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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I really enjoyed this update of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, though Mrs. Bennet’s prejudices sometimes were awkward to read.
All the Bennet sisters are clearly created, and I thought the angry sex and eventual resolution between Darcy and Liz was carried out very well. Sittenfeld did a great job of sticking to Jane Austen’s plot while updating the story with fun characters.
This book is set at the estate home of distant relatives of Vera. It made for some interesting encounters. It’s a snowy night and Vera is on her way home and missing a turn finds herself close to her family estate. But before she makes her way there, she finds a car off the road with the door open. In it, she finds a baby. She moves the baby over to her Land Rover and makes a minimal search for the driver before taking the baby to the estate. There a party is going on. Late in the evening a body is found out the back when a father comes to pick up the teen aged workers.
This is my first Vera novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The murderer was a surprise. Vera’s team is well developed and the distant family relations are interesting. Great book.
An enjoyable police procedural set in a place I love reading about: the Northumberland countryside, with an intriguing plot/mystery, good solid character writing, and a satisfying ending. Another good read from Ann Cleeves, recommended. Thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#TheDarkestEvening #NetGalley
A complex, compelling and chilling detective murder-mystery, The Darkest Evening is a darkly, propulsive story that evokes images of curling up next to a crackling fire in a grand house with a cup of tea and a few biscuits while you read. This is the second in the Vera series and can be read as a standalone or as part of a series. I highly recommend for British crime thriller fans.
“The Darkest Evening” by Ann Cleeves it’s the 9th instalment in the Vera Stanhope Mystery Series. I love the Vera Mystery series and this instalment did not disappoint. In fact, I thought that it was one of the best in the series.
The Series is character-driven and also very descriptive you feel like you are right there in Northumbria, England. In this instalment we get to catch up with Vera and her team, but we also meet her estranged snooty relatives that lived in the big house. This complicated things for Vera as she dealt with in the investigation. Vera reflects on her upbringing in comparison to the way her cousin Juliette grew up.
The story is full of family secrets and half truths as well as the gossip that seems to thrive in small communities. We had lots of suspects but I did not guess until it was revealed, in fact the villain wasn’t even on my radar.
I highly recommend this book and the Vera Stanhope Mystery series to all my British Mystery loving friends.
I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from the publisher and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Fascinating.
Vera is quite a wonderful character: good at her job, insightful, with years of life experience.
Her colleagues are a wonderful mix who both admire her and wonder about her.
The mystery is a good one. Who wanted the young woman dead and why would she leave the baby in the car with the door open?
It takes some perseverance, but Vera gets there, albeit with serious danger, in the end.
Well done.
The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleves is a police procedural. It is one of many in the Vera Stanhope series but the first book that I have read. I found the premise interesting and I was not disappointed in the novel as a whole. I found it to be a solid police procedural and it kept my interest throughout. Readers of this genre will not be disappointed. I think that it can be read as a standalone novel, but I would have enjoyed reading the other books in the series first. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.
Like so many readers, I love Vera Stanhope. She’s distinctive, original, fascinating and about as unique a detective as you could meet. All of which makes her irresistible. Her work as a detective inspector is her life and her passion. With grit, determination, a wry sense of humour and a canny understanding of humour nature, she’s an unstoppable force when she’s on the hunt for a killer.
The relationships within her team, especially Joe and Holly, add an extra depth and dimension to the books and allow the reader to see how her colleagues view her. While they may question her methods and idiosyncrasies at times, they know she’s fearless, loyal, and usually right.
In this story, Vera’s battling a snow blizzard on her way to her house in the countryside. Temporarily lost and straying from her usual route, she chances upon an abandoned car with a baby, strapped into the back seat. The driver’s door is open and it isn’t long before Vera discovers the body of a young woman in the snow.
While this is no ordinary murder, the location is close to Brockburn, the Stanhope Ancestral home – the family she’s estranged from thanks to her father being the black sheep. Not only must Vera try to make sense of the murder, she’s forced to deal with relatives she has little in common with, along with their tenants, who make up the small community.
Is one of them a killer? Why was the victim on Stanhope land? Why did she abandon her baby in the car?
It’s a fascinating and painstaking investigation. Vera peels back the layers, revealing secrets, liaisons and plenty of suspects and motives. Holly and Joe also have their moments as they help Vera make her way through the mist (literally) to an exciting, breath taking climax.
Fast and furious it’s not, but this is a beautifully crafted murder mystery that’s absorbing, compelling and satisfying. It will stay long in the mind and make you want to read more.
“The Darkest Evening” is number nine in the Vera Stanhope series written by Ann Cleeves. Those who have not read previous books can jump right into this one without any problem. Characters are quickly introduced, and previous relationships fold easily into current scenarios.
The story unfolds during the Christmas season in rural, almost feudal, Northumberland. Vera Stanhope is driving cautiously through a blizzard that is extreme even for the northernmost part of England when she spots a car that has skidded off the highway. Upon investigation, she finds a toddler in the back seat clad in a red snow suit and matching small red boots. Searching for refuge for both herself and the child, she spots a big house decorated with hundreds of fairy lights, all white, all twinkling. It is a house she recognizes, the home of her estranged family, relatives she has not seen since she was a teenager. Thus begins a complex and surprising story about families, what holds them together and what rips them apart. The setting is straight out of an Agatha Christie novel with Christmas in the country manor house, but the case is not like that at all.
The narrative unfolds in two perspectives, from the mansion, Brockburn house, its guests and residents, and their conversations, as well from Vera Stanhope, her team, and their investigations. Stanhope quickly finds that this is a complicated case, one of the strangest cases she has ever worked. There are just too many people, too many connections, too many suspects, and too little real evidence. Everyone expects her to solve the mystery immediately because after all, “You must know, darling. It’s what you do for a living.”
Intricate, detailed descriptions immerse readers in the place and atmosphere. The language, vocabulary, and conversation have the gentle rural lilt of the Northumberland hills. The title is also important, easily overlooked, but an important marker in the story beyond just the opening event at the Brockburn estate.
“The Darkest Evening” has great characters, a compelling plot, and a classic setting, not to mention family trauma and a some crazy idea of revenge. I received a review copy of “The Darkest Evening” from Ann Cleeves, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Publishing. I recommend the entire Vera Stanhope Series. Every book is captivating, professional, and enjoyable page after page.
Well, this was a slow burn and a slower read for me. I enjoy detective novels as a whole, especially a good series. I have never read this well-established and highly-acclaimed author before, but I will definitely give her another try.
For some reason, the writing and the characters were not clicking with me. Storyline was good, but it was just such a long, boring read for me. Vera reminded me of Columbo, the trench coat wearing detective (from the 70’s detective TV series) who was sly as a fox but came across as bumbling. I couldn’t connect with Vera, and found it hard to believe her raising to the ranks she did. A lot of characters, but they were easily followed. I had many unanswered questions at the end.
Thanks to Ms. Cleeves, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
The body of a young woman is found outside a country manor house where a party is underway. So begins a complex tale of families, secrets and murder. Extremely well written, with a wonderfully twisty plot and well developed characters. This is the first book I’ve read in the series and it read very well as a stand-alone. I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one. I received this book free and chose to make a voluntary, unbiased review.
Sadly, a couple of serious editing omissions meant 4 stars instead of 5 for this book – at least in the edition I read. Hopefully they’ve now been rectified. Ann Cleeves is a brilliant writer of detective fiction. I enjoy her books immensely.
I will and do read anything Ann Cleeves writes, but I’m growing more and more attached to her main detective, Vera. And she’s in top form in The Darkest Evening, bristling with intensity, yet vulnerable and funny. This book takes place on the stomping grounds of her distant family, which adds another wonderful layer of complexity.
The Detective Vera Stanhope stories are great to curl up with.
THE DARKEST EVENING by Ann CLEEVES
A wrong turn in the dark and snow, an abandoned car with a toddler in the car seat, a party in the nearby manor of Vera’s “distant relatives” present a messy mastery. Vera Stanhope and her able team persist, untangling clues, ferreting out secrets, standing up to the entitled . . . It’s quite a gripping puzzle, pet, good distraction from the troubling real world and a good example in never giving up. I’d love to curl up in front of a cozy fire, reading Frost poetry and nibbling on scones with Vera and friends.
I almost held on to this book until closer to winter, but my guilt for reading my advance copies on time won out. Thankfully, the dark, wintry setting this novel paints is realistic enough to provide the reader with ample room for the imagination to run wild.
I don’t read many mysteries, but something about the synopsis for The Darkest Evening spoke to me, and I couldn’t resist requesting it on Netgalley. I’m happy I tried something new because I discovered I’m a fan. Despite The Darkest Evening being the ninth book in the Vera Stanhope series, (I did my research prior to requesting and made sure it could be read as a standalone) I never felt confused or lost about the characters. While I could tell there were other stories that had been told, the characters still stood on their own. And in fact, the hints at those other stories just made me want to pick them up.
I didn’t know when I started it how I would feel about the story being told from so many points of view, but it was easy to follow, and I quickly realized it’s necessary to the mystery being told.
I can see why this series has lasted so long, and why there’s a television adaptation based on the books. Vera is a great character. She’s surly, smart, and unmoved by what others think of her. It’s also refreshing to see an older woman portrayed with such honesty. She’s independent, and while she doesn’t like to admit she needs help, she will ask for it. She’s not perfect, and that’s what makes her so likable. The secondary characters are great, too. Joe, Vera’s right-hand-man, is stable and kind of the ‘everyman’ that most readers will identify with. Holly seems to be the newest and youngest addition to the team, and I enjoyed watching the character’s confidence grow along with Vera’s confidence in her.
The story kept me guessing until the end, which is always a nice surprise.
It’s also set right before Christmas, so this would also make a perfect read over the holidays. And if you’re lucky enough to read this one when it’s cold and snow is on the ground, build that fire up, grab your favorite blanket and cup of tea, and get ready to wander the Northumberland woods!
Thank you to the publisher, Minotaur Books, and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy!
Ann Cleeves is the Queen of Contemporary Crime Fiction. In her latest novel, The Darkest Evening (Minotaur Books), Vera Stanhope, the somewhat unkempt but always brilliant Northumberland Detective Chief Inspector, returns for a ninth outing to investigate a murder that hits close to home. Read my full review athttps://booktrib.com/2020/09/08/the-darkest-evening-intertwines-ds-vera-stanhopes-estranged-family-and-murder/
I’ve missed Vera! So happy she is back !
Although this is book #9 in the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves, it is the first book that I have read by this author and can definitely be read as a standalone. Vera is a detective inspector who is headed home in a snow storm, gets turned around and lost in the blowing snow and ends up finding an abandoned car with a baby left alone in the back seat. Rescuing the baby from the elements, Vera heads to the closest house, an estate named Brockburn where her father was raised. The quest for Vera to find the baby’s parent turns into a murder investigation when the body of Lorna Falstone is found in the back yard of the estate. Creepy, full of atmosphere and fast-paced, this book was a magnetic draw for me since I love police procedurals and crime thrillers and this book was the best of both. Vera’s team is called in and Vera’s determination to solve the murder mystery leads to a deep dive into the secrets of the family and the local townspeople. There are rumors, infidelities, and drama galore in this highly entertaining British crime thriller. I really liked the character of Vera Stanhope who reminded me of a female Columbo from the American TV series, frumpy with unexpected insights and no filter on the mouth. This was very humorous at times, especially as Vera unraveled the mystery and got closer to the perpetrator as she waded through numerous suspects. The author did a terrific job of developing each character, including the multiple suspects, in such a way that they were memorable enough for me to keep track of them. Vera also reflects on her own childhood in this story, which was perfect for me since it was my first book about her. I totally enjoyed this book and will absolutely look for more of these in the future!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
Oh, what a perfect read!
The setting took me into another place, a small English village in winter, as Vera Stanhope investigates the murder of a young mother whose body was found on Vera’s father’s Northampton family estate.
The tale is filled with endless cups of tea served with digestive biscuits, houses without central heating, freezing winter nights, and even a bacon stottie. I felt like an armchair traveler.
I love a mystery that is more than plot driven, where characters are more than types. And Cleeves delivers.
My first time reading Cleeves was The Long Call, which introduced a new detective character. The Darkest Evening (the title from a Robert Frost poem) is the ninth Vera Stanhope novel. And as I had not read them, or even seen the television series Vera, I can attest that it is superbly how this novel stands on its own. I want to read the other books in the series, but did not feel the lack of having read them.
The characters professional and personal lives are revealed. Vera’s confliction about her family history and relationship to the manor Stanhopes, Joe’s family obligations, Holly’s desire for recognition bring the reader’s attachment.
The village suspects are as well drawn. The deceased Lorna, who struggled with anorexia, has never revealed the name of her baby’s father. It may bring a clue to her murderer. The Stanhope family, the imperious matriarch and her daughter who married a man with big plans to turn the estate into a self-supporting money making venture. Newbies lawyer Dorothy and wannabe teacher Karam, city transplants who appear to be happily married and content with their menial jobs. The local farm families, the Helsops with their artist son, and the elderly inhabitants of the county homes fill out the community.
A second murder, a retired teacher who a special friend to Lorna, is found murdered as well. What did she know?
It winds up to a cabin in the woods and Vera fleeing for her life.
I found the novel oddly calming and cozy, a respite from the world.
I won a book on Goodreads. My review is fair and unbiased.