The fatal stabbing of 70-year-old Margaret Krukowski on a train car filled with Christmas shoppers propels British author Cleeves’s excellent sixth mystery featuring Northumbrian Det. Insp. Vera Continue reading » I’ve got a birthday treat for you, lad.’ And he listened as she talked about the murder, recognizing her excitement. Hearing too his wife’s voice in his head: That woman’s a ghoul – the delight she takes in other people’s misery.

The Glass Room: Ann Cleeves (Vera Stanhope Book 5) The Glass Room: Ann Cleeves (Vera Stanhope Book 5)

Ann Cleeves creates a variety of rich characters in all her books - anyone of them could potentially be 'the villain', but she strategically plots their journey with plenty of veils, thus masking their motivations. In 'The Glass Room', AC also reveals more about wily Vera, as well as Holly and Joe. We see some collegial conflict and build a clearer picture of their personalities and what drives them, or what challenges them. As always, Vera is an engaging character. This is how she invites Joe over for dinner at her house: Vera, present in a personal capacity, calls in the local police and her colleagues from CID. Those present at Writer's House at the time of the murder are rounded up and all but a handful eliminated from the enquiry for logistical reasons. The remaining suspects or witnesses include Miranda, the owner of the house and business; her son Alex; a retired policeman now hoping to be a published author; a young man who has discovered a writing talent while in prison; an elderly famous crime writer who is teaching on the course; and another teacher, Nina, an academic and aspiring writer. By the process of elimination, one of these people, or Joanna, must have committed the crime – though there is the outside chance that a random stranger could have gained access.This is the fifth novel featuring the flawed but engagingly perceptive DI Vera Stanhope, recently portayed on TV by Brenda Blethyn. It's also the twentyfifth novel of Ann Cleeves' writing career, which - together with much else - embraces the truly excellent Shetland Quartet, a series of four novels featuring the enigmatic Fair Isle-born DI Jimmy Perez.

The Glass Room: A Vera Stanhope Mystery by Ann Cleeves The Glass Room: A Vera Stanhope Mystery by Ann Cleeves

DI Vera Stanhope is not one to make friends easily, but her hippy neighbours keep her well-supplied in homebrew and conversation, so she has more tolerance for them than most. When one of them goes missing she feels duty-bound to find out what happened. But her path leads her to more than a missing friend ... As you can see, there’s a lot going on in The Glass Room. Questions beget answers, which then beget more questions. I was completely drawn in, and stayed that way till the end. Cleeves's characters are richly drawn, their motives are believable, and the plot is engaging and with enough surprises that readers will be guessing until the very end."-- Library Journal on The Glass RoomClarts? Free Dictionary says, “ dialect Scot and Northern English lumps of mud, esp on shoes.” The setting of the Vera Stanhope stories—Northumberland, England’s northernmost county—lends itself to regional dialect. Note also Vera’s unsparing description of herself: “great fat Cupid in wellies” is one of her milder self-portraits. Calling in the team, Vera knows that she should hand the case over. She's too close to the main suspect. But the investigation is too tempting and she's never been one to follow the rules.

The Glass Room By Ann Cleeves | Used | 9780330512701 - Wob The Glass Room By Ann Cleeves | Used | 9780330512701 - Wob

If you like the TV series, you're in for a treat - because the atmospheric but realistic books are even better."The ground shifts in more ways than one for Det. Insp. Jimmy Perez in CWA Diamond Dagger–winner Cleeves’s moody seventh Shetland mystery (after 2016’s Thin Air). At the funeral of old Magnus Continue reading » DI Vera Stanhope is not one to make friends easily, but her hippy neighbours keep her well-supplied in homebrew and conversation. But when one of them goes missing, her path leads her to more than a missing friend . . . I love the way this novel unfolds. The situation becomes increasingly complex as new characters emerge onto the scene – everyone in the Writers’ House, to begin with. Vera and her trusty second, Joe Ashworth, remain in charge of the investigation. The Writers’ House is designed to be a sanctuary. Within its walls, those who long for literary achievement and eventual recognition can work in a peaceful setting, receive helpful suggestions from fellow aspirants, and be instructed and encouraged by guest writers acting as as tutors and exemplars.

The Glass Room: Ann Cleeves (Vera Stanhope Book 5)

The Glass Room is the fifth book in Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series – which is now a major ITV detective drama starring Brenda Blethyn as Vera. From the 'puzzle' standpoint this makes for a very satisfying read, but there can be an element of friction between puzzles and procedurals. Puzzles thrive on all things mystic and symbolic, while procedurals demand a higher level of credibility. Taking account of this distinction I have some misgivings about the closing scenes of the investigation, and I had similar misgivings about 'Hidden Depths', the third Vera Stanhope novel. These misgivings are the reason for the phrase 'not quite a classic' in the heading of the review - and also the reason for awarding four stars rather than five.A series of fictional plots are pressed into service as blueprints for real-life crimes at a writers’ retreat.