The Body in the Dales (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries Book 1)

Good book. Great setting. I read a plethora of murder mysteries. This one frustrated me a wee bit with its slowness, bouncing back and forth between suspects. Probably more true to life but I appreciate things moving a little bit faster. Loved the cave setting and descriptions as well as the general landscape.

A body is found in a cave in the Yorkshire Dales. Led by DCI Jim Oldroyd and newcomer DS Carter investigate the murder of the unpopular victim who has made plenty of enemies. With plenty of suspects and a mystery of how the body ended up in the cave. A fast moving and enjoyable story that is the first in a new series of mysteries. Recommended

Super fun and liked the atmosphere with the caves.I first found this series when I received an early copy of one of the later books in NetGalley, and became hooked then. Jumping into this one was fun because I already had an idea of the characters, but was able to enjoy reading about them from the beginning in this book!The Body in the Dales is a great British procedural, following Inspector Oldroyd as he investigates why/how a body was discovered in the caves in the Yorkshire Dales. As someone who knows next to nothing not just about Yorkshire, but also nothing about caves, this was an especially cool book and weirdly I feel like I got to learn a bit! (I am that person that Googles things that I read about but don't know, lol).I really enjoyed seeing the characters develop and their relationships at their beginnings.The plot contained more than one mystery and the way the author leaves clues that really have you puzzling it together.Can't wait for the next one!

I enjoy this author. He gives the sense and feel of the country and people he writes about. And the investigations are full of suspects from which to choose

The story is about a village in Yorkshire with a culture involving the many caves in the region. It is a detective story, however with the element of the local caves playing a huge part of the mystery. The characters are true to life but are focused on solving the mystery. It's involved but well written.

This story held my interest and I read it quickly. The writer shows pronounced literary finesse and employs references to older texts and writers to make the story genuine without seeming awkward.

The basic premise had potential - a body mysteriously appears in a large cave system. It had been there for a week but, at the same time, couldn't have been there for more than a day or two. Unfortunately, the story telling wasn't up to it.The characters don't have much personality except for one minor character who's main trait is being an immature playah. For some reason the two female cops at the station get into a cat fight because of course they both really want to sleep with the newly assigned detective. (Bonus stereotype, one is the station ... toy ... while the other is the good girl who hasn't yet had a boyfriend due to trauma. Yep, it's the "girl you have fun with then the girl you marry" trope.)There so many logic problems in the book. Everyone knew how awful the first victim was, yet he slept with every woman in the county and got most all the men swept up in his criminal enterprises. Pretty much every single person in the county is an expert caver yet no one had any ideas how the body could have possibly gotten there. (I came up with 3 possibilities within the first chapter, 1 of which was the correct answer, and I know nothing about caving.) Someone finally figures it out and, instead of going straight to the police station, decides to call them up and tell them he's figured out the whole thing, including the killer's identity, but insists he can't say anything over the phone. Naturally the killer just happened to decide that night that this guy might be an issue and kills him just minutes before the police finally show up. The main cops, including the newbie with NO experience in caving at all, all go into a dangerous cave system that hasn't been explored in over a hundred years with one of the suspects as their guide. (Most people would call that "trimming the payroll the psychotic way.")There are a lot of information dumps as well. Providing a few paragraphs of information about caving scattered through out the book is fine, but there are random walls of text about different characters' lives. It felt like I was reading Wikipedia pages about characters. There's a reason for "Show, don't tell."The book gets 3 stars because of the interesting premise and the fact that it was competent on a technical level - no major spelling/grammar issues and such. It's so frustrating how it had so many pages thanks to lazy tropes and shortcuts yet lacked depth.

I plan to read all the books in this series because I haven't read anything similar--and I read quite a bit. Mr. Ellis has created believable yet unique characters who are appealing and clearly defined, not shallow stock villians and heroes. The story is tightly complex, but unraveled in a way that avoids confusion--it draws one in because it is well-crafted and the mystery is intriguing. I also enjoyed learning about the Yorkshire dales, particularly the caves, and a bit of the history of the county. One (minor) difficulty I found: Many of the characters had similar names. I found myself flipping a few pages back to distinguish between Williams, Watson and Whitaker and Carter, Cartwright, and Craven. However, this certainly did not deter from enjoying the characters, their developing relationships, and the unusual story.

Arrived next day as expected with A.Prime. Wanted a murder mystery book based in Yorkshire (I was born and bred in those parts). Brings memories for me as well as a good read. I have started it, but I only read in bed in evening, so will take time to get through. So far it's interesting and capturing my imagination. Well written, descriptive of area helping to give atmosphere to the story. It is the 1st book by this author, so I'll read them all if this goes well. Happy with purchase.

This is the first book in the Yorkshire Murder Mystery series and J.R.Ellis is a new author for me. A body is found in a pothole and it looks like murder. Was the victim killed underground or elsewhere? Who could be a suspect? The police are on the case and hope to solve the crime.I found The Body in the Dales to be a cosy mystery that proved to be easy reading, quite run of the mill and typical of the genre. It is a comfortable read with nothing shocking and done in the style of a 21:00 ITV television drama. There were plenty of suspects, basically everybody who lived locally! So the reader met all the locals and anyone of them could have murdered the victim, because he was not popular. There is good character development of the police team investigating the murder and I enjoyed the teasing of the new Detective Sergeant transferred from London. There is some nice light humour spread throughout the story, for example…When he returned to the table he felt a sense of pride that he was here with this attractive woman and he couldn’t stop himself from gazing at her. ‘Stop looking at my tits and sit down.’ Her tone was mocking but not hostile.…I liked The Body in the Dales and found it a relaxing read with all the anecdotes thrown in that kept my interest to the very last word. I loved the details on caving and potholes, it really explained the dangers involved and it was a relief to discover this hobby from the safety of an armchair! The Body in the Dales is a very British cosy mystery that I consider to be a GOOD 4 star read.

Well told and written but marred by the author forcing out his political bias.Unusual plot but authentically Yorkshire.Aa

Really great detective novel, nicely set in Yorkshire fell country, brings the landscape, geology, lifestyle and people of the area to the reader perfectly and has belieable characters and a nice twisting plot line.

A gripping thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed.