The Killing Stones: A Detective Jimmy Perez Novel

"Kenny Blyth's warm Scottish accent and facility with creating characters make him the ideal narrator for Ann Cleeves' new series featuring Detective Jimmy Perez and his partner, Willow Reeves." - AudioFile

The Killing Stones marks the eagerly awaited return of Ann Cleeves' beloved detectives from the Shetland series, and a gripping new investigation with a stunning new setting, from the New York Times bestselling author and creator of three iconic detectives beloved in TV and print: DI Jimmy Perez (the Shetland series), DI Vera Stanhope, and DI Matthew Venn (The Long Call).

It's been several years since Detective Jimmy Perez left Shetland. He has settled into his new home in Orkney, the group of islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, with his partner Willow Reeve and their growing family. One stormy winter night, his oldest and closest friend, Archie Stout, goes missing. Ever the detective, Perez catches a boat to the island of Westray, where Archie worked as a farmer and lived with his wife and children.

But when he arrives he finds a shocking scene: Archie's body, on an archaeological dig site and an ancient Westray story stone with precise spirals carved into it beside him, the clear murder weapon. The artifact, taken from a nearby museum, seems to suggest a premediated murder.

But Perez is so close to the case that he struggles to maintain an objective distance from the potential suspects. He finds it difficult to question Archie's wife, whom he's known for years. Rumors swirl about the dead man's relationship with a young woman new to the island, an artist. With each new lead, the case becomes more twisted and Perez wonders if he will ever find out what happened in his friend's final days.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

1146946059
The Killing Stones: A Detective Jimmy Perez Novel

"Kenny Blyth's warm Scottish accent and facility with creating characters make him the ideal narrator for Ann Cleeves' new series featuring Detective Jimmy Perez and his partner, Willow Reeves." - AudioFile

The Killing Stones marks the eagerly awaited return of Ann Cleeves' beloved detectives from the Shetland series, and a gripping new investigation with a stunning new setting, from the New York Times bestselling author and creator of three iconic detectives beloved in TV and print: DI Jimmy Perez (the Shetland series), DI Vera Stanhope, and DI Matthew Venn (The Long Call).

It's been several years since Detective Jimmy Perez left Shetland. He has settled into his new home in Orkney, the group of islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, with his partner Willow Reeve and their growing family. One stormy winter night, his oldest and closest friend, Archie Stout, goes missing. Ever the detective, Perez catches a boat to the island of Westray, where Archie worked as a farmer and lived with his wife and children.

But when he arrives he finds a shocking scene: Archie's body, on an archaeological dig site and an ancient Westray story stone with precise spirals carved into it beside him, the clear murder weapon. The artifact, taken from a nearby museum, seems to suggest a premediated murder.

But Perez is so close to the case that he struggles to maintain an objective distance from the potential suspects. He finds it difficult to question Archie's wife, whom he's known for years. Rumors swirl about the dead man's relationship with a young woman new to the island, an artist. With each new lead, the case becomes more twisted and Perez wonders if he will ever find out what happened in his friend's final days.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

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The Killing Stones: A Detective Jimmy Perez Novel

The Killing Stones: A Detective Jimmy Perez Novel

by Ann Cleeves

Narrated by Kenny Blyth

Unabridged — 10 hours, 56 minutes

The Killing Stones: A Detective Jimmy Perez Novel

The Killing Stones: A Detective Jimmy Perez Novel

by Ann Cleeves

Narrated by Kenny Blyth

Unabridged — 10 hours, 56 minutes

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Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Detective Jimmy Perez gets caught up in a missing person’s case that’s too close to home in this high-stakes mystery from Ann Cleeves.

"Kenny Blyth's warm Scottish accent and facility with creating characters make him the ideal narrator for Ann Cleeves' new series featuring Detective Jimmy Perez and his partner, Willow Reeves." - AudioFile

The Killing Stones marks the eagerly awaited return of Ann Cleeves' beloved detectives from the Shetland series, and a gripping new investigation with a stunning new setting, from the New York Times bestselling author and creator of three iconic detectives beloved in TV and print: DI Jimmy Perez (the Shetland series), DI Vera Stanhope, and DI Matthew Venn (The Long Call).

It's been several years since Detective Jimmy Perez left Shetland. He has settled into his new home in Orkney, the group of islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, with his partner Willow Reeve and their growing family. One stormy winter night, his oldest and closest friend, Archie Stout, goes missing. Ever the detective, Perez catches a boat to the island of Westray, where Archie worked as a farmer and lived with his wife and children.

But when he arrives he finds a shocking scene: Archie's body, on an archaeological dig site and an ancient Westray story stone with precise spirals carved into it beside him, the clear murder weapon. The artifact, taken from a nearby museum, seems to suggest a premediated murder.

But Perez is so close to the case that he struggles to maintain an objective distance from the potential suspects. He finds it difficult to question Archie's wife, whom he's known for years. Rumors swirl about the dead man's relationship with a young woman new to the island, an artist. With each new lead, the case becomes more twisted and Perez wonders if he will ever find out what happened in his friend's final days.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books


Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

An Apple Books Best of the Month Pick

The Washington Post - “Ann Cleeves, Shunning Retirement (and Pilates) is Back With a New Mystery”
Chicago Review of Books – “Writing From Memory: A Conversation with Ann Cleeves about The Killing Stones
Los Angeles Times - “British Mysteries to Read This Fall”
Crimereads - Top Ten Books This Week
Booktrib - Interview with Ann Cleeves
Fresh Fiction - “Fresh Pick”

“Cleeves crafts a taut police procedural, enhanced by the craggy and mythical atmosphere of Scotland’s remote islands and brightened by the domestic tranquility the detective duo has established in a new community.”—Booklist (Starred Review)

“Cleeves excels at drawing a picture of the landscapes, communities, and the characters who live in them. Readers will welcome the return of Jimmy and Willow and be thrilled with the new setting.”—Library Journal

“Crafty . . . The intensely personal nature of the case infuses it with welcome emotional depth, and Cleeves keeps readers guessing until she delivers a gutting climactic reveal that few will see coming. This proves Detective Perez still has the goods.”—Publishers Weekly

“A first-rate mystery full of historical detail and descriptions of a beautiful place.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Irresistible. Ann Cleeves’ restless love of landscape and story bring us yet another gem, in this bold and dramatic high stakes return for Jimmy Perez.”—Val McDermid, #1 internationally bestselling author

“Ann Cleeves’s elegance as a wordsmith, the ingenuity of her plots, and the depth of her characters can be matched by few writers. In The Killing Stones she brings back the beloved Jimmy Perez in a tale that highlights the entire spectrum of her formidable talents. I was instantly caught up in the sparkling world of her imagination and propelled through several hundred pages of great storytelling on the lonely isle of Orkney, where bodies keep turning up. This novel is more than worth every minute you spend with it.”—David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Reading a new Jimmy Perez novel is like snuggling up with dear friends around a crackling fire. The Killing Stones is classic Ann Cleeves: a complex mystery, beloved characters, and a setting so vivid you can feel the chill of wind and rain on your face.”—Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Guests

“Lord GOD lads, this was fecken fantastic! Jimmy is back, in Orkney now instead of Shetland, and Ann Cleeves is a stone cold genius.”—Marian Keyes, #1 international bestselling author of My Favorite Mistake

“It’s a new island and a new chapter for Perez and his family, but in the extraordinary hands of Ann Cleeves—surely one of our greatest ever crime writers?—the result is predictably brilliant. It’s new but familiar. Exciting but comforting. It's a masterpiece in character and location—welcome back Jimmy Perez!”—M.V. Craven, award-winning author of Nobody's Hero

“Like Rendell and James before her, like McDermid and Rankin today, Ann Cleeves is one of our secret chroniclers, charting—under cover of a series of expertly plotted and mesmerizing crime novels—how we live now.”— Mick Herron, author of Slow Horses

"Ann Cleeves is one of my favorite mystery writers."—Louise Penny, New York Times bestselling author of the Chief Inspector Gamache series

Kirkus Reviews

2025-07-17
When a detective’s best friend is murdered, the investigation turns up some painful secrets.

Jimmy Perez and his life partner, Willow Reeves, met in Shetland but currently live in Orkney—both Scottish archipelagoes—with their son, James, as they await the arrival of a baby soon to be born. Both are passionate about their police work, so Willow’s not surprised to come home to a note saying that Jimmy’s best friend, Archie Stout, is missing and Jimmy’s gone to Westray to help in the search. Next morning, he calls to tell her that Archie’s dead, found in the remnants of an archeological dig, hit in the head with one of a pair of ancient stones usually kept in a museum. Archie was a fearless risk taker, a hot-tempered Viking with a passion for the isles of his birth. Jimmy goes to Archie’s family farm to question his widow, Vaila, in hope of finding a clue from a long list of enemies he’s made in the past and his actions the day he died. Despite the two sons he shared with Vaila, Archie was always a flirt, and Jimmy learns that he had several extramarital affairs, most recently with Englishwoman Rosalie Greeman, an artist who denies any sexual relationship. The detective duo turns up another suspect in a supercilious college professor whose famous published paper was apparently based on the unacknowledged research of Archie’s father. More motives turn up as the islanders prepare for Christmas celebrations, and the wild weather leaves Jimmy and Willow shorthanded as they pursue leads. Did love or money lead to Archie’s death?

A first-rate mystery full of historical detail and descriptions of a beautiful place.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940194402090
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication date: 09/30/2025
Series: Jimmy Perez and Willow Reeves , #1
Edition description: Unabridged
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