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A review by jrdbrook
White Nights by Ann Cleeves
4.0
I very much enjoyed this book, as I did the first one in the series. I'm a prolific knitter and the culture and history of the knitting and wool in the Shetland Islands is of great interest to me; so the setting probably makes me biased to like the book before I even start.
I would love to visit and it gives a delightful taste of what the islands are like ( not so much the murders) but the erudite descriptions of the scenery and the differing lifestyles. It felt like a solid yet easy read. The narrative moved along well yet set a detailed and interesting atmosphere.
I liked the spattering of Shetland/Scottish words e.g. neeps, tatties, Peerie, simmer dim, ken etc.
The plot wasn't half bad either. Left me guessing for quite awhile. Everything felt authentic, not a fantastical description of an imagined circumstance. The investigation was well paced - detailed enough to get you invested in the case but not long winded enough to bore. As with the nature of the close community on the islands, it made it different to other detective stories, since Jimmy Perez already knew a lot of the back story of the people.
It didn't quite get 5 stars because it just didn't have that wow factor, nor was it an unputdownable book. Nevertheless, an enjoyable read.
I would love to visit and it gives a delightful taste of what the islands are like ( not so much the murders) but the erudite descriptions of the scenery and the differing lifestyles. It felt like a solid yet easy read. The narrative moved along well yet set a detailed and interesting atmosphere.
I liked the spattering of Shetland/Scottish words e.g. neeps, tatties, Peerie, simmer dim, ken etc.
The plot wasn't half bad either. Left me guessing for quite awhile. Everything felt authentic, not a fantastical description of an imagined circumstance. The investigation was well paced - detailed enough to get you invested in the case but not long winded enough to bore. As with the nature of the close community on the islands, it made it different to other detective stories, since Jimmy Perez already knew a lot of the back story of the people.
It didn't quite get 5 stars because it just didn't have that wow factor, nor was it an unputdownable book. Nevertheless, an enjoyable read.