337 reviews for:

Red Bones

Ann Cleeves

3.82 AVERAGE

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

potemayo27's review

4.0
adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
clivestaples's profile picture

clivestaples's review

3.0
adventurous mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

I like Ann Cleese’s style and I love her descriptions of The Shetlands. It would be nice to visit there.

Sandy Wilson's grandmother is allowing an archaeologist to dig on the Shetland island of Whalsay in hopes of uncovering significant evidence that elevates the island's importance in Shetland's history. When human remains are found, the island is abuzz. The buzz turns to a clamor when Sandy's grandmother is found dead, and then, in a short amount of time, a member of the dig team has been discovered dead. Jimmy spends his time investigating from the island while also traveling back and forth on the ferry. DI Perez has to rely more on DS Wilson than ever before and sees growth in Sandy's investigative acumen. The island of Whalsay is a tight-knit community where loyalties and grudges run deep. Sandy's whole family lives and works there. Will his participation in the investigation cause a division? And what he learns... will it alter his relationship with his parents and extended family in irreparable ways?

Cleeves uses mist in the book, the literal weather event of mist becoming a figurative obstacle to Perez's investigation. But that figurative mist extends to the reader, at least this reader while reading. As I was reading, I felt like I was experiencing that figurative mist alongside Jimmy. The combination of the culture of the Whalsay and the crimes themselves contributed to the mental mist. Another solid title in Cleeves' Shetland Island series.
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4.5 Excellent and getting more complex as the series goes on. Great reads.

It's funny how both the Vera and Shetland series have a mystery centered around an archaeological dig; maybe that's the natural outcome of such historically rich settings. I really liked this one as we get a close look at Sandy Wilson's life and home island of Whalsay, and the introduction of Rhona Laing, the Fiscal.
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I liked this one. I vaguely remember the episode and I'm going to rewatch.