Ann Cleeves

I was lucky enough to read this after a book event in which Ann Cleeves and Louise Penny were discussing their work. I was surprised to learn that Ann Cleeves sits down to write her first page with the novel's main characters in place, but ..... nothing else. She has no idea where her plot is going to take her. It doesn't show. This is a story with the kind of twists you might expect: Vera and team don't even necessarily know they have a crime on their hands at first. But of course a corrupt and now imprisoned police officer changes all that, as do chancers hoping to line their pockets whilst appearing to benefit the community, drug addicts both good and bad. This is an involving story, with Whitley Bay in many ways the main character. And Vera of course. Always Vera.… (mehr)

I like Vera Stanhope. She's an unlikely detective heroine. Plain, overweight, socially awkward, lonely, she is nevertheless veey good at her job. And this particular job involved finding out who the murderer is who enjoys laying his victims out in water surrounded by flowers. Will he strike again? The time she spends examining the lives of a closely knit group of friends proved to be time well-spent.

A book to enjoy to discover how the various characters come to life, to savour the Northumbrian landscape, and to relish a first-class whodunnit.… (mehr)

First thing to say, I've read and very much enjoyed Ann Cleeves' books before. Second thing, I've not seen the television adaptations, so my views aren't coloured by these.

If this had been my first Ann Cleeves, it might have been my last. She writes well, but in this instance could have benefitted from some serious editing. This is not a story that merits 550 pages.

It's a slow burn. Almost half the story is taken up in introducing the plot from the standpoint of the three environmental scientists who come together to survey a piece of land in the northern Pennines, which might become the site of a new quarry. On the whole, there was too much information.

DI Vera Stanhope, fat, unhealthy and acerbic only makes her entrance after the three women have had their story told. The plot continues with its twists and turns. But did I believe the denouement? No, not really. It's often good to feel that a story's clues were there for us to spot if only we'd been cleverer. Here, it felt more like the author herself had invented the twist that solves everything at quite a late stage, because she'd dug herself into a hole from which she was having trouble extricating herself.

Yes, an absorbing-at-times read. A memorable one? No.… (mehr)

It took almost 100 pages before Vera appeared and when she did, the novel took off. During those early 100 pages, I was trying to keep all the many characters that Cleaves introduced straight. The plot is about Jeanie Long, a young woman who has spent 10 years in jail for a murder that now the police know she did not commit. Vera is sent in as an outside police department to investigate the case to see where mistakes were made,

It turns out to be extremely complicated and as she works her way through the evidence and suspects, she finds herself changing her focus from one suspect to another with each new revelation. Lots of fun to read.… (mehr)