The Nidderdale Murders by J.R. Ellis

In a Yorkshire Dales village everyone has a motive for murder—except the killer.

A retired judge is shot dead outside the Dog and Gun inn in the remote Yorkshire village of Niddersgill. There’s a witness who saw everything, and the gunman’s on the run; the case should be open-and-shut for DCI Jim Oldroyd. But the murderer had no motive for wanting Sandy Fraser dead and, what’s more, no trace of him can be found.

As Oldroyd and his team cast the net wider, they discover that Fraser wasn’t without enemies in Niddersgill. As the wealthy owner of a grouse moor, he’d clashed with farmers, debtors, hunt saboteurs and blackmailers. But none of them were at the scene of the murder. And when a local shopkeeper is gunned down in a second senseless attack, it’s clear that these killings are anything but random.

Surrounded by the dramatic beauty of the Yorkshire Dales, Oldroyd faces a race against time to connect the crimes and find who’s behind them. But with all the evidence sending him down dead ends, can he get one step ahead before someone else is killed?

 

 

Book 5
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~  Also Available with KindleUnlimited  ~

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆
3.5 stars

This is the fifth book in the series, although I must admit it is my first. I shall be adding the others to my to-be-read list though, as I found this to be a good read. The highlight, which was completely unexpected, was the revelation of what the headings to each chapter turned out to be – genius, and beautifully written.

Set in the wild and beautiful countryside of Yorkshire, bringing a vision of a rural community who have outsiders visiting for shooting grouse. There is the usual haves and have-nots split, exemplified by their behaviour in the local pub. An unhappy calm, shattered by the murder of the local landed gentry, which starts unravelling the status quo. The author does a good job of highlighting the social dynamics of country and town, and uses the visiting police to emphasise the disconnects.

I will have to go back and catch more of the ongoing plot lines – like Steph and Andy, and Jim and his ex-wife, and new partner – but it did not affect this story at all.

Find yourself a quiet corner and enjoy this entertaining read.

 

 

JOHN R. ELLIS has lived in Yorkshire for most of his life and has spent many years exploring Yorkshire’s diverse landscapes, history, language and communities. He recently retired after a career in teaching, mostly in further education in the Leeds area. In addition to the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series, he writes poetry, ghost stories and biography. He has completed a screenplay about the last years of the poet Edward Thomas and a work of faction about the extraordinary life of his Irish mother-in-law. He is currently working on his memoirs of growing up in a working-class area of Huddersfield in the 1950s and 1960s.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Nidderdale Murders (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries #5) by J.R. Ellis to read and review.