Review of eBook

The brutal murder of Reverend Clare Wilcox, the rector of the parish church of Saint Anne’s, brings Detective Chief Inspector Jim Oldroyd and Sergeant Andy Carter to Knaresborough, Yorkshire to investigate. As word of the crime spreads, rumors arise that the well-liked rector, who was bludgeoned in the church she’d served for five years, was the victim of the ghost of a medieval monk.

A severe winter storm leaves DCI Oldroyd dealing with ever-deepening snow and the persistent stories of the monk haunting the church and seeking revenge. But for Oldroyd, the solution to the case hinges on the motives and opportunities of the members of the church's congregation.

Doubting that anything supernatural has occurred, Oldroyd and Carter continue their investigation only to find themselves caught up in a second murder. And, for DCI Oldroyd, the case is personal . . . his sister, Alison, is vicar of Kirkby Underside and a close friend of the murdered woman.

Can the detectives find the truth amid stories of a phantom murderer . . . or does the ghost of the long-dead heretic truly haunt the church, seeking his revenge?

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Seventh in the Yorkshire murder mystery series, this book works well as a standalone for readers who may not have read the earlier books in the series. This atmospheric story, filled with the chill of deep snow and an inexplicable crime, pulls the reader into the telling of the tale from the outset.

Well-drawn, believable characters, a strong sense of place, and an intriguing mystery keep the pages turning as the unfolding story takes several unexpected twists and turns. Several characters emerge as likely suspects, but readers may find themselves surprised by the murderer’s identity.

The mystery, solid and compelling, keeps readers involved as the investigation takes some surprising turns. Woven into the story are several unexpected revelations that become important to the case but also offer commentary on current attitudes and are deserving of serious consideration. At times, however, there are conversations that seem created solely to present a politically correct emphasis and these are a bit off-putting.

Each chapter begins with a short segment from an M. R. James book, a nice touch for the telling of the tale. Fans of mystery tales will find much to appreciate in this police procedural.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley
#MurderatStAnnes #NetGalley

The shocking murder of the female vicar of St.Anne's church pits DCI Jim Oldroyd against a diabolically clever killer. Adding to the confusion is the lack of motive and no weapon on the scene. Oldroyd's sister, another vicar and close friend of the victim, has only kinds words to say about Rev.Clare Wilcox and is as stumped as her brother about the murder. A witness describes seeing the ghost of a long-dead monk fleeing the crime scene. As much as the author believes shining a light on hatred and bigotry cleanses it away, I think the past few years have shown that is not the case. .

Murder most foul! Who is so depraved as to commit a murder in a church?

The Reverend Clare Wilcox is found murdered in St Anne's church in Knaresborough, Yorkshire. It is obvious that the instrument used was heavy and blunt but there is no sign of such a weapon. DCI Jim Oldroyd and his Sergeant Carter from the West Riding Police are called in on the case and are totally baffled. Motive is another conundrum--Rev Wilcox was much beloved by her congregation, well respected by the church hierarchy and was about to be appointed Bishop of Kendal in a few months' time. Who could have hated her enough to kill her? And why? Oldroyd has studied English at Oxford and likes to use literary references to illuminate his cases, and Macbeth and Othello come to mind, their potential for greatness destroyed by evil influences.

Or maybe it's a cross between M.R. James, the ghost story writer, and Edgar Allen Poe. There are those in the parish who want to believe it was the work of the ghost that haunts the church--that of a heretic monk who was put to death in the early history of the church. And in fact, someone in monk's robes was seen leaving the church shortly after the murder was committed.

Oldroyd is not taken in by this superstition, even after being the recipient of a ghostly visitation during one night spent in the church. He's determined he'll find the murderer amongst the living, especially after a second crime is committed.

They are not lacking for motives once they start questioning possible suspects. They uncover misogyny and homophobia amongst church members, someone who has been accused of theft, another of adultery. But are any of those reasons enough to kill?

I have now read three books in J. R. Ellis' Yorkshire Murder Mysteries series and I think this one is my favorite so far. There's an old-fashioned feel about the story, even though many of the issues that come up are very modern day. The story is set in January in Yorkshire where they suffer through a major snowstorm. How ironic to find a real life story in the news just recently about dozens of people who were stranded in a Yorkshire pub by a blizzard for three days. Life mirroring fiction!

I received an arc of this new mystery from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy British police procedurals. It keeps you guessing till the end!

This was a great book great characters and such a good storyline. I love this author and can't wait to read more

The Yorkshire Murder Mystery series hits book number 7 and after being slightly disappointed with the last couple of outings for Oldroyd and colleagues Murder at St Anne’s sees a return to form with an enjoyable and very readable story.

Set appropriately in the depths of a snowstorm the storyline moves along at a good albeit never frantic pace with a few red herrings thrown in for good measure

Enjoyable.

Reverend Claire Wilcox rector of St Anne’s in Knaresborough, Yorkshire is on her way to a meeting with someone in the church ⛪️. The said person told her earlier that they had something to show her.

When she arrives at the church, she’s attacked with a blunt object by an assailant wearing a monk’s robe. Her body was later discovered by a churchwarden who had come to lock the church for the night.


Before she died, Claire was about to be consecrated as a bishop of Kendal. Who killed Claire and what was their motive?


DCI Jim Oldroyd and DS Andy Carter of the West Riding Police are called in to investigate. As they question suspects they learn from some of the churchgoers that Claire’s death might be connected to a legend of the ghost of a monk believed to haunt the church


Thank you to J. R. Ellis, NetGalley, and the Amazon Publishing UK for the ARC of this book.

This is one of those mysteries that gets under your skin.

When the female vicar of the local church is found bludgeoned to death in the most horrific of ways, the local British police have their work cut out for them as one by one all possible suspects are eliminated. However, the detective in charge of the case is one of those guys who’s like a dog with a bone : he nibbles and chews and tosses around the evidence in the case, assisted by some very adept younger members of the force, until he figures it out and justice is done.

The mystery alone would have made a good story. However, this story is elevated by commentary on the role of women in the English church (the story is set at a time when there is substantial unrest about this) as well as the role of women in the British police force. While this can sometimes feel a little heavy-handed, the historical commentary on relatively modern times is valuable, and leads to the resolution of the murder.

I was particularly taken with the character development in this story. Is it great literature? No. And it’s not meant to be. It is a frightful murder story with good detective work that will warm your heart..

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. I look forward to reading more by J.R. Ellis.

Murder at St. Anne's by J. R. Ellis is a perfectly serviceable British mystery, a cozy almost. It didn't blow me away, but I did enjoy it. At times I found the language, even the dialogue, to be a little stilted, but it's a good story with lots of interesting characters, and I appreciated the comments on such topics as women and gays in the church. Well done, if a little underwhelming.

P. S. Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC.

This is the story of an old church and the rumor of hauntings, which is spread to explain the murder of the new woman priest. But investigators are not sure about that.

Probably not his best book, but still very enjoyable. As usual set in Yorkshire with very eloquent descriptions of the local area, in this case Knaresborough. It is set around a murder at St Anne’s church, hence the title with all the usual cast of police, Oldroyd, Andy, Steph etc and their back stories. It was a very clever plot trying to identify the killer from all the suspect, but I felt there was something lacking which I cannot quite put my finger on. The end was quite long winded with rants about women in the church, which I feel could have been condensed.
After all that it was still an engaging read.

I’ve read one other book in this series and I enjoyed that one a bit more. This was a perfectly pleasant cozy mystery, but the previous book was much more clever and interesting by comparison.

This is #7 in the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries; this is the first time for me to read J.R. Ellis. The book, for me, probably rated about a 3.5. The story had a number of suspects who might be responsible for the death of a young female vicar who has received a promotion to move up to position of Bishop.

Chief Inspector Oldroyd must discover why the vicar was killed in her church. One thing he knows for sure is that the ghost who supposedly haunts the church did not kill her. Many interviews with members of the community, some of whom are also church members, lead the police down a lot of paths but not to the killer. Oldroyd tracks down the killer just in time.

The mystery surrounding the murder is ageless. What the author does do well is to draw attention to some very contemporary issues involving women and their struggles for equality within the church.

Murder at St. Anne's is the seventh book in the Yorkshire Murder series by J. R. Ellis. I have not read the previous offerings but was happy to find that I was able to follow this story as a standalone. I enjoyed the main characters, Inspector Oldroyd and his sergeant, Andy., and will definitely be going back to start reading the at the beginning of the series.

The story is fast paced and the writing flows nicely. This is a good book for a dark and wintry day at home. The characters are great. I enjoyed the ease with which they interacted. The plot was a well crafted mystery with several potential perpetrators.
One of the nice surprises to me was the attention to setting, especially the way the lead characters appreciated the beauty of winter, all the while bemoaning the bitterness of it.

The larger, political issues involving the church perplexed me, yet we know that biases, prejudice and rigidity continue to exist in our world.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon publishing UK and the author for the ARC of Murder at St. Annes. Worth the read!

5 stars

DCI Jim Oldroyd and DS Andy Carter and their team are back in this installment of the series. They have their hands full.

A woman rector has been murdered in her church. No one seems to know why she went in there that evening. The pathologist doesn’t have any idea about the murder weapon, only that it was a brutal killing.

The woman was a good friend of Jim’s sister Alison. Alison is devastated. She worked at Alison’s church for a short while and they became good friends. The dead woman had so much promise. She was kind and an excellent administrator. She was slated to become the next bishop.

The investigation begins in the middle of a heavy snow storm. It is slow going. There are those who hated the idea of women priests. They conjured up all kinds of nonsensical reasons for this. They thought no better of gay people.

Several of the witnesses have things to hide. Blackmail is afoot. A member of the congregation is also murdered, another is viciously attacked. What is going on? Andy and Jim have a conversation wondering if this is typical of churchgoers. Hypocritical Christians?

Through intense investigation, Jim and Andy make some revealing discoveries. The case begins to come together. Allison is threatened.

I really like the relationships between Jim and Andy and their spouses. It is so relaxed and friendly. But Jim can be tough as well. Allison is a treat. She keeps Jim on his toes. This book is very well written and I must say that perhaps this is the best of the series so far. I didn’t care for the ending of the book. For some reason it just felt too obvious. Ok. I was disappointed. I wanted it to be harder. (Even though I did not guess who was the killer.)

I want to thank NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK/Thomas & Mercer for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Murder as St. Anne's is a solid murder mystery/thriller. The crime is horrific and the investigation has a little bit of a spooky factor with a ghost story in the background. The characters are, for the most part, inoffensive and a bit flat. Maybe I just don't know them well enough. There are quick explanations of the past of most of them but nothing about any of them stood out as soon to be favorites of mine. All in all, a good mystery and an author I may revisit.

Perfect for a wintery Sunday afternoon! The plot was just complicated enough and the characters rounded enough to keep me interested.

This is book seven in the series and seems to stand alone. I haven’t read the previous ones but it didn’t seem to matter for this book. I thought it was a good mystery. I thought I had it figured out but of course I was wrong. If you like good British police/ detective type books, you definitely want to add this series to your list. I look forward to the next one.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Delightful, intriguing plot, the murder of Rev Clare Wilcox
She was a rector here at St Anne, a medieval church
Soon to be appointed Bishop, a rare opportunity
Well like, campaigning for many right organizations
A meeting at a side room, led to murder, then another
A hidden staircase, that held the pendulum.
A church that had rifts, and delicate matters.
A good flowing plot, the characters, and details clearly done
Given ARC for my voluntary review and my honest opinion
for Net Galley and Thomas Mercer.

Are there ghostly dealings afoot? On a cold snowy night, Clare is viciously murdered as others have been before at this age-old churchyard. While there are those who claim that a phantom is exacting his revenge for his own murder, the detectives on the case know that the killer is all too human. Who could possibly want the esteemed vicar dead?

I couldn't believe how quickly I was drawn into this book. Though it is the seventh in the series, this is the first Yorkshire Murder Mysteries story that I've read. And I have really been missing out. I can't tell you if it's the plotting, the characters themselves or the setting because they seamlessly form the ingredients to a book that fully captivates. All the elements combine to form a riveting story. Beyond the tale itself, is a thought-provoking study of prejudice and discrimination.

Although this is first and foremost a police procedural, it is not passionless or empty of emotion. The officers are thoughtful, caring people who are devoted to solving this crime. The reader gets a nice glimpse into their home lives as well as their interactions with each other. Their pool of suspects is a lively bunch of individuals, all with their own recognisable traits and personalities. It is this talent for sketching men and women that brings this book to life.

Highly recommended. Both fanciers of cosy mysteries and police procedurals will love Murder at St Anne's.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publishers for the chance to read this Advance Reader Copy. As always, my opinions are my own - true and freely given.

I always love finding a new author, whose novels are perfect for me. How have I missed J.R. Ellis before this book? I read Murder at St Anne's and was happily entertained by this mystery. The plot was very good and kept me engrossed in solving this mystery about a murder with so many connections to 15th century history. Ellis' book borders on being a cosy mystery, which makes it a delight to read and solve for fans who enjoy some violence but who prefer a mental challenge to solve a crime. Murder at St Anne's is the 7th book in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series. I am going to go back and read this series beginning with book 1. The characters are interesting and well-defined. I heartily recommend, this series and J.R. Ellis.
I thank the author and publisher for providing me with this ARC fro read and review. This review is my honest recommendation. Also a big thank you to NetGalley for introducing me to so many new authors.