Fire on the Fens
FIRE ON THE FENS by JOY ELLIS Joffe Books Mystery & Thrillers Pub Date 30 May 2018
Review
Joy Ellis’s newest novel Fire on the Fens demonstrates why she is one of the foremost authors of British police procedurals. The cases that challenge Nikki Galena and her team are believable but never formulaic or repetitive. As you read the Nikki Galena novels and come to know her, Joseph Easter and the rest of her team, they become like family. They care about their job and readers care about them.
In Fire on the Fens, an arsonist is on the loose, first tackling structures then moving on to murder. Each fire targets a particular individual, and there are no apparent links between victims. Moreover the victims appear to have lived spotless lives and were known as generous and caring. Meanwhile, a group identifying themselves as Luciferians has settled in town, led by an affluent and charismatic businessman.
Eminently readable and far from straightforward, Fire on the Fens is a terrific police procedural with a strong human element.
5 / 5
I received a copy of Fire on the Fens from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
— Crittermom
Description
Detective Nikki Galena faces a cat-and-mouse battle with a killer arsonist. Someone is lighting fires on the fens. First they target property, but then a body is found at one of the crime scenes. More fires are lit. And at each one a single person dies. But the victims have led spotless lives and apparently there’s no connection between them. Meanwhile, the town is facing a very peculiar threat from a group of sinister Satanists led by a charismatic businessman. Who is burning with anger, and can Nikki stop them before anyone else dies? Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you turning the pages until the heart-stopping ending. This is book 9 of the international best-selling books featuring Nikki Galena. THE DETECTIVE DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she’s seen a girl die in her arms and her own family destroyed. She’s tough on criminals but fiercely loyal to her team. HER PARTNER DS Joseph Easter is the squeaky-clean member of the team. But his nickname “Holy Joe” belies his former life as a soldier. He has a daughter and an ex-wife who wants his attention. THE SETTING The Lincolnshire Fens: great open skies brood over marshes, farmland, and nature reserves. It is not easy terrain for the Fenland Constabulary to police, due to the distances between some of the remote fen villages, the dangerous and often misty lanes, and the poor telephone coverage. There are still villages where the oldest residents have never set foot outside their own farmland and a visit to the nearest town is a major event. But it has a strange airy beauty to it, and above it all are the biggest skies you’ve ever seen.
