The Patient Man by Joy Ellis

One sinister text has the entire Saltern-le-Fen Constabulary on edge and one person has turned this little village upside down, as a deadly game of cat-and-mouse begins in one of the fastest paced thrillers I’ve read.

The domestic bliss of Detective Inspector Rowan Jackman, of Fenland Constabulary, doesn’t last long. His old nemesis, serial killer Alistair Ashcroft, is back in town and ready to tidy up unfinished business.

Ashcroft sends a sinister text to DS Marie Evans. His opening move in what will prove to be a lethal game of cat-and-mouse. Yet for all his taunts, where is he? In a county crawling with police on the lookout for him, Ashcroft is nowhere to be found.

Everyone Jackman cares about is in danger. Alongside the hunt for Ashcroft, however, normal police work must continue. The separate thefts of six pigs, a thoroughbred stallion, guns and some oil lead Jackman’s crew to the notorious Lorimer family, ruled over on their farm by the fearsome matriarch Rachel.

Meanwhile, a seemingly routine break-in at the home of gun-club owner Kenneth Harcourt quickly becomes more complicated when the man long held responsible for having killed Harcourt’s young daughter in a hit-and-run is shot dead in a car park - by a sniper. A killer is on the loose in the quiet streets of Saltern-le-Fen, and he isn’t going to stop at claiming one life. But why is he focusing on young Kevin, so close to promotion to detective?

And the sniper, like Ashcroft, takes to taunting the police: they’ll never catch him, they need to respect him, they shouldn’t be sidetracked looking for their old adversary.

Series: Jackman & Evans #6 | Publisher: Audible | Narrator: Richard Armitage  | Length: 10 hrs 14 min | Genre: Contemporary Mystery/Thriller | Source: Publisher | Rating: 5 Cups

Ashcroft is back and ready to unleash terror on Saltern-le-Fen and nothing will stand in his way. Each hour he sends another wave of terror and taunts, yet the police seem unable to stop him. As though that’s not enough for Jackman, Evans, and their team to deal with there’s also a string of thefts involving a shady farming family, a home break-in of a gun-club owner, and a sniper. To add to Ashcroft’s twisted taunts, he seems to be setting his sights on Kevin, who’s soon to be made detective. While Jackman and Evans have their hands full, they must sort out the clues and find the connection before one of their own becomes Ashcroft’s next victim.

This has to be one of the best in the series thus far, which is surprising seeing as I wasn’t a big fan of The Guilty Ones (the book Ashcroft first appears in). There was so much going on and at such a fast pace that I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next and, I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed.

Jackman and Evans both feel as though they dropped the ball, which they didn’t, by letting Ashcroft slip through their hands. Rowan Jackman’s taking this one the hardest as Ashcroft was responsible for his sister-in-law’s death. He’s doing a lot of questioning regarding whether or not he’s suited for the job and he’s doing a lot of soul searching yet he’ll stop at nothing to ensure that Ashcroft is captured this time. Marie Evans is also having a bit of a struggle—she’s tired of seeing her team targeted by this maniac and feeling like she’s failed. She determined to do what it takes to get Ashcroft so we get to see her change a bit. Instead of being someone who rushes into danger headfirst, we see her taking more of a methodical approach, which I really enjoyed.

The mystery/thriller aspects of this were spot on. I’m not going into much detail as I don’t want to spoil anything but I do want to touch on a bit of what’s going on in this one. We have Ashcroft’s return, his cat-and-mouse games with the Constabulary and we have a sniper targeting a member of the team. Then there’s the theft of livestock and oil involving the Latimer family, we also have guns stolen from a gun club—one of which ends up being used in a murder that’s related to something in the gun club owner’s past. This one is layered, it’s adrenaline-filled, and you have to pay attention to connect the dots and weed out the dead ends.

While this one was action-driven, we’re also seeing fully fleshed out new characters without losing any of the momentum. The crafting of the Latimer family was brilliantly done and done in a way that Joy Ellis shines at. Every community has a Latimer family and Joy Ellis handles them in such a way you’ll believe they are real.

Overall, this one was brilliantly done. I think it’s the first 5 Cup rating I’ve given to a book in this series. It kicks off in the beginning and doesn’t stop until the very end. You won’t want to put this one down. 

Jackman & Evans Series (recommended listening order)

 Their Lost Daughters

The Murderer's Son

The Fourth Friend

The Guilty Ones

The Stolen Boys

The Patient Man

They Disappeared

The Night Thief