Book Review: Joy Ellis’ “On the Fens” Series

I recently discovered Joy Ellis’ “On the Fens” series on a whim–from clicking one of those “You may also like…” recommendations on Amazon. I have really enjoyed them (thus my recommendation to you). Read on for more.

The series follows a female detective inspector, Nikki Galena, as she deals with crime in the Lincolnshire Fens.[image error] Galena and her fellow officers (including DS Easter, who serves as a potential love interest) are an enjoyable bunch, and very identifiable.

Galena’s not a perfect protagonist. She’s rough around the edges, and she struggles against her own inner demons (mostly brought on by the fact that her daughter is hospitalized and soon to die). DS Easter’s got his own skeletons in the closet. They are just rough enough to be real. A lot of crime novels are frustrating in that the detective is so bloody brilliant that they are almost psychic. Not so with Galena.

The novels (there are eight in the series, beginning with Crime on the Fens) are easily read and entertaining, with just enough suspense to keep you turning pages (and yes, I’ve stayed up into the night more than once to finish one of her books). I appreciate the fact that they are generally “clean”. There’s some language here and there, and of course there’s an element of violence due to the nature of the text, but there’s nothing in the novels that is offensive or off-putting. In fact, I’m struggling to really recall much of anything that would be so.

I enjoy the “Briticisms” in the text; reading a novel written by a Brit and set in Britain is always fun, because the novel is full of slang terms and other such things. The early novels are complete with a glossary at the end to help the reader out.

Here’s a link to the series (in order) on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/1829...

Give it a try!