A skeleton is found in a shallow grave in the churchyard. But this was not an official burial. The victim was murdered decades ago. At the same time, Detective Nikki Galena and her team are investigating the brutal slaying of local businesswoman Madeline Prospero.

A great start to the book (I did not realise this was number 7 in the DI Nikki Galena series), however it reads well as a individual murder thriller, and kept great pace and thrills right to the end.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Buried on the fens by Joy Ellis.
DI Nikki Galena Series Book 7.
A SKELETON IS FOUND IN A SHALLOW GRAVE IN THE CHURCHYARD. BUT THIS WAS NOT AN OFFICIAL BURIAL. THE VICTIM WAS MURDERED DECADES AGO.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Read In one sitting. Love this series. 5*.

Detective Nikki Galena and her team are investigating two murders in their area. The first was the vicious murder of a prominent local businesswoman; a brutal murder with no real clues left behind. While investigating that, the team gets a report of another body found but this one is much different. While getting ready to renovate the local church, a body is discovered in the graveyard. This burial was unauthorized and the body is about thirty years old.

The body is identified as a man from the village of Quentin Eaudyke, a man missing for twenty years and a man hated by his neighbors. Gerald Hammond, the victim, was suspected of being the man who terrorized and abused several local children, and then was later suspected of killing and hiding the boy of his own child, a daughter. No one cared when he went missing and it was assumed he drowned and his body washed out to sea. Now the story is revealed that he was himself murdered and hidden away.

As the investigation proceeds, the businesswoman was found to be a member of a local private club, one made up of women who came together both for business networking and because they were lesbians. The group was kept under the radar due to the prejudice gay women still encountered. The daughter of a member is the next woman to be murdered and the police become focused on the club. As they investigate, the two murder inquiries start to blend and it becomes apparent that the same person is involved in both. Apparently, the murdered is not through and it becomes a race against time. Will the police solve the case before more murders occur?

This is the seventh novel in the Nikki Galena series. Galena has mellowed over time, having put to rest many of her own personal demons. She has built a strong team who work well together and whose talents merge nicely. Readers will enjoy watching the team solve another case and the interplay between the team members. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

It was my first book in the series but it won't be my last. There's an intriguing relationship between Nikki and Joe and it'll be I interesting seeing how it develops in future books.

The setting of the Lincolnshire fen is almost a character itself. The book was gritty but I never thought it was gratuitous. Was vert enjoyable and I'd happily recommend

This is the first book I have read by this author. NOW, I have to check out the rest of her books.....yes the story is that good! You will love the characters in this book and feel their emotions and pain. I never saw the ending coming and wouldn't of thought of it! I received ARC of this book. The review is voluntarily done and of my own opinions.

Full of twists and turns, this is a crime thriller that will keep you turning the pages until the heart-stopping ending. Having read the book I have to fully agree!! I loved Nikki as the main character and the story flowed brilliantly around her. She is a great character and after reading this book I definitely want to read the previous ones!! For me, Joy is now an author to watch! Loved it – 5 stars from me!!!

Thank you Net Galley. A well written police procedural from Ms. Ellis. It has everything I want from a mystery. A good plot with well fleshed out characters and plenty of suspense. Highly recommended.

I wish I had read the books before in this series, but nonetheless it was a terrific read.
Detective Nicci Galena is trying to stop a killer while at the same time trying to save her personal relationship. I definitely have to read the books before to find out what happened to her and her almost boyfriend. The story twists and turns and your perspective of the happenings will be shifting with it, till finally it finds a satisfying end.
*Spoiler* The secret lesbian club (like some lesbian free masons was just this little bit unrealistic.

Joy Ellis is a great author, gritty thrillers which a exciting to read.

Throughly enjoyed this detective mystery. The book is well written with believable characters. I enjoyed the writing. It appears this book is the latest in a series,
Perhaps I will have to read previous books.

A little darker and sadder than I expected, but enjoyed the setting and introduces some interesting characters I wouldn't mind reading about again.

Ever since I read “Their Lost Daughters” earlier this year, I’ve been a big fan of Joy Ellis. “Buried on the Fens” is the latest in the DI Nikki Galena series, and I loved it just as much. I really enjoy how Ellis can take what seems like a straightforward mystery and creates a twisty, explosive haters that will shock you to your very core.

While the novel is in a series, it can be read as a standalone, no problem.

Nikki Galena is called to a country church, where an old skeleton has been found, obviously the victim of a brutal murder years ago. As Nikki and her team investigate, they’re pulled into a 30-year-old mystery which seems to still be affecting people in the modern day. At the same time, another murder is confounding Nikki’s team. A woman was murdered and the people that knew her best – all members of a secret drinking society – aren’t talking. Everything collides in spectacular fashion as the investigations continue.

The atmosphere of this book is amazing. It’s all about secrets and trying to crack through layers of silence and misdirection. Plus, it opens with scenes in a creepy church graveyard on a quiet English marsh. Awesome.

There’s no way I saw the ending coming, and I really enjoyed it. It was extremely satisfying. I like how Ellis really blends together good and bad, really making you question who’s doing “right” and what exactly constitutes “wrong.” The characters aren’t all good or all bad. Except the villain in this one – they are uh…..really bad.

I would absolutely read more in this series. It was absolutely great.

Great book. Brilliant plot and main characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Very enjoyable.

As always, the book opens with Nikki getting thrown into the deep end, with two cases (one for a thirty year old murder) on at the same time and hardly any clues to get her going. Thankfully, her team are as tenacious as she is and attack both cases with no other option but to solve them. Before they do though, they find themselves “down the rabbit hole” with red herrings galore and enough twists and turns to make their – and my – head spin.

One of the things I loved was that as the novel progresses these seemingly unrelated stories come together and everything starts to make sense. None of it feels forced though, which can easily happen when weaving threads together and I was a left with a “well that was obvious feeling at the end”, even though none of it had been (if that makes sense?).

Another thing I loved was the characters. I have sung my praises of Nikki in other reviews – she is kind, caring, but also not afraid to be tough to get the job done – even if that means upsetting friends and her wider team. She has a back story which slowly came out over the last few books I read and there wasn’t much of that here, meaning this story can easily be read as a standalone.

What this also means is as her back story has became less front and centre, her team have had the chance to shine. As the story is told in the third person you get to hear all their voices and thoughts, helping make them real In the last novel (Captive on the Fens) it was Cat that really came through as her own person – and remains one here – but now we really get to known WPC Yvonne Collins, who has been on the force a long time and seems to know everyone in the area and a lot of their secrets.

Secrets are big in Buried on the Fens – their are lots of them and people seem willing to die in order to keep them. Nothing is quite as it seems – my favourite type of book. This all adds to the tension, which ratchets up page by page, chapter by chapter to what is a pretty good climax of a pretty good book and one I loved. A recommended read!

This is the first one of Joy's books I have read. Although the book does work very well on it's own, if you have read the other 6 it would be a still advantage I would imagine.

The book has two story lines which look separate to start with merge perfectly towards the end, with one suspect, but they don't know his name or what he now looks like.

The book was full of suspense and tension throughout, which made it a very enjoyable read.  Joy is now one of my new favourite authors and I will be going through her back catalogue to read more about Nikki Galena and her team.

Overall this was a very good read and I give it 4 stars.

D.I. Nikki Galena and D.S. Joseph Easter and the rest of the team are called in by Father Aidan from St. Augustine's Church informing them of an unmarked grave. The body is that of a man, probably buried around 1988, and most probably murdered. At the same time they're working on the case of a brutally murdered business woman. The woman was a member of a little known group, comprised of business women, known as the Briar Patch Group. As the team look into both cases, they're slowly realize they're connected. Their investigation takes them to the village of Quintin Eaudyke, a depressing and closemouthed community with secrets so awful that not one person is willing to speak to the police, making it impossible to get clues to help them getting any closer to solving the case. The murder of the business woman is followed by the murder of a member of the Briar Patch's daughter. Again, the team know the 3 cases are connected, but no one will open up, refusing to be interviewed or just not willing to answer questions.
I really loved this book, and didn't have a clue till the end who the murderer was. And what an evil, frightening murderer...cruel, calculating and fearless with a taste for torturing the weak and helpless, this is one of the creepiest characters I have had the pleasure of reading about. A well written book with a familiar cast of lovely characters, as well as one of the better mysteries I've read, this book was a treat!
Thank you Netgalley and Joffe Books for the eARC.

I really can't decide what it is about this series that I love so much. I have enjoyed each and every one of these books, It's been a great ride with Nikki and Joseph, getting to know them both, seeing the changes in them both.
​Also learning about the other team members, there really are some fantastic likeable characters in these books.
​The stories have grabbed me from the start, and I've been hooked ever since, I now find myself eagerly awaiting the next book each time. And I have to say Joy Ellis has certainly managed to get these books out in real quick time. I'm sure it's only around 12 months and here we are at book 7.
​Another exceptional read. The book kicks off with an unofficial body found in a cemetery, a body that has been their for years. Then a member of an exclusive and secretive drinking club called The Briar Patch is found dead. The two cases are being investigated separately but could there be a link.
​Well it's down to Nicki and her team to find out who and why. It seems no one is telling the truth, we have plenty of twists through this book and I have to say it really does keep you guessing the whole way through. Old secrets come out and new secrets discovered. Not everyone is who they seem to be. And sometimes when you want to keep everything you do a secret cooperating with the police is not something you want to do.
I guess this book could be read as a standalone but for me personally I was glad that I had read all the previous books first. I was by this book well used to the characters and their ways and I think it really helped me reading this one.
​I can't shout loud enough that everyone who enjoys crime fiction should be reading this series, It really has fast become one of my all time favourites. With each book I can't wait to see what is going on with the characters just as much as I want to see what the story line is about.
​I look forward to reading many more books by this author and wondering what she has planned next.
​A fantastic read.

I really enjoyed this book as I did all the others in the series. Fantastic author and a great cast of characters.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

DI Nikki Galena and her team is busy working the case of Madeline Prospero when they get a call about a body in a graveyard at a local church. Assuming it was a fluke Nikki responds and discovers from the condition of the body that it is not a scheduled burial. Indeed, it is murder. The autopsy shows that he has been buried there for about thirty years. An ornate and engraved wedding band is the only clue to his identity.

Meanwhile, they are getting nowhere on the Madeline Prospero case. It seems she was a member of a local club called The Briar Patch and was viciously beaten to death.

After taking the ring to a jeweler, Nikki learns more about its origins. This leads the team to the tiny village of Quintin Eaudyke. This is a village where hatred breeds secrets and no one is talking about the dead man, save for the old town doctor. It seems that over thirty years ago, the place was the scene of some horrific crimes against children. Everyone in town thought that the murdered man was guilty and later drowned in the river. His body was never found. But Nikki and her team know better.

Another woman who is related to the Briar Patch is brutally murdered and the problem is growing. What does someone have against the members of this club? With the assistance of Spooky, a brilliant computer technician and a friend of Nikki’s, they make some progress.

As the investigation goes on Nikki and her team discover a link between the two cases. A suspect comes into view. The team feels more and more strongly that their suspect is the murderer. But the suspect is living under an assumed name and they can’t locate any pictures of them to do age progression to see what they look like now. They re-interview witnesses trying to find out what the murderer looks like now. They go hither and thither.

And then a breakthrough occurs. They zero in on the suspect. The tension mounts and the pace of the story speeds up. And it all ends with an exciting car chase on the fens.

This is an extremely well written and plotted novel. The tension starts immediately and builds throughout the story. I like the major characters and the team gets along well. I’ve read all of the Nikki Galena novels and I like this one the best. Ms. Ellis has out done herself! I can’t wait for the next book in this series.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read.