The thing I like about J.R Ellis is that he really knows how to set the scene. His descriptions make it possible for me to visualise the setting and the people. He also provides a history of the area in which each book is set.
The Canal Murders is the tenth book in this series and, as can be guessed by the title, murder is committed on a stretch of canal in Saltaire.
There are plenty of suspects, but who had the biggest motive?
The narrow boat community provides some colourful, interesting characters. My favourite was old Len, who had lived on the canal for most of his life.
There are two characters however, whom I have come to dislike; Steph and Andy. Their incessant hero worship of DCI Oldroyd has become a tad annoying.
Simpering detectives aside, this was an engaging, relaxing read.
Thanks to J.R Ellis, Thomas and Mercer and Netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stephanie and Andy are taking a vacation in a narrow boat on the canal. They stop for the night at Saltaire. In the morning, Steph sees a boat go by with a woman slumped over the tiller and a lot of blood around her neck and chest. Soon, Jav, a man they used to work with shows up to investigate. Jav suggests they call in Oldroyd, Steph and Andy's boss and Jav's prior boss. The dead woman is Annie a former folk singer who Steph and Andy saw arguing with another woman in the pub the previous night. The biggest problem is that it appears no one else has been on Annie's boat, and it's very unlikely she could have knifed herself in the back of her neck. It appears that Annie was a contentious person, and there are several possible suspects.

When there is a second killing, folks are worried about a curse on the canal. Will Oldroyd solve the murders before there is another murder? This is a well done plot and an exciting story, a great addition to the series. I thank Netgalley and Joffee Books for the ARC so I could read the book before publication.

Steph and Andy are taking a vacation in a narrowboat in the canals. The first day and they find a woman dead on her boat. They meet with a fellow detective and he calls Oldroyd and get him involved as well.
Thanks to Thoms and Mercer and to NetGalley for the ARC.

I like the premise of this mystery: the surviving members of a popular-long-ago folk group now live in a larger narrow boat community in Yorkshire. When one of them is killed, it seems likely the roots of the crime are in the history of Rowan, the folk group. And DS Stephanie Johnson and DS Andy Carter just happen to be on their narrow boat holiday and at the scene of the crime. I like all of this, but...

Then they "persuade" DCI Oldroyd to come lead the investigation, even though it's not his jurisdiction. There are various rationales for this in the book, but it still feels incredibly farfetched. And Johnson and Carter's hero worship of Oldroyd gets old quickly to me. This is my first read in this series, but the plot and characterizations don't seem dependent on previous titles. But there's a lot of "They were familiar with this quirk of their boss..." and "They were used to their boss's various moods..." and that kind of thing.

The mystery and resolution work out neatly, and I enjoy the setting of a narrow boat community. And the characterizations of the various band- and community members have some depth and interest to them. Sometimes moreso than the main characters! I feel like Johnson and Carter are there simply to fawn over Oldroyd. I would've rather had Oldroyd out of the picture, really.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A true murder mystery! All characters with questionable morals often make us change our minds about the culprit.
Saltaire Village is atmospheric and brings an air of mystery to the story!
A little repetitive at times, but an engaging read that makes you question each step!
3.5⭐

I was really looking forward to this book, as all the previous ones had really good storylines. Unfortunately I found this one quite slow and contrived. I loved the descriptions and the history around Saltaire, Definitely not his best.

My first time reading this authors work. This is the 10th book in series and I can’t wait to start the series from the beginning. As I was enjoying reading this book I was feeling like it was a case from Midsomer Murders. The author did a fantastic job of the mystery and I had a hard time putting it down. Highly recommend.

The Canal Murders is the 10th novel in the DCI Oldroyd Murder Mysteries series. I always enjoy the books, since they are very much escapist reading. As was the case with all of the previous novels by J. R. Ellis, there is enough character background to make each novel a stand alone mystery. The plotting works, although I very quickly figured out who, why, and how the first murder happened. And I foresaw the second murder right away, too. Ellis uses many of the same techniques as Agatha Christie, which for any murder mystery fan, makes it easy to predict where the plot is headed.

I loved the setting on canals and the narrowboats. A friend bought a narrowboat and loved it. I always thought I would, also. Ellis does a very good job with landmarks and descriptions and the history of the area. As always, Ellis provides terrific epigraphs before each chapter. I always enjoy these. I enjoy catching up with Oldroyd, Steph, and Andy. It often feels as if they continue their lives between each book. The dialogue sometimes feels awkward and the flow of the writing is artificial and needs to be smoother. Teaching a writer to work on smoothing out the flow of the language would definitely help with the flow of these novels.

Thank you to Thomas and Mercer and Netgalley for providing this ARC for me to read and review. I enjoyed this novel, and I suspect that most murder mystery readers will also enjoy it.

The Canal Murders by J. R Ellis

The last thing DS Stephanie Johnson and DS Andy Carter expected during their much-needed canal holiday was a murder. When retired folk musician Annie Shipton is found stabbed through the neck at the helm of her barge, the couple can’t help investigating the seemingly impossible crime. Nobody else boarded Annie’s boat—so how was she killed from behind?

Another great book by this author , and a brilliantly exciting one it is !
I find any genre predominately based around the canal boat life fascinating , throw in a murder of two , alongside a great plot , and you have a winner.

This is the 10th book in the series of the DCI Oldroyd Murder Mysteries. As I love a murder mystery I was eager to give a new writer a go to expand my range.
The story centers around DS Steph Johnson & DS Andy Carter who have gone on a narrowboat holiday. However, their holiday is interrupted by a strange murder which cannot help put pique their interest along with DCI Oldroyd.

With a number of possible suspects and twists at every turn the book is a good and easy to read mystery that doesn't disappoint. The book holds your interest from the start and goes at an enjoyable steady pace. It was a series I feel I would continue with however as it didn't quite click for me at this time but that is not to the detriment of the story.

Muddied Waters..
The tenth outing in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series and a seemingly impossible murder mars the enjoyment of a canal boat holiday for Johnson and Carter. It is not too long before DCI Oldroyd is summoned to the scene. With a veritable plethora of suspects and motives the waters are muddied - and then further still, by a second murder. Another nicely written and engaging entry to this long running series with likeable protagonists, a deftly drawn cast and a firm sense of time and place.

The author describes narrowboat living mixed with a murder. In reading this book, I found myself looking up words or phrases. It is written in British English rather than American. Between the need to look up words and the long list of characters, I found it wasn't an easy read. Two English police are on a holiday on a narrowboat when the see another narrowboat floating free in the canal. The woman at the tiller has been murdered but there is no forensics to show that anyone was on board but the murder victim. This leads to the two connecting with the local police and bringing in an officer that is known for his solve rate. A small village is located near where the narrowboat is found and the descriptions of the village provide a vivid picture of what the village looks like. The crime solvers have a long list of suspects and each has a reason for the murder. It isn't until the last few pages that they are able to fully put the crime together.

My thanks to NetGalley and publishers Thomas & Mercer for the eARC of ‘The Canal Murders’, by J. R. Ellis, in return for my honest review.

DS Stephanie Johnson and DS Andy Carter are on narrowboat holiday on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, While visiting a local pub they witness an altercation between two women. Early the next morning Steph awakes to find a narrowboat floating past their boat, a body slumped over the helm. The body is that of one of the women involved in the previous night's altercation. Assigned to the case is DI Javed Iqbal. Javed used to work with Steph and Andy as part of DCI Jim Oldroyd's team. It's decided the DCI will be brought in as a special consultant on the case, thus allowing Steph, Andy, Javed, and Jim to all work the case together.

This is the tenth outing in the DCI Oldroyd series. It's an excellent police procedural with a cast of characters that work well together. 4 out of 5 stars. I'll definitely continue to read this series.

Enjoyed this very much - the trio of Steph, Andy and their boss DCI Oldroyd solving crime on the Leeds-Liverpool canal at Saltaire. The landscape and its history is an important part of the book (and something I love in a novel); I learned a lot about canals, including the role of 'leggers'.

When folk singer Annie Shipton is murdered, there seem to be a lot of people who'd want her dead - and, the more the trio investigate, the more people they find who had a grudge against her.

Good characterisation; the clues were well placed; the murder method was interesting (and baffled me!). Thoroughly enjoyable, Five stars.

This book begins with a couple on vacation, both of whom are detectives. A murder happens after the first night in their boat, and they team up with the local police to solve it.

This book (or perhaps the writing itself?) was a little weird. The dialogue especially seemed a little off, awkward and kind of “unnatural”. The characters would at times remind each other of things that, I assume, happened in previous books but logically the characters don’t need reminders of it. I realize it’s a way to let the reader know, but it was very strange to see a character remind another character of what they themselves did or said. The dialogue just felt very stale, and no matter their relationships everyone felt like they were strangers to one another.
Another thing that irked me was the quite extreme use of “sir” whenever the chief inspector was involved in the conversation. Literally every single sentence uttered to him, especially from the female detective, included the word “sir”.
I also found it very strange that pretty much everyone badmouthed the victim, including their own relatives. We find out that they weren’t the nicest person, but it still felt awkward to see every single person in this book talking ill of the dead as if it that’s perfectly normal. We also don’t really see anyone grieving, which isn’t necessary of course but still. It just enforced my feeling that this entire town hated the victim and didn’t care that they were murdered.

Apart from my issues with the dialogue, there were also quite a few times where the police and detectives crossed some lines, both moral and professional. I’m aware it’s fiction, but it felt very unrealistic and pulled me out of the story.
To name a few; they openly discussed the case with people, including suspects, they named all the suspects in the case to the press, they told details of the murder to people and the press, the chief inspector joked about the murder in the press. And in the last 30 pages when the big reveal is about to happen, the chief inspector makes quite a big mistake that really wasn’t okay at all.

Other than that, I did enjoy the story. The setting was very nice and cozy, the main plot was interesting and the big reveal was good.

Thank you to the author and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC!

The Canal Murders was a very good story. I really enjoyed it. Stephanie Johnson and Andy Carter are two detective sergeant on a vacation. They have rented a canal boat and are going down the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. They go through the many locks. They come to the town of Saltaire which consists of a canal basin and marina, chandlery/shop and the office of the River Trust and the Navigation pub where they will be spending the night. After dinner they go to Navigation Bar for a night cap. It is folk music that night.

Inside the bar owned by Phil Cunliffe are a group of people who use to be a folk singing group called The Rowen's. They were a popular group in their day. They are now living in Saltaire on canal boats. They are there to listen to the bands. Bob Anderson and Bridget Foster are a couple, Liz Aspinell is now single as her husband, Roger is deceased. Annie Shipton is divorced from her husband, Ben who now lives in a house in Oakworth. Their daughter, Brittanly is near by. Annie has gone home early as she is taking her boat to the shipyard in Skipton for repairs and plans to leave earlyl the next morning.

The next day Stephanie is on her deck having coffee. She sees a boat coming down the waterway. When passing her boat she sees a dead woman against the tiller with a lot of blood surrounding her. She wakes up Andy and they get the boat docked. The dead woman is Annie Shipton. They notify the police. Javed (Jav) Igbal, a detective sergeant, arrives and finds out that he had worked with Stephanie and Andy when they were young officers. He loved working with them and their boss, DCI Jim Oldroyd. He thinks that it would be great if Stephanie, Andy and Oldroyd would help him as his station is down officers. He contacts his boss, DCI Haigh who is happy to have them help them. Stephanie calls Jim Oldroyd to see if he is available and he is. He comes and set up a room at the Navigation Bar as their office.

Other people who have had run-ins with Annie are Gary Wilkinson, owner of the chandlery/shop that sells everything has told Annie that he will not give her anymore credit as she owes too much. Ros Collins, manager of athe Canal & River Trust. She also has had words with Annie about back rent for her boat. She has told Annie if she doesn't pay she will be evicted. Sam Wallace a cyclist who rides his bike on the tow path who has had a run in with Annie. Nicholas Spenser who is manager of the Mill Art Center as she is fighting him about the proposed new addition. Darren and Laura Ward who have run-in with Annie. Len Nicholson is an older man who does artwork and believes in the canal.

When looking into Annie's death the detectives find that Annie has made many enemies as they make up their suspect list.

There is so much going on in the story that I will leave it to the reader to enjoy to the very surprising end.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this ARC.

Stephanie and Andy are on a much needed vacation. They’re banging their time on the canals. What started out as a cozy getaway, turns into a working vacation when a body is found on one of the boats.

Long list of suspects, the group spends verification, trying to figure out, not only killed the musician, but also who committed the murder on the canal. So much for a quiet vacation.

I love canals, and the serenity that they bring. Why it wasn’t the case in this book, the settings certainly still relaxed me at times. The mystery was solid as they work to figure out whodunit. I will definitely read more from this author in the future.

I had no idea that canals in Britain were a place for people to live and vacation. The narrowboats intrigued me. The mystery appears unsolvable - a woman killed while her boat is moving with no one else aboard and tons of people whom she created but none to the point of commiting murder. Excellent plotting.

Seems like DCI Oldroyd has solved all the issues around Harrogate and was brought it to assist with a murder further afield.
The manner in which it is written is very similar to the authors previous books and if you enjoyed any of them you will most certainly enjoy this one.
All the usual characters make a return and the plot twists and turns throughout.

Excellent

Didn’t have any expectation starting the book and it surprised me in a good way. I liked the characters, particularly one and you’ll love them too, I’m sure. Good plot, fantastic idea! Hope to read more by the author. Worth your time, give it a go!