You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
amysmithlinton 's review for:
The Dark Wives
by Ann Cleeves
Okay, it's Vera, so 4 stars, and the narrator Janine Birkett is top notch, so 5 stars, but to be brutally honest, this 11th Vera Stanhope is not the strongest of the very good series, so 3 stars.
The story is a standard murder mystery: a body, a missing youngster in a care home, and then a second body connected to a care home. Vera, the shrewd, grumpy, heart-of-gold detective inspector who has been working this beat her whole career is trying out a new team member after a recent loss.
Set in the UK, Northumberland, where the sacred trust of a social safety net: caseworkers, caseworkers, youth care homes, socialized medicine, and socialized mental health help—is assumed, so the failure of the society to care for youngsters is enough to make Vera's blood boil.
Despite the best of intentions to share the work of solving the case, Vera again, mostly solo, makes the mental jumps to connect the evidence and catch the killer(s).
The narrator Janine Burkett does a great job presenting the story, and while I felt the plot itself unfolded with an uneven jerky-jerky mechanical hitch ( would that guy have done that violence for the reason given? and would the runner have been found under those circumstances? Really?), I enjoyed it, and look forward to Vera's next case.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for my unfettered opinion.
The story is a standard murder mystery: a body, a missing youngster in a care home, and then a second body connected to a care home. Vera, the shrewd, grumpy, heart-of-gold detective inspector who has been working this beat her whole career is trying out a new team member after a recent loss.
Set in the UK, Northumberland, where the sacred trust of a social safety net: caseworkers, caseworkers, youth care homes, socialized medicine, and socialized mental health help—is assumed, so the failure of the society to care for youngsters is enough to make Vera's blood boil.
Despite the best of intentions to share the work of solving the case, Vera again, mostly solo, makes the mental jumps to connect the evidence and catch the killer(s).
The narrator Janine Burkett does a great job presenting the story, and while I felt the plot itself unfolded with an uneven jerky-jerky mechanical hitch ( would that guy have done that violence for the reason given? and would the runner have been found under those circumstances? Really?), I enjoyed it, and look forward to Vera's next case.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for my unfettered opinion.