Ann Cleeves invites you to Shetland
If you love crime fiction, and you love Ann Cleeves's Shetland mysteries, here's the perfect event for you! Tickets for Shetland Noir are now on sale, and the star-studded guest list has been announced. Ann has curated an exciting festival: guests include author, producer and television presenter Richard Osman, and Queen of Crime, Val McDermid. She says: "I'm thrilled that Shetland Noir has attracted such an amazing line-up for the festival. Of course there are the starry headliners, but the festival will showcase a host of other authors too from established bestsellers to exciting newcomers."
As well as its strong literature base with panel sessions and workshops, Shetland Noir will include elements of music, live performances, Shetland-themed events and outings, as well as other 'noir' related content. The festival takes place from 15th - 18th June, at the height of da simmer sim (summer twilight), the perfect time to explore the best of noir in the impressive backdrop of Shetland with its expansive landscapes, where the long days stretch into each other, and the sun barely sets.
Book now for Shetland Noir: Noir Cards (festival passes) are already sold out, but there are still day passes and individual tickets for sale.
To get into the mood for Shetland at midsummer, why not (re-)read White Nights, Ann's second Shetland novel featuring Jimmy Perez? Or read more about Shetland: the books, the TV series (includes news of series 8!), and the islands!
Ann talks about Shetland Noir - and other things - in the Press & Journal.
The latest mystery novel by award-winning author Ann Cleeves is The Rising Tide, now available in paperback in the UK (US readers must wait until the summer). It takes her much-loved detective Vera Stanhope to the beautiful tidal island of Lindisfarne. Fifty years ago, a group of teenagers spent a weekend on Holy Island, forging a bond that has lasted a lifetime. Now, they still return every five years to celebrate their friendship, and remember the friend they lost to the rising waters of the causeway at the first reunion.
When one of them is found hanged, Vera is called in. Learning that the dead man had recently been fired after misconduct allegations, Vera knows she must discover what the friends are hiding, and whether the events of many years before could have led to murder then, and now . . .
But with the tide rising, secrets long-hidden are finding their way to the surface, and Vera and the team may find themselves in more danger than they could have believed possible . . .
ITV's DCI Vera Stanhope, played by the one and only Brenda Blethyn (pictured above) heads to Lkndisfarne to solve the mystery in in a feature-length adaptation of The Rising Tide, which will be broadcast ;ater this year. It will be a lanfmark rposode for Twam Vera, as Kenny Doughty, who has played DS Aidan Healey since 2015, and Ibinabo Jack, (DC Jacqueline 'Jac' Williams) have both announced their departure from the drama. But series 13 - filming in summer 2023 - does welcome back an old friend: David Leon returns as Vera's sidekick Joe Ashworth.
Meanwhile, VERA series 1 - 12 is available on ITVX.
And if you are wondering why Vera is so familiar with the tidal island that provides her latest case with its spectacular setting, you can download a FREE Kindle single story The Woman on the Island, about Vera's previous visits to Lindisfarne (includes a taster of the first chapters of The Rising Tide!)
Read all about The Rising Tide here. Or read more about all things Vera - in print and on TV - here.
Warch out for a Summer Storm
Coming in autumn 2023, The Raging Storm is the third case for Matthew Venn: it takes him to a remote fishing village where he must confront both the elements and his own past to solve the death of a local legend....
Meanwhile, the latest case for detective Matthew Venn and his colleague Jen Rafferty, is The Heron's Cry. This follows their first appearance in The Long Call - as seen on TV, where they were played by Ben Aldridge and Pearl Mackie.
North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder - Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed with a shard of one of his glassblower daughter's broken vases.
"This character-driven exploration of people's darkest flaws is a sterling example of Cleeves' formidable talents."
The Heron's Cry is published in the UK by Pan MacMillan; also available as an audiobook read by Jack Holden. It is published in the US by Minotaur Books.
And if you haven't yet watched the dramatisation of The Long Call, it isn't too late! All four episodes were broadcast in the UK in October 2021, and the whole series is available on demand on ITVX. In the US it is streamed on Britbox.
There's more information here, about the show, and about the books.
Ann Cleeves Classic Crime
Book Break guides you through the books of Ann Cleeves: you may know Vera Stanhope, but did you know about Ann's first series set in Vera's county of Northumberland, featuring Inspector Stephen Ramsay? Or maybe you've read all of the Shetland books, but didn't know about Ann's standalone titles. Or maybe you'd like to read some short stories next...?
Some of Ann's classic crime novels will be easier to find in the future, with a series of new editions from Pan Macmillan. Start the year with a vivid psychological suspense novel, The Sleeping and the Dead, published on 5th January 2023.
Detective Peter Porteous is called to Cranwell Lake where the body of a teenager has been discovered. After trawling through the missing persons files, he comes to the conclusion that the corpse is Michael Grey, an enigmatic and secretive young man who was reported missing by his foster parents in 1972.
The news report that a body has been found leaves prison officer Hannah Morton in shock. Michael had been her boyfriend, and she had been with him the night he disappeared. And now the discovery is bringing back dreaded and long buried memories from her past ...
Read more about Ann Cleeves's stand-alone mysteries, and other books which will be appearing later in the year.
"I do love Vera!"
Val McDermid
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
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Last update: 20th May 2023.