Crime on the Fens

DI Nikki Galena, Book 1

By: Joy Ellis

Narrated by: Henrietta Meire

Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she's seen a girl die in her arms, and her daughter will never leave the hospital again. She's gotten tough on the criminals she believes did this to her. Too tough. And now she's been given one final warning: make it work with her new sergeant, DS Joseph Easter, or she's out.

Her partner, DS Joseph Easter, is the handsome, squeaky-clean new member of the team. But his nickname, Holy Joe, belies his former life as a soldier. He has an estranged daughter who blames him for everything that went wrong with their family.

Their adversary is a ruthless man who holds DI Galena responsible for his terrible disfigurement.

©2016 Joy Ellis (P)2016 Tantor

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.

My kind of mystery

I love being able to write a positive review and I'm enthusiastic about this book and the fact that there are more to listen to in the series.

This is my favorite kind of mystery -- somewhere between cozy and grisly. Most cozies are just too cutesy for me to enjoy and though there was a time I read a lot of grislies, I find the real world horrifying enough at the moment to relish any more of that in my pleasure reading.

Small English village, interesting landscape that is well-described, characters that resemble real people instead of clichés; it's all good here. Good pace, which picked up a bit after necessary introduction, a believable plot. If I have any complaint at all it's that characters and plot were just a bit predictable, but not at all bad for first in a series.

The narration was spot on, expressive without being theatrical, again just what I like. I'm moving on to book 2 with interest.

Terrible Narrator

I listened to the entirety of the Jackman and Evans series and became a big fan of Joy Ellis. They are narrated by Richard Armitage and he is an outstanding actor/narrator. The narrator for Crime on the Fens does a mediocre job of ‘reading’ the words and seems to be in a rush to finish the job. I gave up listening to the amateurish delivery and will forgo the rest of this series’ audiobooks.

Characters a bit predictable

Main female character was over-done and had a whiny voice which started to get irritating. Instead of feeling empathy with her (as the author intended with all her stories of woe) all I wanted to do was put a sock in it!!

Great Find

I was looking for a new series and this one fits the bill. Strong characters, good story. Another reviewer mentioned the narrator's mis-pronunciations, and there were many! But the characters and story were engaging enough that they were only a minor distraction.
Glad I started with the first book and will continue with them in order.

Crime on the Fens

A very absorbing story with solid character development. I will definitely continue with this series.

I liked it after all...

Took me a bit to get into it, but ended up hooked and really enjoyed it. I look forward to book two.

The narration is horrible

I was looking forward to a new series but the narrator ended that idea. I am returning this book before finishing it because I can no longer listen to her choppy narration. Very disappointing.

Not the typical DI series beginner and it welcome

Most of the DI series I have listened to focus on one case and doesn't show everything a DI has on their plate. This first book was realistic, gritty and a great listen

Don't Bother

This book is an annoying combination of cliche hard boiled cop with soppy sentimentality and a plot that is simultaneously implausible and irritating. Plus a climatic scene that is based on such an amazingly degree of stupidity on the part of the cops that I really couldn't believe she'd really written it that way. Will not be reading/listening to this author again.