‘The Stolen Boys’ by Joy Ellis

Published by Joffre Books,
11 October 2018.  

ISBN 978-1-78931-042-9 (PB)

This is an excellent police procedural.  Set in the Fens it builds up contrasting tales of police and potential criminals so that the reader’s interest is fully engaged.  DI Jackman and D S Marie Evans head a tightly knit team of detectives who find themselves investigating the thefts of Hybird X clothing for young men.  This eminently valuable street wear is worth thousands and is being stolen literally off the backs of those wearing it.  When a young man dies during a robbery and another young man’s body is found then the team have a lot of investigating to do.

The characters here really engage one in the investigation.  Joy cleverly holds together a complex tale.  Drake is the shadowy villain behind various thieving activities and there are hints of more nefarious activity on the marshes - possibly smuggling?   Those on both sides of the law are fully rounded characters about whom the reader really cares.  The book is one of a series, but it is possible to enjoy this volume without having read its predecessors.   One particular theme is referenced as running through the whole series and likely to continue into future books.

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Reviewer: Jennifer S. Palmer 

Joy Ellis has several series set in the Fens - this is Book 5 of the Jackson & Evans series while the Nikki Galena series has reached book 9.  She has also written several standalones.

Joy Ellis was born in Kent but spent most of her working life in London and Surrey. She was an apprentice florist to Constance Spry Ltd, a prestigious Mayfair shop that throughout the Sixties and Seventies teemed with both royalty and ‘real’ celebrities. She swore that one day she would have a shop of her own. It took until the early Eighties, but she did it. Sadly the recession wiped it out, and she embarked on a series of weird and wonderful jobs; the last one being a bookshop manager Joy now lives in a village in the Lincolnshire Fens with her partner, Jacqueline. She had been writing mysteries for years but never had the time to take it seriously. Now as her partner is a highly decorated retired police officer; her choice of genre was suddenly clear. She has set her crime thrillers in the misty fens.

www.joyellis.info

Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands & the USA but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics including Famous Historical Mysteries.