I am a great fan of the writer Ann Cleeves, and I know exactly where I first came across her books, the excellent local library in Lees, Oldham. I moved there (to Lees, not the library, although I did spend a lot of time there!) in the late 1980’s. Ann would have been a newly published writer then, and the series of her books I would have borrowed featured the pair of sleuths, the Palmer-Jones novels, and the Inspector Ramsey series. There were eight of the first and six of the second and I know I read all of them – as soon as they arrived on the library shelves. Her next series of eleven books were probably what brought her to more people’s attention because it was about Vera Stanhope, the eccentric police inspector which became another very popular TV series. We had moved from Oldham to the west country by the time perhaps her most famous series commenced – Shetland.. There are nine novels and a novella, and the TV series was tremendously popular partly because of the wonderful setting in the Shetland Isles.
I didn’t watch the Vera series because although I admire Brenda Blethyn enormously, and think she is a tremendous actress, in my opinion she was totally miscast as Vera – although it was so popular it’s apparent that most people do not share my opinion. In the TV series, “Shetland”, there was also an issue for me because the key aspect of D.I. Jimmy Perez is his black hair and olive skin which sets him apart from the fair-haired Shetlanders. The TV series had blond Douglas Henshall as Perez, amazing actor though he is!
I think Ann became a little weary of these series and although they were so popular, she decided to move on to something new, a new detective, in a completely different part of the country -Matthew Venn who lives in Devon. Devon is down the road from us and we will be visiting friends there on Saturday! Her third Matthew Venn novel, “The Dying Light”, has just been published and I’m a good way into it – so interesting and it’s an area of the country I know so I can imagine vividly the areas she describes.
Venn is called in to investigate a puzzling death. The body of a young woman has been found in the swimming pool of Tide House, a luxurious holiday home in North Devon, and her best friend is missing. The property belongs to rising political star Paul Armstrong and the case quickly draws intense media scrutiny. As a scorching heat wave rages and further tragedy strikes, Venn and his team begin questioning a community brimming with secrets. The dead woman and her friend had been spotted at a nearby music festival the day before, an event which brought locals and outsiders together – some of whom may have been more connected with the Armstrongs than first thought. Caught between a powerful family’s secrets and a powder keg of local tensions, Venn must navigate a treacherous path. Knowing that the real answers lie not in what people say, but in the silence that they keep …
Shortly after she published her first Matthew Venn book, I was lucky enough to hear her talk about her writing, her books and her life. She spoke of this new series, and what had inspired her and read an excerpt from the first book in the series. She is such a warm and engaging person and speaker, it was enlightening, interesting and thoroughly enjoyable. I am really enjoying this latest Matthew Venn book, and as usual I have absolutely no single clue who has committed the crime!
