The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

 

First Lines: IT'S NOVEMBER TODAY. I HATE NOVEMBER.

 

When a young man's body is found outside Rosebank, a home for troubled teens, DI Vera Stanhope is called to investigate. The only clue she has to go on is the disappearance of one of the home's residents, fourteen-year-old Chloe Spence. Although Vera doesn't want to believe a teenager is responsible for the murder, she can't rule out the possibility.

 

A second connected body is found near the Dark Wives monument, far out in the Northumberland countryside. As a result, Vera, Joe, and new team member Rosie Bell find themselves forced to separate the facts from superstition and folklore. More than ever, Vera knows that she must find Chloe Spence to get to the truth.

~

Any time spent with Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope is well spent, and The Dark Wives is no exception. Vera and her team are still reeling from events in the previous book (The Rising Tide). Vera is very much affected, and she finds herself not only thinking of her own mortality but also trying to work on her management style. 

 

It will come as no surprise to longtime readers of this series that the interactions between the characters are an integral part of the book. The new detective constable, Rosie Bell, is smart, ambitious, and wants to get ahead. She believes that anticipating what Vera wants will be very important to her upward rise in the police force. Vera's righthand man, Joe Ashworth, doesn't react well to Rosie's methods, so the two can be a bit competitive. Kath Oliver, a woman well versed in the system of care homes for troubled teenagers, is a character I wouldn't mind seeing more of-- and neither would Vera as she found Oliver to be a kindred spirit. However, for me, the strongest character outside of Vera herself is the fourteen-year-old Chloe Spence, even though her presence is only felt through the pages of a diary she left behind.  

As usual, the mystery is a strong one, rooted in the Northumberland countryside and the folklore surrounding the Dark Wives (Northumberland's answer to Stonehenge). The privatization of care homes for children plays an important part that touches Vera deeply. ("It doesn't seem right to be making a profit from troubled children.")

As always, a mesmerizing blend of characters, landscape, folklore, and mystery, The Dark Wives is another compelling addition to the Vera Stanhope series.

The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

eISBN: 9781250836854

Minotaur Books © 2024

eBook, 377 pages

 

Police Procedural, #11 Vera Stanhope

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves

 

First Line: Philip was the first of the group to the island.

For fifty years, a group of friends has been meeting every five years on Holy Island to celebrate the day they all met and to remember one of their group that they lost to the causeway tide five years later.

 

The morning after they've all gathered together again, one of them is found hanged in his room, and Vera Stanhope and her team are called in to investigate. Learning that the man had recently been fired for allegations of misconduct, Vera knows that is the first line of inquiry, but the deeper they dig, Vera becomes convinced that the man's death has far more to do with the past than with the present. 

 

Are she and her team going to be able to uncover fifty-year-old secrets in order to find a killer?

 

~

 

Having actually driven across the causeway and visited Holy (AKA Lindisfarne) Island, I looked forward to reading Ann Cleeves' The Rising Tide with a great deal of anticipation. Neither Ann nor Vera disappointed.

 

As always, the setting is perfect, and a mystery concerning a group of people who've been hiding secrets for fifty years is suitably complex and satisfying. There's a house with a view of Holy Island across the water that I would love to have for myself (as long as I could have Vera's mythical Land Rover to go with it). Still, houses and Land Rovers and old secrets aside, it is the characters in this series that always bring me back for more.

 

Vera herself, utterly unconcerned with her appearance and her behavior, is a bit of a hermit, but she's getting used to having a neighbor she can spend some time with. It's an added bonus for readers that the neighbor is mystery writer Joanna. Not only does Joanna get to ask Vera technical questions for her books, but now Vera is getting asked to accompany her on book-related trips. 

 

Vera is part matriarch part guru for her team, and she thinks of second-in-command Joe Ashworth as a surrogate son and her conscience. Joe provides a lot of hard work and a steadying influence on the team while Holly is the bright, competitive one who dreams of taking Vera's place while simultaneously worrying that she could actually become Vera, appearance and all. The two women do share some similarities after all.

 

The Rising Tide is all about hypocrisy and the lengths some people will go to in order to hide the sins of their past. Set on an island where the tide tables are in charge of daily life, this mystery has all the twists and turns and secrets and shocks that will make readers lock their doors on all interruptions so they can spend time with one of the best detectives in crime fiction.

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves

eISBN: 9781250204554

Minotaur Books © 2022

eBook, 384 pages

 

Police Procedural, #10 Vera Stanhope mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves

First Line: Lorna lifted Thomas from his high chair and held him for a moment on her knee.

Vera should've known better than to head for home in the middle of a blizzard. Even though the route is familiar, she misses a turn and finds herself lost. Finally getting her bearings, she almost hits an abandoned car just on the other side of a sharp turn. The car door is open, and Vera stops to help, but the driver is gone, probably walking for help. However, she does find a toddler strapped in a carseat in the back of the vehicle. 

Leaving a note and taking the child, Vera finds herself at a place she knows well: Brockburn, a grand house in the wilds of Northumberland where her father, Hector, grew up. Inside Brockburn, there's a party in full swing. Outside, a woman lies dead in the snow.

Vera and her team find themselves trying to find the child's mother and to identify the dead woman. Slowly, secrets begin to be revealed, and some of those secrets concern the complicated past of Vera's own family.

 

All's well with my world when there's a new Ann Cleeves mystery to savor, and I settled down with The Darkest Evening ready to enjoy a visit with one of my favorite fictional characters, Vera Stanhope. In this ninth book of the series, readers get to learn more about the rich and entitled branch of Vera's family about which she says, "That branch of the clan used politeness as a weapon of mass destruction." Deep in the winter snow and cold, we find that Vera is longing for the comfort of a bit of family and for a few like-minded friends-- all on her own terms, of course-- and I enjoyed Vera's reflections on her life.

Holly and Joe, the stars of Vera's hardworking team, also figure prominently in The Darkest Evening. From time to time, Holly reminded me of a young Vera, but then I realized that she was more like a sponge-- watching Vera, listening to her, absorbing the invaluable lessons the older woman has to share. In the meantime, Joe is Joe, although he does have trouble understanding an illness like anorexia which does have a part in the story.

The only thing that I didn't find to be "up to snuff" was the mystery itself, although I certainly did enjoy watching the investigation unfold. It was altogether too easy to deduce the killer's identity. But the rest is choice and what fans have come to expect from Ann Cleeves. Now if only I didn't have to wait for my next opportunity to tag along with Vera on an investigation!

The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves

eISBN: 9781250204523

Minotaur Books © 2020

eBook, 336 pages

 

Police Procedural, #9 Vera Stanhope mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves

First Line: Vera Stanhope climbed out of Hector's ancient Land Rover and felt the inevitable strain on her knees.

Even though she tends to be a solitary person, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope has made friends with her free-spirited neighbors. After all, they keep her supplied with conversation and bottles of home brew. But talk and ale only go so far, and she doesn't want to become bosom pals. That may be about to change when neighbor Jack tells Vera that Joanna is missing. Against her better judgement and her inclination, she agrees to track the woman down. 

She finds Joanna at the Writer's House, a country retreat on the Northumberland coast where aspiring authors attend lectures and work on their books-- and that's not all she finds. Someone is dead, and Joanna has been found with a knife in her hand. The crafty D. I. manages to hold on to the case, even though she is a friend of the prime suspect, but she and her team can't seem to find a motive-- even when another body is found.

I have long been a fan of Ann Cleeves' writing, in particular her Shetland series and these Vera Stanhope novels. Vera is a favorite of mine. She's not young, she's definitely not pretty, and she tends to be a grouch. Her life with her eccentric father shaped her, but it does not define her. This woman has a mind like the proverbial steel trap, and not much gets past her gimlet eye.

What's new for Vera this time around is the fact that she's paying more attention to children and mothers, and she's wondering if perhaps she should've given motherhood a try herself. When a woman is childless past a certain age, it's natural to think about what if's... and Vera might even be wondering who's going to take care of her when she no longer can.

Cleeves' strengths are in evidence here: characterization, creating atmosphere, her ear for dialogue, and plotting, and I always enjoy how she includes her own interests in her books-- like the beautiful county of Northumberland, birds, and this time the world of writing and publishing. I was slightly disappointed in that I knew the identity of the killer immediately, but I think it was more the case that I instinctively distrust certain types of characters rather than any sort of weakness on the author's part. 

What I am sure of is my affection for Vera Stanhope. Whenever Vera has a new case, you can be certain that I'll read all about it.
 

The Glass Room by Ann Cleeves

ISBN: 9780230762862 

Pan Macmillan © 2012

Paperback, 374 pages

Police Procedural, #5 D.I. Vera Stanhope mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Paperback Swap

Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves

Title: Telling Tales
Author: Ann Cleeves
ISBN: 9780330432511
Publisher: Pan Macmillan, 2005
Mass Market Paperback, 410 pages
Genre: Police Procedural, #2 D.I. Vera Stanhope mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Alibris.

First Line: Sitting at the bedroom window, Emma looks out at the night-time square.

It's been ten long years since Jeanie Long has been locked up for the murder of teenager Abigail Mantel. Ten long years, and now evidence has come forward that proves Jeanie's innocence. The villagers of Elvet on the East Yorkshire coast know this means Abigail's killer is still at large. Yorkshire police believe it best to bring in an investigative team from outside to re-open the case, and Northumbria's Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope finds herself amongst the "Yorkies" sifting through all the witnesses' stories to piece together the truth.

Stanhope finds many questions that need answers. Two of the leads on the original case left the force and are now living in the area. Both of them had seemed content with Jeanie Long's conviction. The murdered girl's father is a businessman and no better than he has to be. Even the victim's best friend seems wreathed in daydreams and unsure of what really went on ten years ago. Stanhope has her work cut out for her.

But if there's anyone with the patience to get to the bottom of this case, it's Vera Stanhope. A middle-aged, homely woman, she's used to being in the background and allowed to listen and observe. When she finds the loose thread of a clue, she worries and worries at it until it's pulled loose, and she follows wherever it leads. She is quite simply a joy to watch as the case unfolds.

Ann Cleeves is one of the most talented crime fiction writers today. Her atmospheric settings bring in the natural world and tease the imagination as her plots twist and turn-- and her characterizations are brilliant, never hitting a false note. If you've never tried a book written by Ann Cleeves, I strongly urge you to do so!

Buy from Amazon.

Buy from The Book Depository.

Buy from Alibris.

The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves

Title: The Crow Trap
Author: Ann Cleeves
ISBN: 9780330389983, Pan Books, 2001
Genre: Police Procedural, #1 Vera Stanhope mystery
Rating: A

First Line: Rachel turned off the metalled road, then stopped with a jerk.

In the North Pennines on Black Law Farm is an isolated cottage, Baikie's Cottage. Businessmen want to open a quarry nearby, and three young women are using Baikie's as a base for the environmental study they must conduct. When Rachael, the team leader, arrives at Baikie's, she discovers the body of her friend, Black Law Farm owner Bella Furness. Apparently Bella has committed suicide, and Rachael finds that impossible to accept. And when the next death occurs, a fourth woman arrives at Baikie's Cottage: Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope.

Sometimes a writer branches out into different series with varying degrees of success. Ann Cleeves is one of those writers whose books I enjoy regardless of the series of which they're a part. Cleeves' Shetland Quartet is how I first became acquainted with her talent, and once I discovered that she'd written other series, I had to try those as well. If you'd like to take a look at her other series, go to her website (which is hyperlinked at the top of this review) or check out her page at Fantastic Fiction.

The Crow Trap starts out at a very deliberate pace. All three young women are introduced and their back stories are given while the plot advances. The area around Baikie's Cottage feels closed off, overcast and claustrophobic, as do the young women themselves. The atmosphere itself is rank with secrecy. It's not until page 230 of The Crow Trap that Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope makes her formal appearance:

She was a large woman-- big bones amply covered, a bulbous nose, man-sized feet. Her legs were bare and she wore leather sandals. Her square toes were covered in mud. Her face was blotched and pitted so Rachael thought she must suffer from some skin complaint or allergy. Over her clothes she wore a transparent mac and she stood there, the rain dripping from it onto the floor, grey hair sleeked dark to her forehead, like a middle-aged tripper caught in a sudden storm on Blackpool prom.

Not your usual inspector, is our Vera. Her mother died while Vera was still quite young, and she grew up with her bird-obsessed father, living with him until his death. Vera still lives in the family home close to the railway. From her many treks across the moors with her father in search of birds and other wildlife, Vera has learned the value of patience, of standing still and quiet, of observing, of listening. These skills are all put to good use during an investigation in which everyone has something they want to remain hidden.

I was in the perfect mood for this book. I wanted something with atmosphere and detail, something that unfolded slowly and steadily, something that had marvelous characterizations. Once again, Cleeves has exceeded my expectations, since I not only read a marvelous book but gained a new inspector to follow.

If you're in the mood for English mysteries with plenty of plot and personality, it would be difficult to find an author better at delivering the goods than Ann Cleeves.