering with her. All due to a dark trauma in her past. The actual mystery part was good enough to keep me reading, but the characters were pretty shop worn.

62 of 69 people found this review helpful

Great characters and Solid detective story.

In the beginning I thought I was going to dislike this book because Im not a fan of overly tough , loner type lead characters. But the main character Detective Nikki Galena grows throughout the story and is influenced by the introduction of another main character , and even the side characters were interesting to me. Very solid detective story, characters were not annoying, narration was good. Overall I would recommend this book and will continue with the series.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

This is a great series!

I read the four books in this series in order just as fast as I could find the time -- because they were very, very good! The setting of books remains the same, and some of the characters remain the same, but the issues and crimes to be resolved are as varied as they come. I especially enjoyed the lead characters (detectives) being female. Great narration made the series truly enjoyable.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

So glad I found this series

This is a new author for me and the series is newly released on audiobook. This first book in the series has me wanting more.

The DI in this CID squad has a troubled past and a spotty career in the police force. She is hard to work for and her boss gives her a final chance to make it work with a temporary Detective Sergeant. And make it work they do with a bizarre case starting with a missing person and leading to multiple murder and assaults.

Good story overall and the narration was pleasant to hear.

17 of 19 people found this review helpful