☰VERA STANHOPE

A local myth. A deadly threat. And Vera

Vera Stanhope returns to her beloved hills to solve a suspenseful mystery in acclaimed crime writer Ann Cleeves' eleventh VERA novel. The Dark Wives, on sale now.

A man's body is found in the early morning light by a local dog walker in the park outside Rosebank, a care home for troubled teens in the coastal village of Longwater. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who was due to work the previous night but never showed up.

DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate the death. Her only clue in this, her eleventh case. is the disappearance of one of the home's residents, fourteen year old Chloe Spence; Vera can't bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder - but even she can't dismiss the possibility.

Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie Bell, are soon embroiled in the case, which takes Vera back to her beloved Northumberland hills, and when a second connected body is found near the Three Dark Wives monument in the wilds of the Northumberland countryside, superstition and folklore begin to collide with fact. Vera knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, and the dark secrets in their community that may be far more dangerous than she could have ever believed possible.

More about The Dark Wives.

ITV has confirmed that the hit crime drama VERA will end with the departure of its star, Brenda Blethyn. Announcing her retirement from the rrôle, Brenda said: "Working on VERA has been a joy from beginning to end and I'm sad to be saying Cheerio But I am so proud of our achievements over the last fourteen years.

"I'll be forever grateful to the wonderful Ann Cleeves who created Vera, and to Elaine Collins who saw fit to cast me in the role. The producers, dream cast and crew have been fabulous and I'm going to miss them, but I won't forget their huge talent, the camaraderie, laughter or kindness we shared..."

Ann returned the compliment, tweeting: "Of course, I'm sad Vera is coming to an end, but what a ride it's been! Thanks so much to the magnificent @BrendaBlethyn and the team."

The last two episodes of VERA are currently being filmed in the North-East, though they will not reach our screens until 2025. Meanwhile, are you up to date with VERA? Series 13 brought back David Leon as Vera's original sidekick, Joe Ashworth - but Joe has moved on, and their relationship has changed. If you missed it, all three episodes of series 13 are available to watch on itvX, as are all the previous episodes of VERA.

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Success for VERA

There were awards for VERA at the North East Royal Television Society Awards, presented at a star-studded event at the Hilton Newcastle-Gateshead in February 2022. The programme, starring Brenda Blethyn as the tenacious Detective Vera Stanhope, won the prestigious Best Drama award and the actress won for Best Drama Performance. Accepting the awards, Brenda Blethyn thanked the Royal Television Society, and said: "I am absolutely thrilled to bits. This year sees us embarking on season 12 of Vera, so that means we'll have made 50 feature length Vera films."

There was a special award for the production team, too, which may be some comfort for the many fans who've been left hungry for more of Ann Cleeves' much-loved detective. Series 11 of VERA made its first appearance in August 2021 with two episodes, reappeared to brighten our New Year with another two episodes in January 2021, and has now left us in suspense waiting for the remaining two stories in the season. Now it has won a Drama Pandemic Innovation Award, recognising the ingenuity of Team Vera in continuing to produce the series during lockdowns with significant restrictions in place.

"I do love Vera!"

Val McDermid

"If you like the TV series, you're in for a treat - because the atmospheric but realistic books are even better."

Leicester Mercury

"... one of the most appealing fictional detectives to emerge since Andy Dalziel got into his stride..."

Martin Edwards, Spinetingler Magazine

"... although she is lonely, obsessed with her job and over fond of a beer, Vera is one of the few fictional detectives who seems not only like a real person, but one capable of conducting a murder enquiry. Ann Cleeves brings the same skill to all her characterisations in this highly impressive story."

Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph

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A Taste of Vera

Just can't get enough of Vera? If you've read all the novels, and watched all the TV dramas, have you read the short stories?

Ann's contribution to The Starlings and Other Stories (which she has also edited), is the title story, The Starlings, featuring DI Vera Stanhope. For this collection of twelve short stories, Ann invited each of her fellow members of Murder Squad writers' group to join her, with an accomplice, in writing a short story inspired by the dramatic photography of Pembrokeshire-based author David Wilson. The Starlings and Other Stories is published by Graffeg.

Ann has previously used short stories as an opportunity to explore Vera's past: The Habit of Silence, one of Ann's contributions to Best Eaten Cold, the second anthology of stories from Ann and her colleagues in the Murder Squad, reveals something more about Vera Stanhope, the woman she is now and the past that made her. The Woman on the Island, now available as a Kindle single, was originally published as Hector's Other Woman in Guilty Consciences, the new anthology from the prestigious Crime Writers' Association, and is now reissued in Ann's short story collection, Offshore.

Read more about these and all Ann Cleeves's short stories.

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VERA's case files

All eleven previous series of TV's crime drama VERA are now available to fans in both the UK and the US. They have been widely broadcast; VERA was nominated for an Edgar Award, for Dark Road, the first episode of series 6 (an original screenplay by Martha Hillier). VERA was ranked sixth best TV series of all time in a recent poll. In February 2019 it won the Judges' Award at the Royal Television Society NE Awards in Gateshead.

Use the links to order your choice of DVD from Amazon, using the links below; look out for them in the shops - and in the UK all episodes of VERA are now available to stream on itvX. Elsewhere, you can sign up for Britbox, and watch the whole story, from the beginning.

• Order series 1 on DVD from Amazon UK (region 2 format) or from Amazon.com (Region 1).
• Order series 2 from Amazon UK (region 2 format); or from Amazon.com (Region 1).
• Order Series 3 from Amazon.UK (region 2 format) or from Amazon.com (Region 1).
• Order Series 4 from Amazon.UK (region 2 format) or from Amazon.com (Region 1).
• Order Series 5 from Amazon UK (region 2 format) or from from Amazon.com (Region 1).
• Order Series 6 from Amazon UK - or from Amazon.com (Region 1).
• Order series 7 from Amazon.UK (Region 2 only) or from Amazon.com in US format.
• Series 8 is available on DVD in the UK (region 2), and in the US and Canada (region 1). Also available in the US on BritBox or via Amazon.com.
• Series 9 is available on DVD in the UK, and on BritBox or via Amazon.com in the US.
• and series 10 is available on DVD in the UK and on DVD in the US or available to stream.

VERA is filmed at locations from across Northumberland and Tyneside: if the scenery gives you an urge to visit Northumberland, you can read what Ann has to say about the county here. The Guardian also published Ann's short guide to Vera's Northumberland.

You can also keep up with the show through its page on Facebook!

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