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

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At times I wished there was a list of the cast of characters in the book. It’s my own fault for not paying closer attention to who’s who, but it would have been helpful, I think. As mysteries go, this was fairly light and easy to read. The plot wasn't overly complicated and the characters were engaging, particularly the deceptively sensitive and intelligent DCI Oldroyd. I enjoyed Ellis's depiction of the picturesque Yorkshire landscape and towns, and found the setting of the cave as a crime scene intriguing and evocative. The topic appealed to me too. I’ve always had an armchair interest in potholing, so this story enabled me to experience the subject in greater depth – albeit still from the comfort of my own home.

Not a bad book overall and a decent start to a new series. (New to me that is.) I was not all that sold on the ending as there were several facts and details that cropped up right at the last minute. Storytelling was decent and contained enough of the that Yorkshire atmosphere that seems to make these books appealing. Obvious comparisons can be made to the DCI Banks novels, so if you have read any of those then this will be familiar. To my knowledge, this is the first of three novels featuring this police team and I intend to read them all. Recommended!I'm reading book two right after this one, followed by book three, hopefully before the release date. It's truly a fantastic and addictive series!! I was in two minds as to whether to give this four or five stars. On the one hand, I really enjoyed it and thought it was a great start to a series. On the other hand, I don't like to give out a lot of five stars and I think that while this was good, there is still room for even better in later books. So, I'm going with a four plus. Ellis does a fine job of fleshing out the series of characters in this book, laying out well the personalities of the detectives who serve throughout the series as well as the players for this particular story. He also does an excellent job of painting a landscape such that the reader sees it as if standing by the characters in the book. Makes this reader want to visit and hike the dales. It starts with a young detective recently moved to the Dales from London. Why? I honestly don’t remember. But there he is, now part of team lead by the senior detective Oldroyd. I received a copy of The Body in the Dales from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect for fans of Midsomer Murders, The Body in the Dales has everything that readers crave - an unusual murder, a wide cast of colorful suspects, a chocolate box village where everyone knows everyone, and a likable group of detectives led by an easygoing but brilliant DCI. I didn't solve this one, although I had ideas that weren't a million miles away I don't think that I'd really come close to narrowing it down properly. It was a good read and I already have the second in the series lined up and ready to go. It took me a bit to get used to the accent as the narrator truly captures the dialogue of the Yorkshire area. But once I did, I really appreciated the energy and emotion he brought to the story. Oldroyd’s sister, an Anglican priest, provides a bit of philosophy to the mix. I especially appreciated her comments on Hannah Arendt’s thoughts on the banality of evil. J.R. (John) Ellis is an Oxford graduate and has had a long career teaching English. He has always been fascinated by the paranormal and by mysteries, conspiracy theories and unexplained crimes.

A Note From the Publisher

Top Five Tuesday: 5 books that I’m thankful for in 2023 #Top5Tuesday #TuesdayBookBlog @MeeghanReads#TopFiveTuesday November 21, 2023 On a very random note, this book taught me that you go "spelunking" in the US and Canada. The Brits apparently go "potholing". 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 in the addictive Yorkshire Murder Mystery series is imaginative, puzzling, complex, and frightening!The Quartet Murders come second in the Yorkshire Murder Mysteries. It is in December, and DCI Jim Oldroyd is excited to be attending a concert where world-famous violinist Hans Muller will be performing. Not even the awful weather would dampen his mood. He would never have anticipated that this violinist would be killed by a bullet the same night. Swinging fast into action, Jim secures the crime scene and also finds the murder weapon. However, the killer is nowhere to be seen, and he had taken the victim’s priceless violin with him. How come no one saw the killer leave or even take the instrument from the violinist’s hands? Jim was there at the concert, and he did not catch the killer even after arriving at the crime scene minutes later. Is it possible that the killer was not working alone? 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. To my knowledge, there are three novels featuring this police team and I intend to read them all. Recommended! 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. I was waiting for the detectives to get down into the hole, to be honest. It felt pretty obvious that the solution would lie hiding somewhere down there.