- Hardcover: 544 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan (22 Oct 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 033376627X
- ISBN-13: 978-0333766279
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 14.6 x 4.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 946,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Crow Trap (Vera Stanhope 1)
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Product Description
Product Description
At an isolated cottage, three women come together for an environmental survey: team leader Rachael Lambert, betrayed by her lover; botanist Anne Preece, indulging in some deception of her own; and Grace Fulwell with secrets of her own. And Inspector Vera Stanhope, investigating a suicide.
Book Description
An ingenious psychological suspense novel. At the isolated Baikie's Cottage on the North Pennines, three very different women come together. Three women who each know the meaning of betrayal . . . For team leader Rachael the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double-betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of her own secrets to hide . . . When Rachael arrives at the cottage, however, she is horrified to discover the body of her friend Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide - a verdict Rachael finds impossible to accept. Only when the next death occurs does a fourth woman enter the picture - the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope . . .
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ann Cleeves has a great sense of timing - she builds her narrative steadily, ratcheting up the tension so you hardly notice just how involved you've become with the characters and their dilemmas . Fantastic character portraits (particularly that of Anne) keep the large cast distinct. The story is clever, plausible and really very satisfying. Ultimately, the reason the characters, places and story are so vivid is because of her use of language: she uses words with precision and confidence. Pan Macmillan - reprint this book!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Exciting and lots of twists and turns I love how Ann Cleeves writes and have enjoyed the Vera tv series. This book is a knife edge thriller give it a go.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"God save me from forceful women", says DS Joe Ashworth at one point. This throwaway remark catches the essence of the book.
The story revolves around three women who are camped out in an isolated cottage whilst they carry out an environmental survey on the site of a proposed quarry. It opens with the suicide of a fourth woman, Bella. The official explanation is that Bella was unable to cope with the strain of caring for her sick husband. Her friend Rachel isn't convinced - Bella was a strong woman - and sets out to investigate.
Suicide isn't a police matter and so, although this is badged as "A Vera Stanhope Novel", the formidable Detective Inspector doesn't enter the story properly until half way through, after the first murder. Is this linked to the quarry development or the victim's past?
As "The Crow Trap" progresses, we learn how the past and present experiences of the women whose lives (and deaths) have somehow become interlinked with the cottage and the surrounding countryside. The excellently crafted and largely plausible plot reminded me at times of Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell), although Cleeves is less psychologically disturbing and I thought that the final piece in the jigsaw was a bit contrived.
Cleeves doesn't go in for long descriptive passages, but evokes a scene or a character through in a few well-chosen appeals to all the senses; the colour of a curtain or the texture of a face. She also makes extensive use of dialogue, reflecting DI Stanhope's philosophy that crimes are as likely to be solved by listening to gossip as by forensic analysis.
"The Crow Trap" isn't in the first division of detective literature but it's a good page turner that invites you to form your own theories and keeps you guessing until the very end. Vera Stanhope is a wonderful character and I'm looking forward to seeing how she develops in later novels.
The story revolves around three women who are camped out in an isolated cottage whilst they carry out an environmental survey on the site of a proposed quarry. It opens with the suicide of a fourth woman, Bella. The official explanation is that Bella was unable to cope with the strain of caring for her sick husband. Her friend Rachel isn't convinced - Bella was a strong woman - and sets out to investigate.
Suicide isn't a police matter and so, although this is badged as "A Vera Stanhope Novel", the formidable Detective Inspector doesn't enter the story properly until half way through, after the first murder. Is this linked to the quarry development or the victim's past?
As "The Crow Trap" progresses, we learn how the past and present experiences of the women whose lives (and deaths) have somehow become interlinked with the cottage and the surrounding countryside. The excellently crafted and largely plausible plot reminded me at times of Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell), although Cleeves is less psychologically disturbing and I thought that the final piece in the jigsaw was a bit contrived.
Cleeves doesn't go in for long descriptive passages, but evokes a scene or a character through in a few well-chosen appeals to all the senses; the colour of a curtain or the texture of a face. She also makes extensive use of dialogue, reflecting DI Stanhope's philosophy that crimes are as likely to be solved by listening to gossip as by forensic analysis.
"The Crow Trap" isn't in the first division of detective literature but it's a good page turner that invites you to form your own theories and keeps you guessing until the very end. Vera Stanhope is a wonderful character and I'm looking forward to seeing how she develops in later novels.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
All in the family
Excellent serpentine murder mystery set in the rural north of England with the estimable Inspector Vera Stanhope as protagonist. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Blue in Washington
Good Plot
Good plot line which kept me guessing until nearly the end. However overall it was a rather depressing book and I didn't really warm to any of the characters. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ann M
Very clever plot
Three damaged women are based at Blaikie's cottage carrying out fieldwork in the local area. One of the women, Grace, is tormented and all are disturbed by betrayals of one sort or... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jane Baker
Great Start to the Vera Series
Having finished the Shetland Quartet, I was looking for what else was on offer from Ann Cleeves and stumbled over the Vera Stanhope series. Read more
Published 6 months ago by MillieT
Ann Cleeves The Crow Trap
Very disappointing. One of those books that needs too much explanation by main character rather than being revealed in plot
Published 12 months ago by patmartin
Much better than the T.V. version
This is not the best book that Ann Cleeves has written, but it has a lot to recommend it. I feel she captures a sense of place very well and isolation seems to be a recuring theme... Read more
Published 12 months ago by sally
Vera does not convince
I felt that this book fell between two stools: it was neither a traditional detective story nor a comic pastiche. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mrs. K. A. P. Wright
Just OK
At times a very good read, certainly well written. Most of the book is spent on character development with the mystery taking second place. Read more
Published 17 months ago by ctdak
Far from the Shetlands!
A very disappointing read. In the end I didn't care much about any of the characters or who did what to whom. I would think at least a hundred pages too long. Read more
Published 19 months ago by badger
The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves
On the strength of The Shetland series ( which are so good )I purchased this one and found it slightly disappointing. Read more
Published 21 months ago by E. Fuge
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