The Crow Trap A Vera Stanhope Novel 1

Introducing Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope. The Crow Trap is the first book in Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series – which is now a major ITV detective drama starring Brenda Blethyn, Vera. Everyone has something to hide . . . Three very different women come together at an isolated cottage on the North Pennines to complete an environmental survey. Three women who each know the meaning of betrayal . . . Rachael, the team leader, is still reeling after a double betrayal by her lover and boss. Anne, a botanist, sees the survey as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace, a strange, uncommunicative young woman, hiding plenty of her own secrets. Rachael is the first to arrive at the cottage, but when she gets there she is shocked to discover an apparent suicide. But then another death occurs, and a fourth woman enters the picture – the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, who must piece together the truth from these women’s tangled lives . . . Enjoy more of Vera Stanhope’s investigations with Telling Tales, Hidden Depths, and Silent Voices.

Harbour Street is the sixth book in Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series – which is now a major ITV detective drama starring Brenda Blethyn as Vera. A silent community. A murderer among them . . . As the snow falls in Newcastle, Detective Joe Ashworth and his daughter Jessie travel home on the busy Metro. When the train stops unexpectedly due to bad weather, Jessie notices that one woman doesn’t leave and when trying to wake her they find that the passenger has been fatally stabbed. With no witnesses DI Vera Stanhope looks into the victim’s past and discovers she lived for years on Harbour Street, in a rundown Northumberland fishing town. As she questions the local residents Vera begins to suspect they know more than they are letting on, and the killer is hiding in their midst. Enjoy more of Vera Stanhope’s investigations with The Crow Trap, Telling Tales, Hidden Depths, Silent Voices, The Glass Room, The Moth Catcher, The Seagull and The Darkest Evening.

Telling Tales is the second book in Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series – which is now a major ITV detective drama starring Brenda Blethyn as Vera . They thought she was a murderer. But now she’s a victim . . . Ten years ago fifteen-year-old Abigail Mantel was murdered, her cold body discovered lying in a ditch. Her father’s girlfriend was found guilty of the crime. Now, evidence has emerged that proves her innocence and means that Abigail’s killer still roams free. Abigail’s best friend at the time of the murder has now returned to the East Yorkshire village of Elvet to raise her young family. Shocked by the new revelations, she begins to realize that she didn’t know her friend as well as she thought . . . Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope is tasked with uncovering the truth and, as her new inquiries stoke up past secrets the villagers will lie to protect, she must find out which lies will bring her to the killer. Enjoy more of Vera Stanhope's investigations with The Crow Trap, Hidden Depths and Silent Voices.

The Sleeping and The Dead is a tense psychological thriller from Ann Cleeves, author and creator of three astounding TV series: Shetland, Vera and The Long Call. 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 . . .

Silent Voices is the fourth book in Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series – which is now a major ITV detective drama starring Brenda Blethyn as Vera. No murder is ever simple . . . When DI Vera Stanhope finds the body of a woman in the sauna room of her local gym, at first, she thinks it is a death from natural causes. But then Vera spots ligature marks around the victim’s throat and has another murder case on her hands. The victim is Jenny Lister, who was an experienced social worker, but her neighbours are quick to inform Vera about Jenny’s involvement in a notorious case. A young child tragically died and a member of Jenny’s team was subsequently fired and vilified by the media. As Vera tries to pry information from the secretive community another body is found, and Vera finds herself in a race against time to stop the killer. Enjoy more of Vera Stanhope's investigations with The Crow Trap, Telling Tales, Hidden Depths, The Glass Room, Harbour Street, The Moth Catcher, The Seagull, and The Darkest Evening.

Introducing Inspector Jimmy Perez. Raven Black is the first book in Ann Cleeves' bestselling Shetland series – now a major BBC One drama starring Douglas Henshall. A remote community with a killer in their midst . . . On New Year’s Day, Shetland lies buried beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a vivid splash of colour on the white ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbour. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance . . . The body is found close to the home of a lonely outcast and local suspicion falls firmly on him. But when Inspector Jimmy Perez insists on broadening the search for suspects, a veil of distrust and fear is thrown over the entire community. As the case develops, Perez finds himself peering deeper into the past of the Shetland Islands than anyone wants to go. The case files of Jimmy Perez continue in White Nights, the thrilling second Shetland novel.

DCI Vera Stanhope returns in The Darkest Evening, the ninth novel in No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller Ann Cleeves’s phenomenally popular crime series. The darkest nights can hide the deadliest secrets . . . Driving home during a swirling blizzard, Vera Stanhope’s only thought is to get there quickly. But with the snow driving down heavily, she becomes disorientated and loses her way, eventually stumbling on another car abandoned on the road. With the driver’s door open, Vera assumes the driver has sought shelter but is shocked to find a young toddler strapped in the back seat. Afraid they will freeze, Vera takes the child and drives on, arriving at Brockburn, a run-down stately home she immediately recognizes as the house her father Hector grew up in. Inside Brockburn a party is in full swing, with music and laughter to herald the coming Christmas. But outside in the snow, a young woman lies dead and Vera has a new case. Could she be the child’s mother and, if she is, what happened to her?

This is the seventh book in Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope series which is now a major ITV detective drama Vera, starring Brenda Blethyn. This case was different from anything Vera had ever worked before. Two bodies, connected but not lying together. As Vera is drawn into the claustrophobic world of this increasingly strange community, she realizes that there may be deadly secrets trapped here.