11/28/2016
Fans of the Vera Stanhope novels already available in the U.S., as well as the TV series Vera, will welcome Cleeves’s intricate series opener (first published in 1998), which introduced the Northumberland detective inspector. Three very different women—team leader Rachael Lambert, botanist Anne Preece, and mammal expert Grace Fulwell—are conducting an environmental impact assessment to estimate the damage that a new quarry would do to a national park’s pristine land and wildlife. When a suicide and a murder rock the project, Vera must sift through the murk to catch a ruthless killer. Though it offers a fine mystery, the story nevertheless belongs to its women. Cleeves thoroughly explores the passions and motivations of each, while exposing the human greed and sorrow beneath the bucolic landscape. The Columbo-esque Vera, who hides a fierce intelligence and razor sharp instincts under garish clothing, uses every tool at her disposal to solve the crime. Agent: Sarah Menguc, Sarah Menguc Literary Agent (U.K.). (Feb.)
The Crow Trap (Vera Stanhope Series #1)
Narrated by Anne Dover
Ann CleevesUnabridged — 14 hours, 8 minutes
The Crow Trap (Vera Stanhope Series #1)
Narrated by Anne Dover
Ann CleevesUnabridged — 14 hours, 8 minutes
Audiobook (Digital)
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Overview
When Rachael arrives at the cottage, however, she is horrified to discover the body of her friend Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide--a verdict Rachael finds impossible to accept.
Only when the next death occurs does a fourth woman enter the picture--the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, who must piece together the truth from these women's tangled lives...
Editorial Reviews
"Fans of the Vera Stanhope novels already available in the U.S., as well as the TV series Vera, will welcome Cleeves’s intricate series opener. The Columbo-esque Vera, who hides a fierce intelligence and razor sharp instincts under garish clothing, uses every tool at her disposal to solve the crime."—Publishers Weekly
"Trauma, obsession, and murder entwine in a suspense-packed crime story that puts Ms. Cleeves in the Rendell class." —Peterborough Evening Telegraph
"It's a dark, interesting novel with considerable emotional force behind it." —The Spectator
"Cleeves's softly, softly approach delivers a powerful punch." —The Observer
“I do love Vera!” —Val McDermid
“Nothing short of riveting." —Louise Penny
"Creates a dark enough mood to keep you straining to see what will come to light next." —People
"Gripping from start to finish." —Booklist
"In true Christie fashion, Cleeves once more pulls the wool over our eyes with cunning and conviction." —Colin Dexter
“Cleeves’ taut, atmospheric thriller will keep readers guessing until the last page . . . Chilling.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Intricate and engrossing . . . offers readers the pleasures of the traditional locked room/isolated island mystery.” —Washington Post Book World
"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)
If you're a fan of Frances Fyfield, Minette Walters, or Val McDermid, get to know Cleeves. —Globe and Mail (Canada)
02/01/2017
Published in the UK in 1998 and just now released in the United States, this first book in Cleeves's "Vera Stanhope" series (which also inspired a popular television show) demonstrates exactly why the curmudgeonly Northumberland police detective gets results. Three local women—botanist Anne, zoologist Grace, and team leader Rachael—have banded together to study the environmental impacts of a proposed quarry on a national park. It isn't even the suicide of Rachael's friend that gets Vera on the case: it's the more obvious murder of someone closely linked to the project that raises the detective's investigative hackles. Like so many large-scale environmental programs that have the potential to disrupt small villages, the quarry project stirs up bad blood, causing Vera to question whether or not the deaths—she's convinced the two are connected—are related to the new development or to darker secrets buried much deeper. VERDICT It would be foolish to discount Vera because she doesn't dress smartly—she can outfox even the wiliest of criminals, while wearing whatever she pleases, and readers will delight in getting the chance to see how such a quirky character evolved.
2016-12-07
A British environmental survey suddenly turns dangerous when several deaths occur. Three very different women—team leader Rachael Lambert, botanist Anne Preece, and zoologist Grace Fulwell—are hired to check the area of a planned quarry for environmental problems. Arriving at Baikie's Cottage, which is to be the group's home base, Rachael finds her friend Bella, who lives nearby, hanged in the shed along with a suicide note. Despite this gruesome discovery, the survey mostly goes as planned, although Grace, an uncommunicative young woman, observes an amazing number of otters in the stream running through the area. The owners of the land the quarry is on, Robert and Livvy Fulwell, are eager to see the project approved. The owners of nearby Slateburn Quarries, Godfrey and Barbara Waugh, are less enthusiastic, but the survey continues until Grace is found strangled near Baikie's. Assigned to the case is Inspector Vera Stanhope, who often visited the cottage years ago with her father, a friend of the rather famous lady who owned it. As Vera seeks answers, she finds so many threads that link Bella's suicide and Grace's murder that it becomes hard to tell whether the murder is rooted in the quarry project or past secrets. This first installment in Cleeves' Vera Stanhope series, now published in the U.S. for the first time, offers abundant evidence why the police-detective heroine, physically unattractive but extremely clever, and her meticulously plotted adventures (The Moth Catcher, 2016, etc.) have made such a splash in bookstores and in the TV series Vera.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169614398 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Macmillan Audio |
| Publication date: | 02/21/2017 |
| Series: | Vera Stanhope Series , #1 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 751,974 |
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