Ann Cleeves: Raven Black (2008, Thomas Dunne Books)
375 pages
English language
Published Dec. 15, 2008 by Thomas Dunne Books.
Raven Black begins on New Year's Eve with a lonely outcast named Magnus Tait, who stays home waiting for visitors who never come. But the next morning the body of a murdered teenage girl is discovered nearby, and suspicion falls on Magnus. Inspector Jimmy Perez enters an investigative maze that leads deeper into the past of the Shetland Islands than anyone wants to go.
As a huge fan of the Vera Stanhope novels also by Ann Cleeves, I knew this would be good, but it is so much better than I imagined it would be.
A very winding, twisting, dark mystery.
Entertaining enough. I may have ruined it by watching the series first (though I missed this episode somehow.)
4 1/2 stars
Good writing, the characters were great, i really liked detective Perez, the descriptions of Shetland we amazing and really brought the place alive and the descriptions of knitting, knitwear and woodwork in general made my knitters heart proud. But the mystery was merely ok, not terribly earth shattering, but believable.
Atmospheric and cleverly plotted. Well worth the read. Ending came as a shock, not what I was expecting.
Good solid mystery with memorable-ish characters (the detective here is no Sherlock, to be sure) and a slightly-telegraphed twist. Enjoyed it enough to immediately buy the follow up (White Nights) when I finished.
A run-of-the-mill whodunnit. Those are ok.
