The Vera Stanhope novels have been dramatised as the TV detective series Vera beginning in 2011; the Jimmy Perez novels as the TV series Shetland; and the Matthew Venn novel The Long Call (from Cleeves' Two Rivers book series) as the TV series The Long Call (premiered autumn 2021). Because a new witness had just come forward. It seems Jeanie Long couldn’t have murdered that lass.’ He paused. Emma watched him rub his forehead with his broad, stubby fingers. It was as if he was trying to rub away the exhaustion. She wondered why he cared so deeply about a ten-year-old murder case. She could tell that he did care, that he had lain awake worrying about it. But he hadn’t even been living in the village then. He dropped his hands from his face. No traces of clay were left on his skin. He must have washed his hands before leaving the forge. ‘Shame no one bothered to tell Jeanie, huh?’ he said. ‘Or she might still be alive.’ James shook his head. ‘I’ve come off a Latvian container. Hull to sign off, then I drove straight home.’

a b c Lobb, Adrian (19 March 2013). "Ann Cleeves interview for Shetland". The Telegraph . Retrieved 24 May 2016. On hearing the news, Emma Bennett is haunted once more by memories of her vibrant best friend, Abigail, and by the thought that her killer is still at large. Was everything all right this evening?’ she asked to soften the rejection. ‘It’s been so windy. I imagine you out there in the dark, the waves so high.’ It has been ten years since Jeanie Long was charged with the murder of fifteen-year-old Abigail Mantel. Now residents of the East Yorkshire village of Elvet are disturbed to hear of new evidence proving Jeanie’s innocence. Abigail’s killer is still at large.

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These novels, except for The Glass Room, have been dramatized in the television series Vera on ITV, which stars Brenda Blethyn in the title role. The programme premiered in May 2011. But Jeanie commits suicide in her prison cell, unable to face the people who had believed her capable of killing a child. A riveting read. Ann Cleeves probes beneath the surface of a community to reveal the darkness that can fester when everyone thinks they know each other's secrets"

I have to say that for a murder that happened ten years in the past, there were more zigs and zags than I could have imagined. Vera not only has to resolve the killing of Abigail Mantel but she also takes up the cause of discovering why the original investigation went so very wrong. Jeanie Long committed suicide. She’d been turned down for parole again. It happened a couple of days ago. They kept it quiet over the weekend.’ Then, Emma notices a large woman in the church, a stranger, and wonders who she is. By the description, we readers know immediately. Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shownOn Sunday, her head filled with confused memories, Emma attends church with her husband, James, and her infant son. As she sits holding her son, Matthew, on her lap, she wonders if the tragedy will be announced from the altar. There was a moment of silence. Emma wondered what Dan could know about all that. Had the two men discussed her on other occasions when she hadn’t been watching?