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Review
"A riveting read."
---Val McDermid
"Chilling...enough to freeze the blood."
---Marilyn Stasio, "The New York Times Book Review
""Cleeves's taut, atmospheric thriller will keep readers guessing until the last page.... Chilling."
---"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)
---Val McDermid
"Chilling...enough to freeze the blood."
---Marilyn Stasio, "The New York Times Book Review
""Cleeves's taut, atmospheric thriller will keep readers guessing until the last page.... Chilling."
---"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)
"Deserves the top crime writer's prize in the United States this year. Don't miss this standout."
---"Rocky Mountain News"
STUART PAWSON
As intricate and as satisfying as a Fair Isle sweater. Pour yourself a wee dram and enjoy. I did.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
71 of 71 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel won the Crime Writers' Association Duncan Lawrie Dagger for 2006. It is the first Ann Cleeves book I've read, and it won't be the last. It's a neatly constructed crime novel, perfectly paced and beautifully written - the psychological crime novel meets the old-fashioned whodunit.
The novel begins at New Year in the Shetland home of elderly Magnus Tait. A few days later an incomer to the island, Fran Hunter, discovers the body of teenager Catherine Ross in the snow not far from the old man's house. The islanders believe Tait had murdered a young schoolgirl, Catriona Bruce, eight years before and are all certain who must have murdered Catherine. Thrown into this psychological mix is Jimmy Perez, the lonely detective assigned to the case. Jimmy is `emotional incontinent', and you would think he would have trouble suspecting anyone of murder. And yet, slowly but surely, he uncovers the strained relationships and hidden secrets that lead him to the killer.
The sense of place is tremendous - the cold and the isolation are tangible. And the author has captured perfectly the sense of a community seemingly united but with tensions and divisions just below the surface. There are echoes of the cult movie The Wicker Man, with the outsider policeman coming to Shetland to solve the murder against the background of the forthcoming Up Helly Aa fire festival.
There is a fairly large cast of characters, and therefore many suspects, but Ann Cleeves draws each of them well, giving them unique voices of their own. There are clues and red herrings, and I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery before Perez finally discovers the identity of the murderer. And despite my amateur sleuthing, I was completely wrong and satisfyingly surprised when the killer was revealed. The identity of Catriona's killer is also uncovered (I got that wrong, too!) as the novel reaches its satisfying climax.
There are three more novels promised in this series, and I'm eagerly looking forward to reading the next one.
The novel begins at New Year in the Shetland home of elderly Magnus Tait. A few days later an incomer to the island, Fran Hunter, discovers the body of teenager Catherine Ross in the snow not far from the old man's house. The islanders believe Tait had murdered a young schoolgirl, Catriona Bruce, eight years before and are all certain who must have murdered Catherine. Thrown into this psychological mix is Jimmy Perez, the lonely detective assigned to the case. Jimmy is `emotional incontinent', and you would think he would have trouble suspecting anyone of murder. And yet, slowly but surely, he uncovers the strained relationships and hidden secrets that lead him to the killer.
The sense of place is tremendous - the cold and the isolation are tangible. And the author has captured perfectly the sense of a community seemingly united but with tensions and divisions just below the surface. There are echoes of the cult movie The Wicker Man, with the outsider policeman coming to Shetland to solve the murder against the background of the forthcoming Up Helly Aa fire festival.
There is a fairly large cast of characters, and therefore many suspects, but Ann Cleeves draws each of them well, giving them unique voices of their own. There are clues and red herrings, and I enjoyed trying to solve the mystery before Perez finally discovers the identity of the murderer. And despite my amateur sleuthing, I was completely wrong and satisfyingly surprised when the killer was revealed. The identity of Catriona's killer is also uncovered (I got that wrong, too!) as the novel reaches its satisfying climax.
There are three more novels promised in this series, and I'm eagerly looking forward to reading the next one.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A modern slick crime thriller set in the Shetlands. On a bleak, windswept and snowy landscape a girl's body is discovered and all suspicion falls upon 'troll' Magnus Tait. As the story develops it appears he may have 'previous' but did he do it?
Ms Cleeves has clearly done extensive research on both the geography and history of the Shetlands, as the novel covers the period between the New Year and the 'Up Helly Aa' celebrations. She has a pacy style with short sentences and punchy chapters that immediately drew me in and the novel sped by.
Well, it sped by until three quarters of the way through, at which point I began to feel like the jockey on board Crisp in the Grand National. The book suddenly meandered and struggled for the finishing line to deliver an implausible and second-rate finish. It is still a good read but not an excellent one.
Ms Cleeves has clearly done extensive research on both the geography and history of the Shetlands, as the novel covers the period between the New Year and the 'Up Helly Aa' celebrations. She has a pacy style with short sentences and punchy chapters that immediately drew me in and the novel sped by.
Well, it sped by until three quarters of the way through, at which point I began to feel like the jockey on board Crisp in the Grand National. The book suddenly meandered and struggled for the finishing line to deliver an implausible and second-rate finish. It is still a good read but not an excellent one.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Twenty past one in the morning on New Year's Day. Magnus knew the time because of the fat clock, his mother's clock, which squatted on the shelf over the fire.'
The opening lines introduce a Shetland islander waiting to be first footed on New Year's Eve, even though nobody has visited him for years. The novel quickly sets up both the mystery aspects and the psychological thriller aspects of this story. Magnus has been isolated from the rest of this small island community for years. The novel is partly an exploration of the history of this and whether it is justified. As readers, Cleeves places us like the camera that one of the girl victims held up to this island community - we see the pieces and try to fit them together to solve the mystery. The sense of place is excellent and Jimmy Perez is an intriguing detective that we want more of - so I'm not surprised that this will be the first in a series. Perez is descended from a Spaniard wrecked on the Fair Isles and the novel deals with the themes of heredity and inheritance as well as exclusion.
I found this novel because it won the 2006 Duncan Lawrie Dagger for best crime novel and will now read more Cleeves.
The opening lines introduce a Shetland islander waiting to be first footed on New Year's Eve, even though nobody has visited him for years. The novel quickly sets up both the mystery aspects and the psychological thriller aspects of this story. Magnus has been isolated from the rest of this small island community for years. The novel is partly an exploration of the history of this and whether it is justified. As readers, Cleeves places us like the camera that one of the girl victims held up to this island community - we see the pieces and try to fit them together to solve the mystery. The sense of place is excellent and Jimmy Perez is an intriguing detective that we want more of - so I'm not surprised that this will be the first in a series. Perez is descended from a Spaniard wrecked on the Fair Isles and the novel deals with the themes of heredity and inheritance as well as exclusion.
I found this novel because it won the 2006 Duncan Lawrie Dagger for best crime novel and will now read more Cleeves.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent Book
Anne Cleeves was a new author to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It kept me gripped right to the end. So much so I have purchased the other books in the series. Read more
Published 16 days ago by Ruby Murray
A Great Read
This is the first book by Ann Cleeves that I've read & I wasn't aware of her Vera series either. I gave this one a try purely because of the setting in wonderful Shetland and I'm... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Opus
multi-layered and textured story
Raven Black is compelling read. The plotting is strong and the prose nicely structured. Rather than follow the story from a single perspective, Cleeves elects to produce a... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Rob Kitchin
First Class Mystery, Suspense
My first Ann Cleeves novel and it was a wonderful delight.
Her SHETLAND QUARTET was recommended to me by others and I really enjoyed this first book in the series. Read more
Her SHETLAND QUARTET was recommended to me by others and I really enjoyed this first book in the series. Read more
Published 1 month ago by James A. Anderson
The dark side of Shetland
The landscape is wonderfully evoked and creates an atmosphere in which it is easy to imagine dark deeds. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Annobel
A Perfect Story of Unbelonging
Raven Black has everything you could possibly want from a crime thriller: an evocative setting, intriguing characters, a perfectly-paced plot and many carefully placed clues (and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Joanna Cannon
Dark Shetland
My first taste of Ann Cleeves and most enjoyable. Pitched with tension and intrigue but without the blood and gore of some in this crime fiction genre, it provided an engrossing... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jane Baker
An interesting introduction to the Shetland Island series.
Author Ann Cleeves gave me a description of the landscape, weather, isolation and character of the people who live in the Shetland Islands. Read more
Published 16 months ago by J. Lesley
Shetland Quartet Recommendation
I have just read all the Shetland Quartet (Raven Black, White Nights, Red Bones and Blue Lightening) in one go. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Keith Harrison
Raven rubbish
I can't believe there are 5* reviews of this book. Apart from giving a flavour of Shetland life it is pretty dire. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Rob Sawyer
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