Crime in Shetland kept me guessing

I have just finished reading two books by the author Ann Cleeves.  I have written previously about her writing, Red Bones being the book.

This time I have read Silent Voices featuring the Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope.  This is not one of the Shetland series but  a wonderful detective story.  Apparently this is a series on British television.

Vera is the one who discovers the body in the sauna of her local gym.

“Doing what she does best, Vera pulls her team together and sets them interviewing staff and those connected to the victim, while she and colleague Joe Ashworth work to find a motive.  Vera revels in being back in charge of an investigation.  When they discover the victim had worked in social services and been involved in a shocking case involving a young child, it appears obvious that the two are somehow connected.. . . . .but things are rarely as they seem. . . .”

A great read that kept me involved right to the end.  I didn’t guess who did it!

The second book I have just finished is Dead Water by Ann Cleeves and this one is one of the Shetland series.  The book has been shortlisted for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award.

Apparently the Shetland series was to be four books but this one is actually the fifth!  I have loved all the previous books in this series and Dead Water continues the fine standard set with the previous books.

“When the body of journalist Jerry Markham is found in a traditional Shetland boat outside the house of the Fiscal, down at the Marina, young DI Willow Reeves is drafted in from the Hebrides to head up the investigation.

Inspector Jimmy Perez has been out of the loop, but his interest in this new case is stirred and he decides to help the inquiry.

Markham, originally a Shetlander, had left the islands years before to pursue his burgeoning writing career.  In his wake, he left a scandal involving a young girl.  He had few friends in Shetland so why was he back? It soon emerges that Markham was chasing a story in his final days.  One that must have been – for someone- significant enough to warrant his death.  . . . “

Cleeves certainly portrays the life in Shetland and highlights its history as well as present day life.  I love the way there is the inclusion of various words in the local dialect.  Another really enjoyable read.

You can read many review of this book at Goodreads.