THE MURDERER'S SON a gripping crime thriller full of twists

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I read this book over a year ago and wrote the review but it didn't make it onto Good reads at the time, so here it is. This was a very solid and enjoyable police procedural with solid, likeable characters, a new series for Joy Ellis. The novel is well paced, it doesn't get dull, and even if you find out the who done it, you keep reading until the end. The Murderer’s Son is a police procedural, murder mystery thriller crime novel. A brutal serial killer is on a killing spree in a Fensland town of England. If this is what commercial fiction is--what it most typically and essentially is, maybe the literary snobs have a point

The story itself is immediately engaging and twists and turns leaving me guessing without groaning in exasperation at the ridiculousness of it all which has happened a few times recently. Ellis has a bright approach to her writing which moves the story on at a very enjoyable pace while allowing her characters to grow depth and colour. A white (blond, in fact) male journalist is described as a 'new up-and-coming voice' or something like that and the police record a suspect's interrogation on a literal tape (surely they don't still use those). Ellis was born in Kent, England, but spent most of her adult life in London and Surrey. She worked as an apprentice florist, ran a florist shop in Weybridge, [2] and was a bookshop manager. She took part in a writers' workshop in Greece, [2] and was encouraged by Sue Townsend, her tutor, to write seriously. [3] This is a tough review to write. I won’t get into the story as the publicity blurb above outlines the plot. Instead, I’ll try to explain why this wasn’t for me. As a murder mystery thriller crime novel, The Murderer’s Son, presents multiple suspects, and you may or may not guess who the killer(s) is before the end of the book. Joy Ellis expertly provides plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing and second-guessing yourself. Either way, you won’t be completely sure until Ellis reveals all near the end of the story.Whilst we have the duo on the hunt for the “real” murderer we have a subplot which I really enjoyed and wanted more exposure involved Zane Pruitt and Kevin Stoner. I have to say Stoner was my favourite character (ok Orac is a very close second) in the book and what he endured at the hands of Pruitt made me so angry! I hope he gets more book time; you see Stoner goes from hiding who is, to accepting who he is, I do love me a bit of character growth like that! A young man who is the son of a serial killer confessing to the murder of a young woman in her kitchen. The police don’t believe him and release him. When another young woman is found dead, things take a turn. Was the young man telling the truth? Soon, one of their own is in danger. Secondly, when the the two characters are supposed to be having a "sentimental chat" about the character Kevin being silly for not having coming out already. His boss tells him his evangelical dad probably won't react badly and will accept him. Then, Kevin was emotionally touched to tears by that? This writer clearly hasn't had the experience of coming out to their extremely pious parents or is blissfully unaware of how many people STILL are doing that with a very negative result.

The rest of the team are as normal and real as they can be, there's a joining soon character *fingers crossed* can't mention the name or there will be spoilers. Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell. This is a mystery with a different point of view. Through twists and turns we eventually discover the truth. (Although I guessed it earlier, it didn’t spoil the book at all.)Let me preface my review with the fact that this is my first ever reading of a police procedural crime story, which is not my particular cup of tea. But, the psychological thriller storyline is intriguing, so I decided to “cowgirl up” and read it.

The repetition of the same phrases was hard to listen to, the characters are poorly described and obvious tropes, and the writers seems pretty out of touch with what it is like to be queer. I almost stopped listening to it several times. First, when the characters were first described; the female police officer was immediately objectified, "more attractive than any 45~ old should have the right to be" while the male character's admirable extreme loyalty and other positive personality traits were described.The mystery was decent, but coincidences were everywhere - the expert who just happened to have studied the murderer that the suspect was obsessed it, who was actually the murderer himself and was also obsessed with Evans, who he tried to murder. Plus all the incompetence from seemingly everyone, that was still somehow able to be salvaged at the end. And at least three people, in three separate situations, venturing somewhere alone, despite knowing there is a serial killer on the loose! Three people, two of whom are cops! I really liked what Joy Ellis did with the female character of Marie, she looks like any woman you can meet on the street, unlike other female detectives I came across lately, Marie has exceptionally normal eyes and hair color, she is a biker and a devoted friend, tough and vulnerable, has high morals and that's what makes you like her very much. There are some things in here that aren't perfect, I think you can see Ellis's writing style developed after this book which I believe was originally the first in the series. The police procedural aspects are, despite her having a partner who used to be in the forces a bit weak and in my copy a couple of sentences were oddly repeated in obvious editing errors.

Major props to Joy Ellis, because I enjoyed The Murderers’ Son all the way to its satisfying end. I’m so glad I ventured out of my comfort zone. Had I not, I would have missed this awesome book. And, if you are partial to audiobooks, Richard Armitage did a really nice job on his narration of the audiobook version of the Murderer’s Son. Poor Daniel Kinder has turned himself into the police confessing to a brutal murder. The only problem is, the police don't think he did it. Daniel is convinced he is the son of vicious murderess, Francis Thayer, and as her tainted blood runs through his veins, he has inherited a propensity to kill. Unfortunately he also suffers fugue states and has no idea what he does during these episodes so he thinks, obviously, he murders women.The mystery is well paced and executed. I was pulled in by the details. The story has a pleasant flow and even though it dealt with murder; it wasn’t overly bloody in grizzly details. I figured out who the suspect was, but enjoyed the ride. This is a very gripping story with a lot going on as the team try to untangle the web and uncover the clues. However, there are complications at every turn and all is not as it seems as we join the team on an adrenaline pumping journey through the twists and turns of the case. As more murders are committed and people are running away and going missing this is one very gripping book that is impossible to put down. This is a very clean read. Yes, there are people who suffer violent death but it’s never gory or gratuitous. No explicit content or swearing (except for once when the female cop Marie says “hell”….such a potty mouth ; ) . Joy Ellis's debut novel is an entertaining British police procedural despite one or two obvious plot twists. The mystery is gritty and gripping without any unnecessarily gruesome descriptions and the pacing is excellent. There are several red herrings to keep the reader guessing up to a certain point at which the identity of the villain becomes glaringly obvious. Now: a woman is viciously stabbed to death in the upmarket kitchen of her beautiful house on the edge of the marshes.