291 reviews for:

Blue Lightning

Ann Cleeves

3.91 AVERAGE


Another satisfying murder mystery with the Shetland Islands as background.

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

2.5
Since I've been watching the tv series, I wasn't surprised by much of what happened in this book except feeling annoyed that the tv version was actually better as far as the mystery part and what happened to the characters.

3.5

*****SPOILER ALERTS*********

The weakest book in the original quartet. Usually Cleeves doesn’t give much away in the actual motives of her killers (or their actual movements) so that when the reveal is made I can both be surprised, and not...if that makes sense.

This book I saw the killer immediately. It was hard not to when the wife was practically hysterical and the motive was so clear. Young, brash, abrasive darling-of-the-moment scientist is found dead amongst a group of bird watchers, who are very competitive. John Fowler stood out like a red-thumb, being the laughing stock of the birding world, with a failed journalism career to boot.

The killing of Fran wasn’t a shock to me because I stupidly looked up the series to see who the actress would be, and didn’t see Fran as a listed character. What bothered me so much about her death was the very little time Cleeve’s spent on it. I mean, it was basically one full page and she was dead. I will keep reading the series, because I do love the setting of the Islands, and how secluded they are and imagining such tight knit communities having a murder amongst them. However, Perez needs to buck up. Cleeve’s spent so little time making us believe in the romance, by giving almost nothing about it (except the booty calls). So I cannot really buy Perez being so devastated.
bhalpin's profile picture

bhalpin's review

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

Listened on audio. Narration was competent but not spectacular. Jimmy Perez sounded a lot like Sean Connery. Secondary characters are far more interesting and sympathetic than Jimmy Perez. Maybe that's the point? But look
, women who exist only to get harmed and thereby develop a tragic story for the men is one of the worst, stupidest cliches of cop fiction, and it's on full display here. Having watched the show, I knew Fran was going to die eventually, but her death was completely unnecessary to the narrative and relegated her to the role of a prop for Perez's development. Didn't expect this level of casual misogyny from a female author, but there you go. 

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Une histoire intéressante mais le suspens ne m'a pas paru très intense et l'action était un peu trop lente à mon goût. L'inspecteur avait l'air clairement débordé, ce qui est compréhensible lorsque l'on doit mener une enquête seul, mais avant l'arrivée de Sandy et l'équipe j'avais plus l'impression de suivre un détective amateur plutôt qu'une véritable inspecteur de police.
Je n'ai jamais été partisane de l'implication des fiancées/femmes/sœurs/etc de policiers dans une enquête et ce livre me prouve encore une fois que décidément, ce n'est pas trop à mon goût.

A part ça, Bleu Comme la Peur m'a quand même fait passer un agréable moment.
adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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owenreads's profile picture

owenreads's review

3.0
dark mysterious sad 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

 “I’m a historian by training, Jimmy. Telling the truth has become a habit.”

Another interesting entry in the Shetland series. Interesting because the story in-of-itself isn't all the gripping, but the relationships of the islanders are.

I didn't remove a star for the twist, but I didn't like it or see it's purpose.