Shadow Over the Fens - Joy Ellis

Shadow Over the Fens by Joy Ellis

First Paragraph(s):

As Detective Inspector Nikki Galena locked the door of her Fenland home, a shiver of anticipation coursed through her.  She gazed across the wide expanse of remote marsh, took a deep savouring breath of the fresh salty air and smiled.  It felt good to be back where she belonged.
     Across Cloud Fen she could see the mist clearing, and a green gold morning slowly waking up the salt marsh with its bright clear light.  She stepped into the garden and wondered what this new dawn would bring with it, apart from the arrival of her new sergeant.  Her smile widened.  She had been waiting for this moment for a while and it was something she both welcomed and dreaded.

My Thoughts:

Shadow Over the Fens is the second book in Joy Ellis' series featuring DI Nikki Galena and her talented colleague, DS Joseph Easter.  I listened to this one ably narrated by Henrietta Meire.  In the first book, the author set up the characters of Nikki and Joseph and we saw how well they worked together.  After an exciting ending, I was happy to see that these two would once again be fighting crime in the Fens.  We have learned that Nikki has some dark spots within her, but in this book we get to explore a part of Joseph's past as a soldier in Special Forces.  I liked the way the author related the tale - a good police procedural.  I guessed who might be behind all the murders, but I completely enjoyed the investigation.  And as there are several more books in the series, well, I'm trying to keep myself from a binge read of all of them.  We'll see if I'm successful.  The third book is called Hunted On the Fens and I can see it appearing on my Kindle in the near future. 

Blurb:

Detective Nikki Galena’s friend and neighbour meets a tragic end but there’s more to his death than meets the eye . . .

And someone terrible from DS Joseph Easter’s past is back . . .

A man is found executed on a piece of wasteland in Greenborough town.

The cold-blooded murder triggers terrible memories for DS Joseph Easter. Just when things seemed to be going well for DS Easter, he realises that the nightmare is coming back, threatening his career, his sanity, and maybe his life.

In a breath-taking conclusion even Nikki begins to doubt DS Easter as he faces a race against time to save someone very close to him.