Ann Cleeves in Shetland
Photo © Malcom Younger, Milgaet Media
Return to Fair Isle
In Blue Lightning, the Shetland Quartet reaches its fourth and last book. Fran braves the autumn storms to visit Fair Isle with Jimmy Perez, to meet his parents, but in the fierce weather, the little island is cut off - and then, within this enclosed community, a murderer strikes!
Blue Lightning was published by Pan Macmillan on 5th February 2010; it is now also available in paperback, and the US edition will follow on September 28.
Andrew Taylor, writing in the Spectator, said: "As usual, the plotting is strong and the background fascinating. Cleeves is particularly good at assembling domestic detail that adds a cumulative poignancy and depth to her characters' lives. The narrative builds to a truly shocking climax with a grimly convincing epilogue."
Award-winning crime writer Frances Fyfield said: "This is a real, page turning thriller. It is beautifully crafted, belonging to the golden age of well-fashioned detective fiction. Clues, red herrings, isolation, birds, wings, feathers, unusual passions made understood. I simply could not put it down... a terrific, atmospheric novel."
Read more about Ann Cleeves' Shetland Quartet, or more about Blue Lightning.
Vera Stanhope - the TV series
Meanwhile, fans of Ann Cleeves' Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope are waiting impatiently for the transmission of the television adaptation of Ann's novel Hidden Depths, which was to have been brosdcast in the autumn of 2010, starring Brenda Blethyn as DI Vera Stanhope. This has been deferred until early in 2011 - but it's actually good news, because the reason for the delay is that ITV were so pleased with the pilot episode that they have commissioned three additional installments, even before the first episode has been broadcast.
If you have not yet met this unusual detective, there's a new edition of the three Vera Stanhope novels currently out in paperback - and news of Silent Voices, a fourth, brand new story, coming next February.
Read more about Vera Stanhope, the books and the television drama.
In true Agatha Christie style, Cleeves once again pulls the wool over our eyes with cunning and conviction
Colin Dexter
A most satisfying mystery set in an isolated and intriguing location
Peter Robinson
Read more about the Shetland Quartet; or watch two prize-winning videos for a glimpse of Shetland through the eyes of the young people who live there.
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: 2nd September 2010.