AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! From Ann Cleeves–New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows–comes the stunning new Vera Stanhope novel, The Darkest Evening. “Ann Cleeves is one of my favorite mystery writers.”–Louise Penny “As a huge fan of both the Shetland and Vera series of books, I had high expectations for …
“As a huge fan of both the Shetland and Vera series of books, I had high expectations for Cleeves’ latest. . . . A stunning debut for Cleeves’ latest crimefighter.”–David Baldacci on The Long Call
On the first snowy night of winter, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope sets off for her home in the hills. Though the road is familiar, she misses a turning and soon becomes lost and disorientated. A car has skidded off the narrow road in front of her, its door left open, and she stops to help. There is no driver to be seen, so Vera assumes that the owner has gone to find help. But a cry calls her back: a toddler is strapped in the back seat.
Vera takes the child and, driving on, she arrives at a place she knows well. Brockburn is a large, grand house in the wilds of Northumberland, now a little shabby and run down. It’s also where her father, Hector, grew up. Inside, there’s a party in full swing: music, Christmas lights and laughter. Outside, unbeknownst to the revelers, a woman lies dead in the snow.
As the blizzard traps the group deep in the freezing Northumberland countryside, Brockburn begins to give up its secrets, and as Vera digs deeper into her investigation, she also begins to uncover her family’s complicated past.
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An intense police procedural. Vera and her team work to solve the murder of a young girl, Lorna. The story is filled with the usual sharp dry British wit. Vera is a hard nosed investigator who digs in and uses her instincts to find the clues and solve the crime. The author does a great job of keeping the reader in the dark on who the killer is until the very end. It is a well written story with some worthy characters.
This intriguing murder-mystery held me captivated until the end. Vera is an excellent detective and she has such a wonderful team. I enjoyed watching all the details unfold. Filled with mystery and danger, this story is sure to keep you well entertained.
In this ninth outing, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope shuns the advice of her team to take a room at the local pub as a blizzard moves into Northumberland. She tells herself that she drives the roads to and from her home on a daily basis and there’s no way she’ll get lost. She keeps thinking that as blizzard worsens and she’s driving in near white-out conditions and becomes hopelessly lost. She stops to help a driver who has slid off the road and finds no driver in the car and a baby in a car seat in the back. What kind of a mother would leave their wee bairn in a car in a blizzard. Vera rescues the bairn and goes hunting for the nearest house so she can call the accident in. What she finds is Brockburn, the ancestral home of the Stanhopes. It’s clear there’s a party going on, but she has no choice but to enter the house and is directed to go to the kitchen to use the land line there. As the party upstairs breaks up, a neighbor comes to retrieve his teenaged daughters from Brockburn and finds a body in the back garden. So begins the latest murder to be solved by DI Stanhope and her team.
In Vera Stanhope, Cleeves has created something of curmudgeon who runs her team with an unrelenting iron fist and mostly by the book. The author evokes the sounds and cold of a blizzard so much so the reader is tempted to draw a blanket around them to keep warm. She also describes the touch of joy everyone feels when the sun comes up and the sun finally comes out only to blind the people out in it. Her descriptions of her secondary characters are well-drawn and you’ll find some likable and others not so much. If you watch the television series, you’ll undoubtedly see that character as you read the book.
Like every good procedural, Cleeves has Vera taking the investigation of the murdered woman step-by-step making sure none of the loose ends get lost as the evidence begins to pile up. Her team follows up on every lead without getting distracted from their main goal of finding the killer.
If you’re a fan the television series Vera, you’ll know that the Vera on the screen is not exactly the Vera on the page. As a reader of the series, we are privileged to people’s thoughts, including Vera’s, while the television program can’t do that for us. If you’re long-time fan of the series, you’ll welcome Vera back into your life for however long it takes you to read this book.
My thanks to Minotaur and Edelweiss for an eARC.
Fantastic premise and the author made me feel like I was trudging through the cold with her. This was a first read for me. I like the fact that I was flummoxed by who the guilty party was. The tid bits that are parceled out as we learn about Vera’s family history. The writing was a tad difficult for me to follow, and that’s on me, not the author. I am thrilled NetGalley and Minotaur allowed me an opportunity to receive this arc and that I took a chance to try something new and enliven my field.
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Darkest Evening. The comments and review are my honest opinion.
If you are a fan of British police TV you may already be aware of Vera Stanhope an elderly, somewhat frumpy Detective Inspector. If not, then this standalone book by author Ann Cleeves is a good introduction to the series.
DI Stanhope finds an abandoned car with a small child inside during a snow storm. Certain that the driver has gone for help, Vera decides to take the child to the nearest home. What starts out as a mysterious missing person soon turns into murder.
This is a well written, descriptive book with a number of suspects and an unorthodox, brainy protagonist that won’t quit until she solves the crime and brings the killer to justice.
My First Vera Novel — An Enjoyable Read
The novel opens with a young mother getting herself and toddler ready for a trip in terrible Northumberland weather in late December. Vera at the same time decides to drive home in the same weather. The snow turns into a blizzard. She takes a country road known to her but becomes disoriented. The only solace is that a set of tire tracks on the road indicates a car in front of her. Soon she comes close to driving into a white car almost camouflaged in the snow. The driver door is open. Vera looks but could not find anyone nearby. As she was going to leave, she hears a cry from the car. Vera discovers a toddler. She takes the toddler and drives on. Soon Vera discovers where she is. The home of her landed-gentry relatives appears. There seems a party is being held. She is met at the door by her cousin, Juliet. After explaining herself and the toddler, Vera uses the phone to call in the abandoned car. A very busy cook and housekeeper found a few minutes to change the toddler. Then, tenant father of two teenage daughters, who were helping out for the party, arrives to pick up his daughters. He comes in when Vera is on the phone. He tells Vera that it is important that he use the phone right now. He needs to call the police as there is a dead woman outside. The story proceeds from this start.
The main storyline consists of threads told from the point of view of many characters from Vera and her team members to some of the major characters. I did not find all of these threads confusing at all. The author weaves these threads into a very cogent storyline. There were many twists, turns, misdirection and some grenades going off. My attention was captured early and maintained throughout the entire novel. The read was not a quick read for me, but it was a steady read.
This is the first novel in the Vera series that I have read. I’ve only read one other novel written by Ann Cleeves. What I really enjoyed in reading this novel was the B-storyline threads. This is the ninth novel in the Vera series, but the B-storylines on Vera and her team was deeper than I would expect in a first novel of a series. This enriched my reading enjoyment. After reading this novel I really felt that I knew Vera and her team quite well.
As for language, there was less vulgar terms than I can count on one hand. There were just about the same number of light vulgar British terms. Violence was described after the fact so it was less edgy. There is some violence described as it occurs, but it is not graphic. Lastly, the only sexual content was some discussions on extramarital affairs. I believe that even readers sensitive to these topics can read this novel without a problem. Another issue is can a reader read this novel first in the Vera series. This is exactly what I did, and I did not feel that I was missing anything from not reading the previous novels. Lastly, on areas that readers should know is that I recommend reading this novel on an e-reader. There were much usage of British and Northumberland informal words. While I could figure out the meaning of most from the context of its use, I did find myself using the dictionary on the e-reader and using the Internet quite often to determine the meaning of many words in this novel.
I really like reading this novel. I’m looking forward to reading more novels by Ann Cleeves in the future. I plan to go back and watch more of the Vera TV series. Overall, I rate this novel with four stars. If the topic sounds interesting, I believe that you will find this novel an enjoyable read.
I have received a free e-book version of this novel through NetGalley from St. Martin’s Press with an expectation for an honest, unbiased review. I wish to thank St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this novel early.
3.5 stars rounded up. This is a police procedural set in Northumbria, England. It is book 9 in the Vera Stanhope series. I have read 2 other books by this author, 1 of them, The Crow Trap in the Vera Stanhope series. That book did not introduce Vera until 1/3rd of the way into the book. This book introduces Vera at the beginning. She finds an abandoned vehicle in a snowstorm. The vehicle has a baby in it. Vera goes to a nearby house, owned by distant relatives, to call in her team to start a search for the missing mother. The mother is found dead. Vera discovers that the mother, Lorna Falstone, was murdered. Vera and her team(she is a DCI-Detective Chief Inspector) , begin investigating and interviewing. There is another murder, but Vera and her team eliminate suspects. I didn’t suspect the killer until it was revealed at the end.
Pros: The plot is fast paced, the characters are well written and believable, which adds up to an entertaining story.
Cons: The author has Vera, an out of shape, middle aged woman putting herself in danger by going after the killer alone. Police officers are taught to have a partner for safety reasons.
#TheDarkestEvening #NetGalley
Thank You St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for sending me the eARC through NetGalley
This was my first Vera mystery, and my first Ann Cleeves novel. Although this is #9 in the series, it can be read as a stand alone story. I felt the characters were well developed.
A few times in the book, the story seemed to keep repeating itself and I found that to be a bit tedious. Considering the time span of the novel was one week from discovering the body of a young mother to the identification of her killer, it felt much longer. I don’t know if this was due to feeling like I was reading the same thing several times or just the style of writing. Having said that, it was still an enjoyable read. I kept trying to determine who the killer was and liked being a little surprised at the answer. There’s nothing worse than a murder mystery that is too predictable.
The story shows how many families and their lives can be entwined together. I might look into some of the other books in the series.e
THE DARKEST EVENING takes place in the days before Christmas. Driving in a snowstorm, Vera comes upon a toddler alone in a car. She carries him to the nearest home, which happens to be Brockburn, the Stanhope’s family’s estate. Her family’s estate. The body of the child’s mother is soon discovered and Vera investigates, not knowing if she’ll discover that someone in her family is a murderer. Another wonderful Vera mystery.
My first encounter with the canny Vera Stanhope and I hope to have time to visit with her in previous episodes. This down to earth, plain, smart, middle aged inspector is a great character and I enjoyed this story immensely. You meet Vera and her team, with insights into their working relationships. If you enjoy a good murder mystery grab this one.
I did enjoy this book. There were a few slow parts that made it hard to read but overall I liked it. This is my first book in this series and I didn’t feel lost reading it either. So yes you can read this as a stand alone. The killer once you knew who it was made total sense but before that the author made a lot of redirects. Which made the story more fun to read trying to figure out the killer and why. I think they figured out the why pretty early on, it was the who that took awhile.
*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*
The Darkest Evening is another addition to Anne Cleeves’s popular Vera series. It has an interesting plot, but was a bit encumbered with filler content in some places. Though it’s technically part of a series, The Darkest Evening can be read as a standalone.
One snowy evening, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope comes upon an abandoned car with a child inside. She grabs the child and seeks shelter at the nearest estate, Brockburn, which also happens to house her not-so-distant relatives. The search for the baby’s caretaker is on, despite the weather. But after the baby’s mother is found dead on Brockburn’s grounds, the mystery thickens, and Vera is on the case.
This is my first Anne Cleeves novel, and I was impressed by her ability to weave an intricate plot without being obvious to its trajectory. The first half of the novel dragged a bit, which is why this wasn’t a four star read for me. However, I do think that the resolution to the novel is satisfying, and that fans of this series will be pleased.
An ARC was generously provided by NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review.
384 pages
5 stars
Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope is driving home very slowly, chastising herself for leaving the station at all in this weather, when she comes across an abandoned car. The door is left open and there is a baby in a car seat in the back. Not knowing what happened to the mother, she takes the baby to a place of safety. It happens to be the old family pile Brockburn. It belongs to the Stanhopes. Vera has not seen her posh relatives since her own father’s funeral. She is not looking forward to it.
When the body of the baby’s mother is discovered on Brockburn’s grounds, it opens a can of worms for not only Vera’s relatives, but the guests who were at the house party when the murder occurred.
Vera and her team uncover many secrets in their investigation. Lorna Falstone, the young mother, was semi-estranged from her farming family. She had suffered from anorexia and was hospitalized for it. When another woman is murdered, the stakes rise. The two murders must be related. The two women were friends after all.
What follows is an exciting investigation. The identity of the murderer surprised me. I never had that person on my radar.
The overweight and disheveled Vera continues to both confound and delight me. I marvel at her ability to detect the truth of a situation. She is abrupt with her team, but at the same time offers them support. I was delighted to learn more history of the Stanhopes and to see Juliet come into her own a bit. It looks as though there may be a future for Vera and Juliet’s friendship. Ms. Cleeves’ descriptions of the weather made me want to reach for my heavy coat, gloves and hat. I felt the biting cold and relentless wind as well as the characters in the book. This author writes a complete book. Exciting characters, great plot line, superb writing and plotting.
I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for forwarding to me a copy of this remarkable book for me to read, enjoy and review.
What a treat for fans of the popular Vera Stanhope series — and for anyone who enjoys a good English country house murder mystery.
In this ninth Stanhope book, Ann Cleeves further develops the backstory of her endearing, admirable, and sometimes irascible protagonist while she plays with the trope of the country house murder. Vera finds a baby in the backseat of a car abandoned in a blizzard. His mother lies bludgeoned on the path leading to the grand and crumbling Brockburn, home of Vera’s distanced but not-so-distant relatives. As the police try to unravel the murder, they encounter the secrets, resentments, and entanglements of three different families.
I loved this book. Vera is as rumpled, sleepless, and perceptive as ever, simultaneously inspiring and exasperating her team. Her complicated feelings about her fancy relatives develop throughout the story, driving the plot and deepening her character. Her interactions with her team let the reader follow along with the investigation, like a police procedural, while also giving insight into each team member. Northumberland is almost its own character, beautifully described and sometimes menacing, as in this picture of a timbered clearing:
“Everything else had been discarded, left in heaps, grey now in the moonlight. The bones of the trees thrown into giant piles, the huge roots pulled out by diggers, upturned, so they looked like fingers reaching towards the sky. The area of devastation was huge and the moonlight shone in.”
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Ann Cleeves for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.