A superbly written police procedural with a very human protagonist and contemporary narrative.

The Seagull

A Vera Stanhope Novel 8

Ann Cleeves

Pan Macmillan Australia

ISBN: 9781447278351

Description:

The Seagull is Ann Cleeves’ searing eighth novel in the bestselling Vera Stanhope series, about corruption deep in the heart of a community, and about fragile, and fracturing, family relationships.

A visit to her local prison brings DI Vera Stanhope face to face with an old enemy: former detective superintendent, and now inmate, John Brace. Brace was convicted of corruption and involvement in the death of a gamekeeper – and Vera played a part in his downfall.

Brace promises Vera information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall, a notorious wheeler-dealer, if she will look out for his daughter and grandchildren. He tells her that Marshall is dead, his body buried close to St Mary’s Island in Whitley Bay. However, when a search team investigates, officers find not one skeleton, but two.

This cold case takes Vera back in time, and very close to home, as Brace and Marshall, along with a mysterious stranger known only as ‘the Prof’, were close friends of Hector, her father. Together, they were ‘the Gang of Four’, and Hector had been one of the last people to see Marshall alive. Vera must confront her prejudices and unwanted memories to dig out the truth, as the past begins to collide dangerously with the present . . .

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Ann Cleeves is the author behind ITV’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland. She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez – characters loved both on screen and in print. Her books have now sold millions of copies worldwide.

My View:

A superbly written police procedural with a very human protagonist and contemporary narrative.

Is it because I have watched an episode or two of Vera (the Detective series based on the novels in this series) or merely the fantastic way that Cleeves writes location, character and  intrigue that I am enamoured with this novel? I don’t know – maybe it is a combination of the two and that I can clearly picture and hear Brenda Blethyn as I turn the pages. I read this in one sitting.

Start reading this novel and enter a captivating world where sins of the past juxtapose and intersect a current investigation. Cold cases are reviewed and personal memories are awakened in this thrilling narrative where corruption is served as the main course, redemption is a too sweet dessert.

A five star read.