This second book in the Vera Stanhope series was better than the first, but I think there’s still lots of room for improvement. Much of the book is spent getting the reader comfortable with all the players, but I still had to stop every now and then to keep them straight in my head. Michael and Peg Long have a daughter, Jeanie, who lived with a man, Keith Mantel, whose daughter, Abigail, was murdered. Abigail's friend, Emma Bennett, wife of James and mother of Matthew, found the body. Jeanie is convicted, but ten years later, the case is reopened. Emma's parents are Robert and Mary Winter. Robert was Jeanie's probation officer. Their son, and Emma's brother, Christopher, is found murdered. That’s basically it in a nutshell. The interrelationships with these characters sometimes made me want to scream. Emma especially needed straightening out. Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope is tasked with uncovering the truth and, as her new inquiries stoke up past secrets the villagers will lie to protect, she must find out which lies will bring her to the killer. Shetland' gets full six-part series on BBC One". Digital Spy. 3 April 2013 . Retrieved 24 May 2016.

Come to bed,’ he said. ‘Get some sleep while you can.’ She thought he had already put Abigail Mantel and Jeanie Long out of his mind. And in the end, those dots led to the doorstep of a killer that may have surprised both Vera and this reader. When another murder occurs in the village, Vera is joined by her Sergeant, Joe Ashworth. She and Joe first decide to interview Caroline Fletcher who was the SIO on the original case.The setting perfectly captures the essence of the book, a 15 year old girl murdered in a village of lies and deceit. That’s one of Ann Cleeves’ strengths. Like Christie, she sets a scene, in a small village or a large country house, and allows the characters to reveal their own secrets, the stories they tell themselves about their past and their lives. Vera listens. At times she doubts herself, but she’s finally able to see the truth, the nugget buried somewhere in all of the tales people tell. The reader might be there for all of the accounts Vera hears, but, time and again, Vera discovers a truth that the reader misses. What does a naive young wife, handsome but bland older husband, religious zealots, ex-police officers and greedy older men have in common? Why a body (or two), of course, which draws the attention of our less-than-attractive police inspector, Vera Stanhope. Vera is, as she is on TV, slightly annoying, but easy to talk to. She is not welcomed by the local police even though the two officers in charge of the original murder investigation have since left the force. Vera is persistent; she discovers that both officers still live locally and are involved with members of Emma and Abigail’s family. Michael Long, father of Jeanie, who was wrongly imprisoned for the murder, is determined to seek out the real killer, while Emma’s father, Robert Winter, who was Jeanie’s probation officer earns our suspicions.

Another great novel by Ann Cleeves with Vera. I keeps you guessing right to the end. If you are astute you might spot the anomaly near the beginning but after that Vera chases down a list of people who could be suspects all as a result of anomalies and secrets revealed. All are reasonable outcomes and they remain live to the end. You just have to keep reading. Okay, so now that I have all those grand announcements out of the way. Let’s chat about Telling Tales, shall we? Now Inspector Vera Stanhope is making fresh enquiries amongst the residents of Elvet, the small East Yorkshire village where Emma and Abigail grew up. Everyone is feeling vulnerable and uneasy, even guilty. 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.For the National Year of Reading, Ann was made reader-in-residence for three library authorities. It came as a revelation that it was po That was what she told herself, but the words ran meaninglessly through her head. She was trying to fend off the panic which had been building since she had heard the men talking on the square, growing like a huge wave which rises from nothing out at sea. From Ann Cleeves— New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows—comes Telling Tales . As this was Vera’s first full appearance, I found myself mainly focusing on her traits and mannerisms.

The MacMillan audio edition of Telling Tales, read by Julia Franklin, was shortlisted for an 'Audie' Award for best Mystery.Telling Tales revisits a 10-year old murder after the woman convicted of the crime kills herself in prison and after a new witness comes up clearing her of the murder. Vera Stanhope is assigned to go to the Yorkshire village of Elvet to re-open the investigation. Another murder takes place while Vera is there, begging the question if this murder is related to the previous. Telling Tales is one of the “Vera” series by Ann Cleeves which I know so well from the TV series. In this novel, Inspector Vera Stanhope has been called away from her home county of Northumberland to reopen a murder case in a small Yorkshire village by the sea, east of Hull. But first the author takes us into the mind of Emma Bennett, who was 15 years old when she found her best friend, Abigail, lying dead. Now Emma is a dissatisfied mother with a baby, apparently happily married to James. But James has a secret and we are able to read his point of view too. 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.’ My introduction to Deputy Chief Inspector (DCI) Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria Police came by way of my local public television station, which for the past several years has hosted Vera, the television series based on the edge-of-your-seat novels written by Ann Cleeves. As soon as I saw the first couple of episodes, I immediately went in search of the books. Some were harder to find than others.

For the National Year of Reading, Ann was made reader-in-residence for three library authorities. It came as a revelation that it was possible to get paid for talking to readers about books! She went on to set up reading groups in prisons as part of the Inside Books project, became Cheltenham Literature Festival's first reader-in-residence and still enjoys working with libraries. I don’t suppose it’ll make much difference to Em. Not after all this time. I mean it’s not as if she knew Jeanie, not so much. She was very young when all that was going on.’ He sat on the bed. He was bare chested, his body coated with fine blond hair. Although he was fifteen years older than her, you’d never have guessed, he was so fit. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about reading this one since I've watched the episode on TV (twice) but it was fascinating to see the differences. I enjoyed them both and I'm glad I read both. The differences were enlightening. I could see the reasons for the changes when adapting the story for television and they made sense. All the same, I loved the original. The plot was more powerful but the pacing for television better (at least for tv--who wants to wait for half the story before Vera appears?). From Ann Cleeves, winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger Award, comes Telling Tales, an early book in the Vera Stanhope series, which has been brought to life by Brenda Blethyn in the hit TV series Vera.Ann Cleeves is a skillful technician, keeping our interest alive and building slowly up to the denouement. Her easy use of language and clever story construction make her one of the best natural writers of detective fiction." — Sunday Express (UK) She had imagined nothing of the sort. Not tonight. When she had first met him she had dreamed of him out on the dark sea. Somehow now, the romance had gone out of it. Jeanie Long committed suicide last week. You know, Jeanie Long. Her father used to be coxswain on the launch at the point. The woman who was convicted of strangling Abigail.’ Ten-years-ago when Emma Winter moved to the village of Elvet, East Yorkshire and her early days were filled by her sole friendship, with the vibrant and ethereal beauty of best friend, fifteen-year-old Abigail Mantel. Both misfits in their own way, Emma longed for escape to the Old Chalet and Abigail’s glamorous lifestyle with her widowed and charismatic father, Keith. Within six-months of moving to Elvet, Emma’s life was blighted by the discovery of her friends body, strangled to death. The much younger girlfriend of Keith, Jeanie Long, was sentenced to life imprisonment, unable to offer a corroborated alibi and given her fractious relationship with Abigail and Keith asking her to move out of the home she had spent three-months living at. However, ten years later and turned down for parole, Jeanie Long’s suicide prior to a new witness coming forward sees DI Vera Stanhope casting fresh eyes over an investigation that the neighbouring force of Yorkshire originally presided over. It doesn’t take Vera too long to unsettle villagers and enthuse Elvet with her mischievous energy and get to grips with the very ferocity of human emotions and the lengths that it can drive people to.