The new novel in Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope crime series
The Glass Room (Vera Stanhope 5)
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Product Description
Book Description
DI Vera Stanhope is not one to make friends easily, but her hippy neighbours keep her well-supplied in homebrew and conversation so she has more tolerance for them than most. When one of them goes missing she feels duty-bound to find out what happened. But her path leads her to more than a missing friend . . . It’s an easy job to track the young woman down to the Writer’s House, a country retreat where aspiring authors gather to workshop and work through their novels. It gets complicated when a body is discovered and Vera’s neighbour is found with a knife in her hand. Calling in the team, Vera knows that she should hand the case over to someone else. She’s too close to the main suspect. But the investigation is too tempting and she’s never been one to follow the rules. There seems to be no motive. No meaning to the crime. Then another body is found, and Vera suspects that someone is playing games with her. Somewhere there is a killer who has taken murder off the page and is making it real . . .
About the Author
Ann Cleeves worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She now promotes reading as Harrogate Crime-Writing Festival’s reader in residence, and is also a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other northern writers to promote crime fiction. In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for Best Crime Novel for Raven Black. Ann lives in North Tyneside.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By L. D. Miller
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am quite disappointed that I have finished The Glass Room. I didn't guess the murderer's identity until almost the end of the book, I usually have a good idea by half way through. Hopefully, there will be another Vera book soon.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By miss piggy
Format:Kindle Edition
I have read all books in the Vera series and on completion of The Glass Room, I can honestly say that Ann Cleeves has yet again produced a enjoyable read.
The plot has already been discussed in some detail (re other comments) - so I shall refrain from repeating what other's have already stated.
The writing style of Cleeves certainly draws the reader in, and as a Northumbrian I think the descriptive writing of the area is spot on and added to my enjoyment of the book.
'The hippies next door' in the Vera series have until now been characters who hovered in the wings being kept at arms length almost by the detective. It was an interesting and positive choice to bring Joanna to the fore and discover a little more about her and how their relationship yet again encourages Vera to bend the fundamental rules of policing when murder is committed.
A good book with a twist in the tale that I recommend to fans of the tv series and Anne Cleeves.
The plot has already been discussed in some detail (re other comments) - so I shall refrain from repeating what other's have already stated.
The writing style of Cleeves certainly draws the reader in, and as a Northumbrian I think the descriptive writing of the area is spot on and added to my enjoyment of the book.
'The hippies next door' in the Vera series have until now been characters who hovered in the wings being kept at arms length almost by the detective. It was an interesting and positive choice to bring Joanna to the fore and discover a little more about her and how their relationship yet again encourages Vera to bend the fundamental rules of policing when murder is committed.
A good book with a twist in the tale that I recommend to fans of the tv series and Anne Cleeves.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Twists and turns and you have to read right through and probably still can't guess right "who dunnit". She is a brilliant writer - I have devoured both the Shetland series and the Vera Stanhope series.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By kg
Format:Kindle Edition
Loved the setting, the characters and the story. I never guessed the ending either! Definitely worth a read I'm wondering when the next one will be out.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Another brilliant Vera Stanhope book. Very descriptive of the Northumberland coastline. I have now read all the Vera books and have enjoyed them all.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By byethec
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Is Vera too personally involved? That's what they seem to think when they realise Vera knows the prime suspect. But she carries on in her usual manner......... Just brilliant.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Stepping into The Glass Room is a little like being transported back to the golden age of mystery stories: a windswept landscape, isolated country house, disparate people thrown together, crime scenes mimicking their fictional counterparts and a plot liberally strewn with blind alleys, red herrings and mis-directions. This book has all the elements of Agatha Christie at her best.
DI Vera Stanhope, at the request of a frantic neighbour who's mislaid his wife, heads out to the Writers' Retreat, where publishing-establishment figures and literary hopefuls are gathered to see what each can learn, and plagiarise, from the rest. Vera hopes to talk sense into the errant wife; she isn't expecting to find a corpse, (Professor Ferdinand, in the conservatory, with the kitchen knife). Nor her neighbour the prime suspect.
As the Writers' House draws us in, the book's cosy veneer sloughs away, because the players in the mystery (those who aren't police are writers) are anything but appealing. Writers, in Cleeves' world, are shallow, self-absorbed and egotistic, as willing to stab you in the back (literally), as they are to pen a harsh review. These writers are greedy for fame and recognition and worryingly, are all too credible. One has to hope Cleeves isn't writing from personal experience, but given her number of years in publishing, she might well be.
Cleeves plots skilfully, the clues are all there in this clever and convincing mystery, but most people I suspect will miss them, so subtly and delicately are they laid. But where Cleeves excels is in characterisation, particularly with the lovable, exasperating Vera, about whom she writes with all the easy, slightly contemptuous familiarity of the long-standing best friend.... Read more ›
DI Vera Stanhope, at the request of a frantic neighbour who's mislaid his wife, heads out to the Writers' Retreat, where publishing-establishment figures and literary hopefuls are gathered to see what each can learn, and plagiarise, from the rest. Vera hopes to talk sense into the errant wife; she isn't expecting to find a corpse, (Professor Ferdinand, in the conservatory, with the kitchen knife). Nor her neighbour the prime suspect.
As the Writers' House draws us in, the book's cosy veneer sloughs away, because the players in the mystery (those who aren't police are writers) are anything but appealing. Writers, in Cleeves' world, are shallow, self-absorbed and egotistic, as willing to stab you in the back (literally), as they are to pen a harsh review. These writers are greedy for fame and recognition and worryingly, are all too credible. One has to hope Cleeves isn't writing from personal experience, but given her number of years in publishing, she might well be.
Cleeves plots skilfully, the clues are all there in this clever and convincing mystery, but most people I suspect will miss them, so subtly and delicately are they laid. But where Cleeves excels is in characterisation, particularly with the lovable, exasperating Vera, about whom she writes with all the easy, slightly contemptuous familiarity of the long-standing best friend.... Read more ›
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By Stanwegian
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.... Read more ›
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.... Read more ›
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trust no-one.
A web of intrigue masterly written.
Lots of suspects but wait until the end for real culprit to be revealed.
Lots of suspects but wait until the end for real culprit to be revealed.
Published 2 days ago by valerie tuck
4.0 out of 5 stars
excellent read
Kept you guessing till the very end, with Joe's dilemma wondering about his feelings for Nina . Will he won't he!
Published 4 days ago by m hay
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vera stanhope fan
I've downloaded all the series of books and bought the 2 series on DVD, I just love how Anne Cleeves weaves the plot but stays true to the characters, first introduced... Read more
Published 1 month ago by hazelnut
5.0 out of 5 stars
love it
awesome book as always love vera stanhope series would recommend heartily hope ann cleeves writes more in this series would read again and again
Published 1 month ago by Fifespice
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Glass Room (Vera Stanhope 5)
Another great Vera book. Ann Cleeves brings the character to life in another gripping murder mystery. Great book. It was a fantastic price too.
Published 1 month ago by C. Keys
5.0 out of 5 stars
The glass room
Well written and thought provoking. A good series like other Ann Cleeves has written. Looking forward to the next one.
Published 2 months ago by David J Redfearn
5.0 out of 5 stars
another Vera novel
I love Cleeves' writing style and have read all of her Vera novels-I suggest you read them in order. Read more
Published 2 months ago by babs
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Glass Room
Very good read, as with all Ann's books I have enjoyed them all, and wait with anticipation for the next.
Published 2 months ago by mary
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Glass Room
As always with Ann Cleeves we are able to understand the reasons why her characters behave the way they do. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Christine
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Classic
I love Ann Cleeves and Vera Stanhope is such a different detective. This book had me guessing almost to the end.
Published 2 months ago by K. L. Adey
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