The second in the Nikki Galena series. Galena has softener around the edges since the first book. She has taken on DS Easter into her squad. As part of her new lease on life, Nikki is moving back into her family home, where she rekindles some old neighborly relationships. Then one of those neighbors turns up dead. At the same time Easter takes up with a new love interest. The two threads intersect in the story.
I liked this one better than the first in the series. ( )

When a friend and neighbour of Detective Nikki Galena dies she refuses to accept that it is suicide. While researching through death statistics of the area DS Joseph Easter finds an anomaly. He also believes that he is seeing a soldier from his army past. Then the killings start. Who to trust, what to believe.
I enjoyed this story, and I liked the characters. So I will be looking for more in the series, starting with the first book ( )

Det. Sgt. Joseph Easter is recovered from his injuries, returned to duty, and now a permanent part of DI Nikki Galena's team. Unfortunately, his first day back on the job includes the apparent suicide of Nikki's friend and neighbor, and a brief encounter with a man he's sure is a nightmare figure from his past.

It's not long before bodies start turning up, killed execution-style, and all bearing a strong resemblance to Easter's hated former fellow special forces soldier, Billy Sweet--a man only Joseph says he's seen in the area. There's a serial killer in the area, and the gradually starts to seem that Joseph Easter is either the ultimate target, or something worse.

Meanwhile, it quickly becomes clear that there's something seriously wrong about the death of Nikki's neighbor Martin's death. It's not just that there's no evident reason for his suicide. He turns out to have been high on a ganger oyster hallucinogen that he had no apparent access to. The cancer clinic that has been monitoring his condition for any return of his cancer for years claims never to have heard of him. And he was, years ago, involved in a clinical trial. Two other members of the trial have also died in strange circumstances.

Two big, peculiar, dangerous, unrelated cases at the same time. It's so obvious there's no connection between Easter's serial killer and an odd cluster of apparent suicides that no one questions it.

We see both the newly returned Joseph Easter and the newly somewhat reformed Nikki Galena's under extreme pressure, and newly reconstituted team they lead responding to the pressure along with them. It's an interesting plot, but also good characters continuing to grow and change.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

This is the second book in the DI Nikki Galena series, and the second that I have listened to. I realize my rating is in the small minority (only 2.5% of ratings are 1 or 2), so I will explain. Joy Ellis is a master at character development and building up suspense. I like both Nikki and her assistant DS Joseph Easter, another carryover from the first book in the series, [b:Crime on the Fens|36160547|Crime on the Fens (DI Nikki Galena, #1)|Joy Ellis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504237835s/36160547.jpg|51189921]. I felt that the reader, Henrietta Meire, was even better here than in the first book; she was a factor in keeping me interested. The first part of the book, perhaps 2/3, sets the scene and establishes the two seemingly unrelated mysteries to be solved. However, this story makes about as much sense as many of those TV mini-series that start out great but conclude leaving you wishing you could get a refund of the time you spent watching. The last third of the novel kind of drags, because by now, seasoned mystery readers will have guessed who the primary villains is, even if some details remain to be clarified. Even after the great reveal, many questions remain unresolved, and numerous inconsistencies along the way stand out. Major spoiler follows: Joseph's beautiful, nascent lover, Bryany, has been lying to him about everything except her feelings about him, even though their relationship has not had any time to develop either emotionally or sexually. She becomes the mad scientist working for a sinister international organization based in Germany whose wealth and power extend to the highest corridors in the UK and elsewhere. She is without scruples, believing somehow in a greater good that will result from "the organization" As a result, the ends will ultimately justify the means and, incidentally, leave her with boundless wealth. Yet we are left with no understanding of who is really pulling the strings. As conspiracy lovers would have us believe, there are unseen corporate interests who are really running the show, not just nationally in some banana republic but across the globe. Who are they? How do they operate? If they are so clever, how is it that not only Billy Sweet, the executioner, but also Bryany use their real names. Austin Powers is more believable than this. ( )