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truden's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this one! Had no idea who the murderer ended up being. I had a theory of who it was and what happened, but I was waaayy of! Which makes it better in my opinion.
Listened to this one in audio and the narrator makes the story so much better.
Listened to this one in audio and the narrator makes the story so much better.
sueinguelph's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
lgpiper's review against another edition
4.0
It's summer in Shetland, and the nights don't exist. The light gets dimmer, but never actually goes out. This makes people a bit crazy.
Inspector Jimmy Perez has developed a bit of a relationship with Fran Hunter, a young woman somewhat involved in the first of the Shetland mysteries (Raven Black). Fran is an artist, and she has been asked to contribute to a local art exhibit by Bella Sinclair, a rather famous artist. Bella grew up on Shetland and has remained there, in between stints of gadding about with artist friends. The exhibit is in an old place that Bella has revamped and outfit with a fancy dining room.
Things don't go well. Hardly anyone shows up. One person who does show up is a man who has a breakdown in the middle of the show. He begins sobbing uncontrollably. Jimmy Perez gets him settled in the kitchen. The man has no i.d. on him and claims to have forgotten who he is.
Then, while Jimmy is off dealing with some other things related to the show, the man disappears. Some time later, he is found hanging from a rafter in a boat house. An apparent suicide, or something more sinister? Well, time to investigate.
There's lots of back story, of course. It seems that Bella Sinclair once hosted lots of artsy events at her house, and lots of the artsy types would pop by for a week or two. At the end of one of these events, the brother of a local crofter disappeared. No one had seen the brother for about ten years. The crofter, Kenny Thompson, hadn't even heard from brother, Lawrence, in all that time. It's not clear whether Lawrence left because Bella had jilted him, or the other way around.
Then too, perhaps the guy hanging in the boat house, who turned out to have been an actor of sorts, Jeremy Booth, had been present at some of those parties in the past. Perhaps also the writer, Peter Wilding, who has apparently taken up residence just about the time the action in the book unfolds.
Well, there are lots of loose ends and discussions about the ways that people living in small communities try keep sane in their dealings with each other. Everyone has secrets to hide, but then again in such a confined space, do people actually have secrets all their own?
Well, I'll stop. It's quite a GoodRead. But you don't have to take my word for it. The Shetland series appears to be wildly popular. I had the first book of the series on hold for 5½ months before a copy became available. This particular volume, the second of the series, was only on hold for 2½ months. It looks like things are winding down, my library tells me that I'll get the third in the series after only a month's being on hold.
Inspector Jimmy Perez has developed a bit of a relationship with Fran Hunter, a young woman somewhat involved in the first of the Shetland mysteries (Raven Black). Fran is an artist, and she has been asked to contribute to a local art exhibit by Bella Sinclair, a rather famous artist. Bella grew up on Shetland and has remained there, in between stints of gadding about with artist friends. The exhibit is in an old place that Bella has revamped and outfit with a fancy dining room.
Things don't go well. Hardly anyone shows up. One person who does show up is a man who has a breakdown in the middle of the show. He begins sobbing uncontrollably. Jimmy Perez gets him settled in the kitchen. The man has no i.d. on him and claims to have forgotten who he is.
Then, while Jimmy is off dealing with some other things related to the show, the man disappears. Some time later, he is found hanging from a rafter in a boat house. An apparent suicide, or something more sinister? Well, time to investigate.
There's lots of back story, of course. It seems that Bella Sinclair once hosted lots of artsy events at her house, and lots of the artsy types would pop by for a week or two. At the end of one of these events, the brother of a local crofter disappeared. No one had seen the brother for about ten years. The crofter, Kenny Thompson, hadn't even heard from brother, Lawrence, in all that time. It's not clear whether Lawrence left because Bella had jilted him, or the other way around.
Then too, perhaps the guy hanging in the boat house, who turned out to have been an actor of sorts, Jeremy Booth, had been present at some of those parties in the past. Perhaps also the writer, Peter Wilding, who has apparently taken up residence just about the time the action in the book unfolds.
Well, there are lots of loose ends and discussions about the ways that people living in small communities try keep sane in their dealings with each other. Everyone has secrets to hide, but then again in such a confined space, do people actually have secrets all their own?
Well, I'll stop. It's quite a GoodRead. But you don't have to take my word for it. The Shetland series appears to be wildly popular. I had the first book of the series on hold for 5½ months before a copy became available. This particular volume, the second of the series, was only on hold for 2½ months. It looks like things are winding down, my library tells me that I'll get the third in the series after only a month's being on hold.
constantreader471's review against another edition
4.0
Another well done mystery/thriller from Ann Cleeves in the Shetland series. The cover calls it a thriller, but I would classify it as a mystery. There is no profanity, no graphic violence and no graphic sex--making it suitable for cozy fans.
Detective Jimmy Perez is the man in charge of the case, along with DCI(Detective Chief Inspector) Roy Taylor from Inverness, Scotland. Shetland Islands are located several hundred miles north of Scotland. Perez is at a gallery showing the works of Bella Sinclair and Perez' friend Fran Hunter. A stranger comes to the gallery and starts weeping in front of a picture. When Perez tries to help him, the man claims to not know who he is. The next day he is found hanging from the rafters in a boat shed. Unraveling this mystery leads to a long buried secret. I was not sure of who the killer was until the end.
This library book was a suspenseful read and I recommend it to fans of the mystery genre. I previously read book 1 in the series and this series is better read in order.
Two quotes: Bella Sinclair "With her grey hair cropped very short, long silver earrings and a grey silk shirt, Perez thought she looked like a large silvery fish. Something about her mouth, too, the wide pale eyes. But she was attractive still."
Bedroom of dead man "The bed was unmade, though she thought that didn't mean much. She'd never yet met a man who made a bed when he got up."
Detective Jimmy Perez is the man in charge of the case, along with DCI(Detective Chief Inspector) Roy Taylor from Inverness, Scotland. Shetland Islands are located several hundred miles north of Scotland. Perez is at a gallery showing the works of Bella Sinclair and Perez' friend Fran Hunter. A stranger comes to the gallery and starts weeping in front of a picture. When Perez tries to help him, the man claims to not know who he is. The next day he is found hanging from the rafters in a boat shed. Unraveling this mystery leads to a long buried secret. I was not sure of who the killer was until the end.
This library book was a suspenseful read and I recommend it to fans of the mystery genre. I previously read book 1 in the series and this series is better read in order.
Two quotes: Bella Sinclair "With her grey hair cropped very short, long silver earrings and a grey silk shirt, Perez thought she looked like a large silvery fish. Something about her mouth, too, the wide pale eyes. But she was attractive still."
Bedroom of dead man "The bed was unmade, though she thought that didn't mean much. She'd never yet met a man who made a bed when he got up."
sarah_reading_party's review against another edition
2.0
The second Shetland Island mystery was good, but I think I preferred Raven Black. This one is sad, dark, and just not quite as engaging as the first--maybe because some of the mystery takes the characters off the island? Not sure. I still am invested in this series but the moodiness of White Nights and the depressing ending were a little much for me.
rlesias's review against another edition
2.0
Not as good as the first book in the series.
This is a well-written whodunnit with some interesting characters. However it does not respect the rules of the genre: play fair with the reader. I had the sense of being cheated by the author.
I usually find the solution of detective stories well before the end. In this book, the resolution was one of a few options that was there in my mental map. However, there was no particular reason to select this solution instead of another. The author just gives you her solution by adding new elements quite late in the story. By changing a few lines in the book, one could come up with many completely different solutions.
So I did not have the satisfaction of solving a mystery with the author. I felt like I was waiting for her to decide for an ending all along, which is a waste of my time.
The series stops there for me.
This is a well-written whodunnit with some interesting characters. However it does not respect the rules of the genre: play fair with the reader. I had the sense of being cheated by the author.
I usually find the solution of detective stories well before the end. In this book, the resolution was one of a few options that was there in my mental map. However, there was no particular reason to select this solution instead of another. The author just gives you her solution by adding new elements quite late in the story. By changing a few lines in the book, one could come up with many completely different solutions.
So I did not have the satisfaction of solving a mystery with the author. I felt like I was waiting for her to decide for an ending all along, which is a waste of my time.
The series stops there for me.
katdid's review against another edition
3.0
I read the first book what feels like ages ago; the tv series is more vivid to me but it's quite different, so it took me a while to get back into the swing of things with Perez. The mystery was interesting (although there's quite a big spoiler in the blurb, gg) and I didn't pick the culprit. Bonus points for references to knitting!
pillywiggin's review against another edition
3.0
I really do not care about the relationship between Perez and Fran.
awhaley's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
rychen's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0