The Body in the Dales: 1 (A Yorkshire Murder Mystery, 1)

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As a bona fide anglophile, books set in England always appeal to me. My mother was a war bride and I still have a lot of family in the 'old country'. I've read all of the James Herriot books and love the Yorkshire area. The setting, and the fact that this is a police procedural, is what attracted me to this book. This book is about that. Lots and lots of that. It is pretty well written and entirely readable. It has a very 'English crime' feel and in a lot of ways reminds me of Deborah Crombie's Duncan and Gemma series. As I mentioned earlier, the setting is one of my favourites. The Yorkshire Dales holds an endless fascination for me. The plotting was reminiscent of the traditional mysteries of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, etc. This made a nice change from the more convoluted thriller plots I've been reading recently. Written like a perplexing puzzle, the novel appealed on that level as well - I can never ignore a good puzzle. The Yorkshire Dales are also the home of the famous veterinarian James Harriet which gave me a warm glow as they are some of my favorite books.

I found the story to be quite repetitive. Whatever the team found out was repeated every time someone new was brought in. And I wanted to skim-read these parts. I almost gave up reading, too, at once point. but I’m glad I soldiered on. Oldroyd and his team try to uncover the truth, but every answer unearths a new set of questions. And as secrets and lies are exposed within the close-knit community, the mystery becomes deeper, darker and more complex than the caves below. The first in the addictive Yorkshire Murder Mystery series is imaginative, puzzling, complex, and frightening! I enjoyed the setting of the story, and thought that Ellis did really well in bringing Yorkshire to life. A setting is just as important as the characters, in my opinion, and I really enjoyed reading about what Yorkshire had to offer. And I loved the idea of something sinister happening in such a sleepy village. To my knowledge, there are three novels featuring this police team and I intend to read them all. Recommended!I wasn't exactly blown away by this book. The story was OK, but I wasn't really charmed by the characters and the mystery plodded along a bit too much. And finally, there was too much head-hopping for me, too many viewpoint changes – within the same paragraph at times. This is the first book by J.R. Ellis in a murder mystery series. It was also the first book I’ve read digitally. As I mentioned earlier, the setting is one of my favourites. The Yorkshire Dales holds an endless fascination for me. The plotting was reminiscent of the traditional mysteries of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, etc. This made a nice change from the more convoluted thriller plots I’ve been reading recently. Written like a perplexing puzzle, the novel appealed on that level as well – I can never ignore a good puzzle.

Thanks to NetGalley, Thomas and Mercer, and J. R. Ellis for giving me all three books in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series for me to read in return for my honest review. It had a slowish start, and I did rather keep glancing down to see what percentage of the book I’d read, but I was engaged by about 20%, I think. That may also have been because I was reading it when I wasn’t in full health and so was tired. The central mystery of how the body got to where it was found was quite intruiging, and I was happy that I got to the answer before the police did!! The motive for the murder was — do you know, I can’t remember! I think it was believable (which isn’t always the case!) The ending of this whodunit was tied up neatly. Nothing far-fetched, just believable, sound police work. The coppers displayed keen observational skills and some astute knowledge of human nature. To my knowledge, this is the first of three novels featuring this police team and I intend to read them all. Recommended!

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Plus, he's the narrator of the Detective Lavender Mysteries and I had a huge semi-problem with that series too, simply because... He is Dr. Watson! Caver John Baxter phones Oldroyd up and wants to meet with him. He believes he knows who the killer is and how he got Atkins into the cave. When Oldroyd shows up at his home, he finds Baxter has been murdered. I found the story to be quite repetitive. Whatever the team found out was repeated every time someone new was brought in. And I wanted to skim-read these parts. I almost gave up reading, too, at once point. but I'm glad I soldiered on. The first installment of murder mysteries set in picturesque Yorkshire dales, The Body in The Dales was an interesting read, on many levels. This case is specially perplexing as Atkins' body was found some two hours into the cave system, parts of which were extremely narrow. It would be VERY difficult to transport a body through the cave. Also, it would have been near impossible for one person to do this on their own.