Read in 2025 - 29: The Otley Murders

The Otley Murders (A Yorkshire Murder Mystery, # 11)

J. R. Ellis

My review for # 10 is here. In that post, you will also find the link to Monica's blog which first introduced this series to me. It has become a firm favourite of mine, with me eagerly anticipating each next instalment, and it is one of the very few cases when I actually spend money on ebooks in Amazon's kindle store.

I like everything about this series: 

The setting in Yorkshire, with many of the places more or less familiar to me, was what first drew me to these books. Then there are the characters of DCI Jim Oldroyd and his team, his partner and family members as well as some other recurring figures. To me, they are entirely believable in their thoughts and actions, and as a reader, I care about them and want to know what happens next both in their private and professional lives.

The author writes in a contemporary style without ever being vulgar, giving enough detail to create atmosphere and three-dimensional characters but not overdoing it to the point of unnecessary lenghts.

For me, the pace of the stories is just right - not so fast that it feels rushed, but not as slow that I want to skim pages just to finally get to the point.

In this book, Oldroyd and the people he cares most about are in danger when a serial killer he helped to put behind bars for life ten years ago manages to escape from prison. Just as news of the escape has reached him, a murder victim is found with the word "Vindicta", Latin for "revenge", written on his forehead.

This can't be a coincidence, but even before Oldroyd and his trusted team have had time to interview all the suspects and witnesses, the next victim is found.

Meanwhile, the escaped prisoner makes several phone calls to Oldroyd, taunting him and increasing his stress level to almost breaking point. Then, a third murder changes everything and has the investigation almost go back to square one.

All of it happens in and around the pretty Yorkshire market town of Otley, a real place (like all places in the series). High above the town on a steep ridge sits the fictitional Chevin Towers, a former mansion turned into a children's home but abandoned very suddenly and under mysterious circumstances about 30 years ago. Oldroyd has a hunch that somehow the murders are connected to the home and what happened there, and as usual, he follows his hunch...

Click here for the author's website. By the way, him chosing Otley for the setting of his latest book is not a coincidence - J. R. Ellis is a member of the Otley Writers, a club for creative writing.