This is the fifth novel featuring the flawed but engagingly perceptive DI Vera Stanhope, recently portayed on TV by Brenda Blethyn. It's also the twentyfifth novel of Ann Cleeves' writing career, which - together with much else - embraces the truly excellent Shetland Quartet, a series of four novels featuring the enigmatic Fair Isle-born DI Jimmy Perez.
The Glass Room is on the upper floor of The Writers' House, located in a remote dene on the Northumberland coast, a few miles north-east of Alnwick. The establishment offers a variety of residential courses for writers of varying levels of experience; the current course addresses the art of the contemporary crime short story. Meanwhile, back in the Northumberland foothills, Vera is approached by her neighbour Jack Devanney, who is desperately worried about the unexplained absence of his partner Joanna. And then, when a body is discovered on the balcony outside the Glass Room, Joanna is found in a nearby corridor, clutching a knife ...
To supply more detail would be unfair to the prospective reader, but Vera and her trusty sidekick DS Joe Ashworth quickly take the case in hand and, inevitably, all is not as it seems.
I accept that there are probably more subdivisions of the crime genre than there are pubs in Newcastle, but over the years I've come to the conclusion that there are three main groups - the thriller, the puzzle and the procedural. In the thriller group the driving characteristic is action; the formula seems to work better in a United States setting, but Edgar Wallace was an early and successful British writer of such novels, and Dick Francis was a more recent adherent to the style. Puzzles are challenges to the reader to identify the killer; it's the formula used by the 'Golden Age' writers such as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh, to name but three of many. This is the type of writing I regard as 'classical' in the sense used in the title of this review. In the procedural, police investigators are the lead players and the novel is structured to reflect police procedures which, if not always accurate, are at least broadly credible. This approach has become increasingly popular in recent years, led by characters such as Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse, Ian Rankin's DI Rebus and John Harvey's Charlie Resnick.
The Vera Stanhope novels are positioned somewhere between the second and third of these categories; it's obvious from the cast of characters that they have a foot firmly in the procedural camp, but they are also very clearly puzzles. Ann Cleeves is always scrupulously fair in the construction of her plots; clues are seeded throughout the storyline and it's always possible to work out the likely killer - or it would be if we could only identify the clues and realise their significance! So it is with The Glass Room: once you know the answer, the clues are readily identifiable, but few readers will arrive at the correct solution more than a few pages before it it revealed.
From the 'puzzle' standpoint this makes for a very satisfying read, but there can be an element of friction between puzzles and procedurals. Puzzles thrive on all things mystic and symbolic, while procedurals demand a higher level of credibility. Taking account of this distinction I have some misgivings about the closing scenes of the investigation, and I had similar misgivings about 'Hidden Depths', the third Vera Stanhope novel. These misgivings are the reason for the phrase 'not quite a classic' in the heading of the review - and also the reason for awarding four stars rather than five.
Don't let my musings put you off! Ann Cleeves is an excellent writer; she does not aim for a 'literary' approach, but if - as I would argue - the real measure of writing skill lies in the ability to communicate, she is at the top of her profession. Devouring her novels is an effortless pleasure - not that she doesn't make you think, but she has the skill to lead and direct the reader without appearing to do so.
One final comment - Vera Stanhope operates on what has for many years been my home patch. She may be a little odd, but up here that applies to most of us! I've met several real-life Veras, and the Vera of the books is not merely credible but entirely convincing. The same is true of the portrayal of Northumberland, which is absolutely realistic and - apart from specific locations such as the Writers' House, and Kimmerston - the fictitious location of the Police HQ - is absolutely real, too.
If, after reading the book, you disagree with any of my meanderings, I'd much appreciate your comments - to which I promise to reply.
