A review by judyward
Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves

4.0

Unfortunately, this is the last in the Shetland Islands quartet. And, as such, it's the best of the series. Or maybe I've just gotten to know the major characters better and more clearly understand and appreciate the ways in which they interact. Detective Jimmy Perez is engaged to Fran, who is new to the Shetlands--having moved north from London--and he has brought her to tiny Fair Isle to meet his parents and the people with whom he grew up. His parents, who want Jimmy to move back to Fair Isle, welcome Fran into their family and throw an engagement party for the couple at the North Light Field Center Lighthouse which is a bird study center and has the "best chef ever" as part of its staff. The next morning Jimmy gets the news that the director of the center, Angela Moore, has been murdered. Did I mention that an autumn storm has cut the island off from the rest of civilization? No plane or boats can get in or out until the storm passes. Did I also mention that Angela is famous as a BBC ornithologist and as a sideline is hateful to or uses almost everyone she knows? Jimmy is, therefore, all alone in trying to unravel what happened and who was involved. As much as this a a satisfying mystery, the book is much more. The effects of growing up in a small community where everyone knows everything about everyone else, the continuing pull of family with its positive and negative ramifications, and an individual's inability to control events are all themes that are explored. I wish that Goodreads had a more flexible rating system because I would actually give this book a 4.5.