J R Ellis

Winter, snow, murder—and a centuries-dead suspect.In the chilly depths of a Yorkshire winter, a well-liked rector is found bludgeoned to death in her own church. With no sign of a murder weapon, local superstition quickly pins the blame on the ghost of a medieval monk believed to haunt the building…Well accustomed to unusual murder investigations, DCI Jim Oldroyd takes on the case, along with his assistant, Sergeant Andy Carter, but they are hampered at every turn by the deepening snow and the threat of the supernatural. Even as possible motives and opportunities begin to reveal themselves, Oldroyd struggles to find a better suspect than the hooded phantom.Has Oldroyd really found himself in the midst of a Gothic ghost story or is there a very real killer at large? Spectre or otherwise, it soon becomes apparent that the murderer is not yet finished. And, for Oldroyd, it’s about to become personal…

A murder in a locked garden. A village full of secrets. Can DCI Oldroyd find a killer who has vanished into thin air? When elderly Clarissa Morden is found strangled in the locked garden of historic Bishop Hewick Hall in Yorkshire, DCI Jim Oldroyd needs to solve a seemingly impossible murder. The only door was bolted from the inside, the kitchen garden walls are too high to climb, and there is no sign of how the killer escaped. If no one could enter or leave, how did the killer commit the crime and escape? But as Oldroyd and his team uncover more evidence, they discover Clarissa wasn't the kindly neighbour she appeared; a blackmailer, she was keeping coded records of the villagers’ darkest secrets. Suddenly it seems as if half the village has a motive for murder. In this puzzling case, Oldroyd must unravel not only how the culprit vanished from a locked garden, but also which of Clarissa's blackmail victims was driven to stop her. The tranquil beauty of Bishop Hewick conceals deadly secrets—and someone is willing to kill again to keep theirs hidden…

He was supposed to be gone forever. Now he’s back.Ten years ago, DCI Oldroyd was the only person who could see the monster hiding behind Adam Blake’s charm. Oldroyd proved that Blake was a deadly serial killer, responsible for murdering many innocent people. Having vowed to take revenge on Oldroyd, on a crisp autumn morning Blake escapes from jail…Hours later, in the Yorkshire market town of Otley, a man is found strangled inside the old courthouse. Written in bold black ink across the victim’s forehead is a single chilling word: vindicta—revenge. Oldroyd’s blood runs cold when he picks up a call and hears an all-too-familiar voice: I’m coming for you.Oldroyd has spent years getting inside the minds of dangerous murderers to protect lives. But with a determined killer closing in, can he catch Blake once more and solve this difficult case, or will Oldroyd be the next to die?

Hindamatuväärtusega viiul.Ja süngesaladus, mille nimel ollakse valmis tapma.InspektorJim Oldroyd on näinud küll omajagu ohvreid, kuid ta pole kunagi olnudtunnistajaks mõrvale - vähemalt siiani. Kui maailmakuulus viiuldaja Hans Mullerkontserdi ajal maha lastakse, seisab detektiiv silmitsi juhtumiga, mis ei alluloogikareeglitele. Süüdlast pole võimalik leida - ja kadunud on ka ohvrihindamatu viiul.Salapärasemõrvari ja tema motiivi otsingutel satub Oldroyd jõukate pillikollektsionääridehalastamatusse maailma ja avastab minevikus maetud shokeerivad saladused.Oldroyd peabhindamatu väärtusega muusikariista kättesaamiseks kasutama kogu oma kavalust.Kuid kas ta suudab lahendada ka tema enda silme ees haihtunud mõrvarimõistatuse?"Kvartetimõrvad" onJ. R. Ellise Yorkshire'i krimiromaanide sarja teine osa.

Life moves at a slower pace on the canals. But death always comes when you least expect it.The last thing DS Stephanie Johnson and DS Andy Carter expected during their much-needed canal holiday was a murder. When retired folk musician Annie Shipton is found stabbed through the neck at the helm of her barge, the couple can’t help investigating the seemingly impossible crime. Nobody else boarded Annie’s boat—so how was she killed from behind?With the method a perplexing mystery, DCI Oldroyd is summoned from Harrogate, and it’s not long before the detectives have a long list of potential suspects with a motive to want Annie dead. There’s the young cyclist she argued with over access to the towpath, an ambitious and arrogant local developer she clashed with repeatedly, an estranged husband…and more than a few lingering issues with her former bandmates, most of whom live along the canal.When a second murder sends shockwaves through the community, the locals start talking about a curse on the waterway. It seems the killer will go to any lengths to avoid detection. But can Oldroyd hunt them down before someone else becomes the next target?

Ohver, kes ei meeldinud kellelegi.Mõrv, mis tundus võimatu.Tapja, keda ei suudeta tabada.Yorkshire'i maaliliselt Orumaalt leitakse koopast laip. Seda salapärast surma asub uurima kogenud inspektor Jim Oldroyd ja tema paariline seersant Carter, kes on äsja Londonist saabunud.Hukkunu on Dave Atkins, keda tuntakse külas hästi, kuid kes vähestele meeldib. Kuigi kahtlusalustest puudu ei tule, ajavad mõrva üksikasjad - näiteks see, kuidas sattus surnukeha koopa nii kaugele otsa - Oldroydi ja Carteri parajasse tupikusse. Kui siis leitakse surnult ka üks olulist informatsiooni valdav inimene, saab selgeks, et mõrvar on valmis kõigeks, et oma isikut varjata.Oldroyd ja tema meeskond üritavad paljastada tõde, kuid iga vastusega tekib vaid uusi küsimusi. Ning sedamööda, kuidas paljastuvad selle tihedalt omavahel seotud kogukonna saladused ja valed, muutub ka mõrvamüsteerium sama süngeks ja keeruliseks kui koopakäigud Orumaa põues."Mõrvad Orumaal" on J. R. Ellise Yorkshire'i krimiromaanide sarja esimene osa.

A puzzling locked-room mystery that puts someone Oldroyd loves in terrible danger…When a film shoot on Wharfedale’s vintage railway turns into a grisly crime scene, DCI Oldroyd’s idyllic visit to the countryside with his partner Deborah is well and truly stopped in its tracks. One of the film’s stars has been shot dead in a train carriage while the cameras rolled outside. But nobody else went in—or came out. Has the killer really pulled off the perfect, impossible crime?Scouring the victim’s past for clues, Oldroyd soon unearths a string of heartbroken lovers and a mountain of unpaid debts, each adding to the growing list of suspects. But before he can determine who the culprit is, there’s the small matter of figuring out how they did it. A potential connection to a previous tragedy offers Oldroyd a much-needed lead…Whoever the perpetrator is, they are ruthless and determined to avoid detection, and when a railway worker starts joining the dots, they are quickly silenced—for good. But as Oldroyd gets ever closer to the truth, it’s only a matter of time before he is given a chilling warning to back off.Perhaps Deborah should have stayed somewhere safe…

A murder with three witnesses. But one of them doesn’t believe what she saw…Halloween, Whitby. DCI Jim Oldroyd’s daughter Louise is in town with friends for a goth festival. But their visit to an escape room ends in bloody murder when one of the group stabs his girlfriend and flees the scene. It’s a crime with three witnesses—but Louise refuses to take what she saw at face value.Oldroyd and DS Carter are called in to solve the case, assisted from the sidelines by Louise. But the closer they investigate, the more complex the web of deceit appears. This is no straightforward crime of passion.With a violent murderer on the loose, it’s only a matter of time before they strike again. And this time it’s personal. Oldroyd must expose the truth, protect his daughter and stop the horror before it’s too late.

In a Yorkshire Dales village everyone has a motive for murder—except the killer.A retired judge is shot dead outside the Dog and Gun inn in the remote Yorkshire village of Niddersgill. There’s a witness who saw everything, and the gunman’s on the run; the case should be open-and-shut for DCI Jim Oldroyd. But the murderer had no motive for wanting Sandy Fraser dead and, what’s more, no trace of him can be found.As Oldroyd and his team cast the net wider, they discover that Fraser wasn’t without enemies in Niddersgill. As the wealthy owner of a grouse moor, he’d clashed with farmers, debtors, hunt saboteurs and blackmailers. But none of them were at the scene of the murder. And when a local shopkeeper is gunned down in a second senseless attack, it’s clear that these killings are anything but random.Surrounded by the dramatic beauty of the Yorkshire Dales, Oldroyd faces a race against time to connect the crimes and find who’s behind them. But with all the evidence sending him down dead ends, can he get one step ahead before someone else is killed?