The Darkest Evening (Vera Stanhope)

Product Information

Now Sebastian and Elizabeth were long dead. Even Hector’s nephew Crispin had passed on. Vera had seen the notice in the local paper but hadn’t gone to the funeral; she’d known it would be a showy affair and anyway, she wouldn’t have been welcome. Only the two women, Harriet and her daughter Juliet, were left, and by now Juliet would be an adult, approaching middle-age. This opens in the middle of a blizzard – the kind of blizzard where you’re not even sure if there’s a road in front of you or if it might be veering off to one side or the other. When Vera spots a car off the side of the road with a door open, she really doesn’t want to get out in the blinding snow. But she does, and she discovers a small toddler in a car seat with no sign of anyone else. Where’s the driver? Why would he or she leave the car door open? Sitting with them had been three generations of women: Elizabeth, white-haired and wiry, wife of Hector’s elder brother Sebastian; Harriet, the very glamorous wife of Hector’s nephew Crispin; and her daughter Juliet, a toddler with blonde curls and a knowing stare. If the men were in the house, they’d kept well away. There’d been a conversation, which must have been about money, but which was so hedged around with euphemism that Vera hadn’t been able to work out what was being said. Besides, she’d been focused on the meringues, wondering if it would be rude to take the one which remained on the plate. As always, Hector had left empty-handed and bitter, swearing revenge all the way home. That branch of the clan used politeness as a method of mass destruction. But Hector had always come away humiliated and angry. Vera, who’d never felt any obligation to be loyal to her father, had understood the family’s point of view. Hector would be rude and demanding, usually halfway drunk on the most recent visits. She’d been hugely embarrassed and they’d been kind to her. This is the first book by this author I have tried to read. An editorial note, as a rule I’m not a big fan of the police procedural mysteries set in Great Britain, never have been. But I thought I’d give this one a go.

This is a well-constructed novel focusing on a police investigation by Vera and her team. She is gruff with them but keeps them well motivated and grateful for any praise. The detailed descriptions slowed down the pace and suspense for me, but the solution to the mystery was hard to predict. Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. The Vera The Darkest Evening book is set around Christmas, unlike the show. And inspired by the spirit of the season, Vera even ponders about being a kind of guardian in Thomas’ life, helping him out and visiting him occasionally and is told by the Falstones she'd be more than welcome to drop in and see Thomas in future. How many episodes of Vera season 12 are there?Juliet and Harriet become suspects when Vera discovers that Crispin had an affair with Jill. Rumor has it that he is Lorna’s father. The discovery that Crispin paid for Lorna’s hospital bills during her recovery and the appearance of a letter that Crispin left Harriet give credence to the rumor. Vera wonders whether someone killed Lorna because Lorna wanted her share of the inheritance and she was ready to go public with her heritage. DNA evidence later proves that Lorna was not Cripsin’s daughter. This interesting clashing of the classes occurs in the midst of the missing persons case turned deadly: within a few hours, the mother's body is discovered brutally murdered on the grounds of the estate.

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.

Need Help?

This investigation brings out the dirty secrets of the family and verifying the small town gossips: Lorna and Juliet might be step sisters or Lorna may have an affair with Juliet’s husband who may be also the secret father of the baby.