Character auction in aid of Vaila's Fund
Ann Cleeves says “I sometimes use real people's names in the Shetland books - a bit of fun and occasionally a way of thanking friends and people who've helped. In Raven Black I mention the Harvey girls; one of the lead characters goes to their party. Appropriate I thought, because whenever we visited Liz and Paul and their daughters were home the house was full of people and laughter.
“Last year the youngest Harvey girl, Vaila, was diagnosed with cancer. It seemed that the illness had been treated and when I visited Shetland for Up Hell Aaa, she was there watching the parade, cheerful and energetic. But on my next trip in May she was desperately ill in hospital in Aberdeen. It seemed that the whole of Shetland was holding its breath, willing her to get well. Unfortunately she died soon after. She was sixteen years old.
“Her parents have decided to set up a fund in her memory, to allow Shetland young people to have the adventures Vaila would have enjoyed. Travel from Shetland can be complicated and expensive. Vaila's Fund would make it possible for a student of Vaila's age to explore the world away from the islands. The fund will be administered by teachers from the Shetland High Schools and will be the best possible memorial for the young woman we, who knew her, already remember so fondly.
“To support the fund, I'm offering you the chance to have your name (or that of your friend or relative) in the fourth book in the Shetland quartet, which has the working title of Homecoming Blues. Of course you'd get a signed first edition and an invitation to the launch party! The book will be published in the US and probably be translated into a dozen languages. Take part in the online auction and become a character in this popular series.”
The winner will be announced at the Shetland launch of Red Bones in Lerwick Library on Tuesday March 10th.
The current highest bid is £250, from Gary Johnson.
More about Vaila's Fund, and how to bid.
White Nights, Red Bones
White Nights is the second book in Ann's much-praised Shetland Quartet, and where Raven Black explored the islands in the dark days of a snowy winter, White Nights flips the coin to show how the unending summer daylight distorts the emotions of islanders and visitors alike. This is how Ann introduces the book, which again features Jimmy Perez:
The launch of an exhibition at The Herring House art gallery is disturbed by a stranger who bursts into tears, then claims not to remember who he is or where he comes from. The next day he's found dead, wearing a clown's mask.
Set in mid-summer, the book captures the unsettling nature of a landscape where the sun never quite sets and where people are not as they first seem.
"White Nights is intricate and engrossing, offering readers the pleasures of the traditional locked room/isolated island mystery."
Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post
Ann Cleeves visited the US in the fall, to promote White Nights, the sequel to her award-winning Raven Black. The US edition was published in September by St. Martin's Minotaur, to a very warm reception: it made the ABA Booksense Hardcover top 20, and was chosen for October's Indie Next List - books recommended by America's independent booksellers.
Order the US edition of White Nights from Amazon.com, or from your local bookstore (ISBN: 978-0-312-38433-3).
Read Ann's comments on her trip in her online diary - or read Mike Stotter's Shots Magazine blog report from Bouchercon, complete with photo!
Meanwhile Red Bones, the third installment of Ann Cleeves' Shetland Quartet is now scheduled for UK publication on 20th February 2009, we have a preview of the cover art, and a number of foreign translations are already planned. Red Bones is set in spring: a time of rebirth and celebration. And a time of death... for April is the cruelest month. When a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains, the island community is intrigued. Is it an ancient find - or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman is shot on her land in a tragic accident, and Jimmy Perez is called in by her grandson, his own colleague Sandy Wilson. He finds two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness has divided the surrounding community. With Fran in London, and surrounded by people he doesn't know and a community he has no links with, Jimmy finds himself out of his depth. Then another woman dies, and as the spring weather shrouds the island in claustrophobic mists, the two deaths remain shrouded in mystery.
Red Bones is available for pre-order from Amazon (ISBN: 978-0-230-0144-6).
Read an interview about Ann Cleeves and the Shetland Quartet in The Times Online.
Author Twinning
To celebrate the National Year of Reading, the Reading Agency has brought together authors and library authorities under a twinning scheme. Ann says "My twinned authority is Newcastle. This is great because it's so close to home - not every writer has been so lucky. It's also fantastic to be involved with Newcastle at such an exciting time. Next summer will see the opening of the new central library and I can't wait to be a part of that. So come and me meet at the various events planned across the city over the next few months."
In true Agatha Christie style, Cleeves once again pulls the wool over our eyes with cunning and conviction
Colin Dexter
Ann Cleeves with Colin Dexter at the London launch of White Nights.
A most satisfying mystery set in an isolated and intriguing location
Peter Robinson
Read more about the Shetland Quartet.
Praise for Ann Cleeves:
"Nobody does unsettling undercurrents better than Ann Cleeves."
"Ann Cleeves deserves a lot more attention than she gets. Her plots are beautifully crafted; her characters are intense and deeply drawn."
Toronto Globe and Mail
"Perceptive, convincing and quietly compelling."
Marcel Berlins, The Times
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Last update: 6th January 2009.