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iseefirede's review
Could not finish. The pacing was just too slow. I started speed reading to get to something interesting but it'd immediately go back to being boring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Sexual content
ritajuanita's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
becden's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
writings_of_a_reader's review against another edition
4.0
It is a cold January morning and 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 Catherine Ross. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance ...
The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man - loner and simpleton Magnus Tait. But when police insist on opening out the investigation a veil of suspicion and fear is thrown over the entire community. For the first time in years, Catherine's neighbours nervously lock their doors, whilst a killer lives on in their midst.
3.5 stars
This is the first book I've read by Ann Cleaves, and I enjoyed a lot of things about it, despite the rather depressing tone. I feel like the author definitely captured the flavor of the island during this time of year with the cold, bleak winter weather. I had no trouble picturing what it must be like there. Winter weather aside though, the main reason for the depressing tone was that no one in this book seems to be very happy.
I can't say that I really liked any of the characters. The detective could be likable if we continue to get to know him in future books. This is a slow plodding mystery that takes you around the island to meet all sorts of people in the course of the investigation. On top of that investigation, there is a cold case that comes up, that could possibly be tied to this one. In the end, one my theories was right, but I had discredited it, and I wasn't super surprised about some of the other things that were revealed about the cold case.
I found this book interesting enough to want to read the next book in the series. I think mainly because it kept me guessing, and it's hard to find mysteries that keep me guessing for as long as this one did. I also really want to learn more about the detective. There were snippets of his backstory in this book, just enough to make me want to know more.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man - loner and simpleton Magnus Tait. But when police insist on opening out the investigation a veil of suspicion and fear is thrown over the entire community. For the first time in years, Catherine's neighbours nervously lock their doors, whilst a killer lives on in their midst.
3.5 stars
This is the first book I've read by Ann Cleaves, and I enjoyed a lot of things about it, despite the rather depressing tone. I feel like the author definitely captured the flavor of the island during this time of year with the cold, bleak winter weather. I had no trouble picturing what it must be like there. Winter weather aside though, the main reason for the depressing tone was that no one in this book seems to be very happy.
I can't say that I really liked any of the characters. The detective could be likable if we continue to get to know him in future books. This is a slow plodding mystery that takes you around the island to meet all sorts of people in the course of the investigation. On top of that investigation, there is a cold case that comes up, that could possibly be tied to this one. In the end, one my theories was right, but I had discredited it, and I wasn't super surprised about some of the other things that were revealed about the cold case.
I found this book interesting enough to want to read the next book in the series. I think mainly because it kept me guessing, and it's hard to find mysteries that keep me guessing for as long as this one did. I also really want to learn more about the detective. There were snippets of his backstory in this book, just enough to make me want to know more.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
hgatfield's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
sonjalinden's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
aistess's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
vela_the_great's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
donnek's review
3.75
This is another one that is part of my “Cleaning Out the TBR Closet” 2024 challenge. This one has been on my list for years (Jul2021). As a fan of Cleeves Two Rivers series, I wanted to check out her other work. GR friend, Linda, helped me decide between this series and the Vera Stanhope series when she said that the Shetland series was “grittier”. Yep, sounds like my kind of story, and the series setting is on an island (Shetland) off the coast of Scotland. Shetland is a small town and I really love small town crime series.
The book summary is pretty worthless, so I’ll elaborate by saying that the primary storyline is about Inspector Jimmy Perez investigating the death of a 17yr old girl, Catherine, who was seen the day before with Magnus, an older man with a reputation of being dangerous. Magnus was investigated eight years earlier about another local girl who had gone missing. Magnus is also probably on the spectrum based on the way that he is described as being “different” and “kind of slow”. Magnus also keeps a pet raven (black), who was injured and can no longer fly. He has apparently taught the bird to talk with a limited vocabulary.
There is also a secondary story of Fran, the woman who found Catherine’s body, who has an odd and somewhat complicated history/relationship with Catherine’s father, Eune. Fran is divorced and returned to Shetland so her daughter could be closer to her father, Duncan, and Eune is widowed and came to Shetland with Catherine for a fresh start. There is also a storyline of Shetland Inspector, Jimmy Perez, who is divorced and who also moved back to Shetland for a fresh start after his divorce. While Jimmy was initially in charge of the investigation, it is soon taken over by DI Taylor from Iverness and Jimmy is not particularly impressed with DI Taylor.
Anyway, the suspect list is not without some rather questionable characters, besides just Magnus. There’s Robert, who lives off his rich father’s money and has a reputation of being the town womanizer with a penchant for younger women (late teens). There’s also Scott, a teacher of Catherine’s who was infatuated with her. Then there’s the secret “boyfriend” that while some have seen, nobody knows his name. It bears mentioning Catherine was quite often not very nice or kind to many and was not very well liked. There may have been those who would have liked to see Catherine “disappear”.
Most of the story seems to flip back and forth between Magnus, Jimmy, Fran, Sally (one of Catherine’s friends) and revolves around the investigation of Catherine’s death and finding the killer. From pretty early in the story, Magnus was at the top of the suspect list because not only was he seen walking with her from the bus stop the day before her death, but Catherine and Sally went to Magnus’s house on New Year’s Eve. So that blurb in the book summary about no one coming to Magnus’s house on New Year’s Eve is not true. Just thought I would mention that; inaccurate book summaries are a pet peeve of mine. It’s well into the second half that a whole new storyline pops up and Jimmy resolves most of the storylines in a kind of frenetic and yet straightforward way.
My overall opinion of the story? It was a really weird story! However, I liked it, but I think I do want to check out the Vera Stanhope series before I decide which one I want to commit to. The character development for most of the MC’s was good, which is vital for a character driven story like this was. The pacing was fine, a little slow in some parts, but not enough to drag down the rest of the story. Once again, the storyline was weird, but in a good way; I like weird stories! The writing style was very good and had me guessing through the whole story, making that ending a bit of a shocker! I love shocking endings! I’m looking at an overall rating of 3.8 that I will be rounding down to a 3.75star read.
The book summary is pretty worthless, so I’ll elaborate by saying that the primary storyline is about Inspector Jimmy Perez investigating the death of a 17yr old girl, Catherine, who was seen the day before with Magnus, an older man with a reputation of being dangerous. Magnus was investigated eight years earlier about another local girl who had gone missing. Magnus is also probably on the spectrum based on the way that he is described as being “different” and “kind of slow”. Magnus also keeps a pet raven (black), who was injured and can no longer fly. He has apparently taught the bird to talk with a limited vocabulary.
There is also a secondary story of Fran, the woman who found Catherine’s body, who has an odd and somewhat complicated history/relationship with Catherine’s father, Eune. Fran is divorced and returned to Shetland so her daughter could be closer to her father, Duncan, and Eune is widowed and came to Shetland with Catherine for a fresh start. There is also a storyline of Shetland Inspector, Jimmy Perez, who is divorced and who also moved back to Shetland for a fresh start after his divorce. While Jimmy was initially in charge of the investigation, it is soon taken over by DI Taylor from Iverness and Jimmy is not particularly impressed with DI Taylor.
Anyway, the suspect list is not without some rather questionable characters, besides just Magnus. There’s Robert, who lives off his rich father’s money and has a reputation of being the town womanizer with a penchant for younger women (late teens). There’s also Scott, a teacher of Catherine’s who was infatuated with her. Then there’s the secret “boyfriend” that while some have seen, nobody knows his name. It bears mentioning Catherine was quite often not very nice or kind to many and was not very well liked. There may have been those who would have liked to see Catherine “disappear”.
Most of the story seems to flip back and forth between Magnus, Jimmy, Fran, Sally (one of Catherine’s friends) and revolves around the investigation of Catherine’s death and finding the killer. From pretty early in the story, Magnus was at the top of the suspect list because not only was he seen walking with her from the bus stop the day before her death, but Catherine and Sally went to Magnus’s house on New Year’s Eve. So that blurb in the book summary about no one coming to Magnus’s house on New Year’s Eve is not true. Just thought I would mention that; inaccurate book summaries are a pet peeve of mine. It’s well into the second half that a whole new storyline pops up and Jimmy resolves most of the storylines in a kind of frenetic and yet straightforward way.
My overall opinion of the story? It was a really weird story! However, I liked it, but I think I do want to check out the Vera Stanhope series before I decide which one I want to commit to. The character development for most of the MC’s was good, which is vital for a character driven story like this was. The pacing was fine, a little slow in some parts, but not enough to drag down the rest of the story. Once again, the storyline was weird, but in a good way; I like weird stories! The writing style was very good and had me guessing through the whole story, making that ending a bit of a shocker! I love shocking endings! I’m looking at an overall rating of 3.8 that I will be rounding down to a 3.75star read.