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Vera Stanhope #4
Βουβές κραυγές
Μετά την εντυπωσιακή επιτυχία του βιβλίου της "Υγρός Θάνατος", η συγγραφέας Ann Cleeves φέρνει πάλι κοντά μας την αντισυμβατική ντετέκτιβ Βέρα Στάνχοουπ. Ευέξαπτη, πεισματάρα, μοναχική, αλλά με δαιμόνιο ένστικτο, η Βέρα καλείται να λύσει άλλο ένα σκοτεινό μυστήριο...
Η Βέρα είδε ότι στην αίθουσα του χαμάμ ήταν και μια γυναίκα που καθόταν στη γωνία με τα γόνατα λυγισμένα και τα πόδια της να ακουμπάνε στο μαρμάρινο παγκάκι. Το κεφάλι της έγερνε προς τα πίσω και η Βέρα σκέφτηκε ότι η γυναίκα αυτή φαινόταν τελείως χαλαρωμένη. Τη ζήλεψε. Η απόλυτη χαλάρωση ήταν κάτι που σπάνια πετύχαινε...
Ο ατμός είχε διαλυθεί κάπως και η Βέρα είδε ότι η γυναίκα ήταν γύρω στα σαράντα και όχι ηλικιωμένη. Είχε κοντά σγουρά μαλλιά και φορούσε ένα απλό μπλε μαγιό. Αδύνατη με μακριά, γυμνασμένα πόδια. Μόνο κάποια στιγμή που ένα αόρατο ρεύμα αέρα διέλυσε και πάλι τη θολούρα κατάλαβε η Βέρα ότι η παρέα της ήταν αφύσικα ακίνητη και χλωμή. Η γυναίκα που ήταν αντικείμενο του φθόνου της ήταν νεκρή.
Η Βέρα είναι ενθουσιασμένη που έχει άλλη μια υπόθεση στα χέρια της. Τελικά, ο θάνατος την κάνει να αισθάνεται ζωντανή όσο ποτέ. Όταν μάλιστα αποκαλύπτεται ότι το θύμα δούλευε ως κοινωνική λειτουργός και ήταν μπλεγμένη σε μια ανατριχιαστική υπόθεση με ένα μικρό παιδί, τότε γίνεται φανερό ότι τα δύο αυτά γεγονότα έχουν κάποια σχέση.
Τα φαινόμενα όμως, ως συνήθως, απατούν...
Η Βέρα είδε ότι στην αίθουσα του χαμάμ ήταν και μια γυναίκα που καθόταν στη γωνία με τα γόνατα λυγισμένα και τα πόδια της να ακουμπάνε στο μαρμάρινο παγκάκι. Το κεφάλι της έγερνε προς τα πίσω και η Βέρα σκέφτηκε ότι η γυναίκα αυτή φαινόταν τελείως χαλαρωμένη. Τη ζήλεψε. Η απόλυτη χαλάρωση ήταν κάτι που σπάνια πετύχαινε...
Ο ατμός είχε διαλυθεί κάπως και η Βέρα είδε ότι η γυναίκα ήταν γύρω στα σαράντα και όχι ηλικιωμένη. Είχε κοντά σγουρά μαλλιά και φορούσε ένα απλό μπλε μαγιό. Αδύνατη με μακριά, γυμνασμένα πόδια. Μόνο κάποια στιγμή που ένα αόρατο ρεύμα αέρα διέλυσε και πάλι τη θολούρα κατάλαβε η Βέρα ότι η παρέα της ήταν αφύσικα ακίνητη και χλωμή. Η γυναίκα που ήταν αντικείμενο του φθόνου της ήταν νεκρή.
Η Βέρα είναι ενθουσιασμένη που έχει άλλη μια υπόθεση στα χέρια της. Τελικά, ο θάνατος την κάνει να αισθάνεται ζωντανή όσο ποτέ. Όταν μάλιστα αποκαλύπτεται ότι το θύμα δούλευε ως κοινωνική λειτουργός και ήταν μπλεγμένη σε μια ανατριχιαστική υπόθεση με ένα μικρό παιδί, τότε γίνεται φανερό ότι τα δύο αυτά γεγονότα έχουν κάποια σχέση.
Τα φαινόμενα όμως, ως συνήθως, απατούν...
462 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
4025 people are currently reading
4569 people want to read
About the author
Ann Cleeves
132 books8,828 followersAnn is the author of the books behind ITV's VERA, now in it's third series, and the BBC's SHETLAND, which will be aired in December 2012. Ann's DI Vera Stanhope series of books is set in Northumberland and features the well loved detective along with her partner Joe Ashworth. Ann's Shetland series bring us DI Jimmy Perez, investigating in the mysterious, dark, and beautiful Shetland Islands...
Ann grew up in the country, first in Herefordshire, then in North Devon. Her father was a village school teacher. After dropping out of university she took a number of temporary jobs - child care officer, women's refuge leader, bird observatory cook, auxiliary coastguard - before going back to college and training to be a probation officer.
While she was cooking in the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, she met her husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist. She was attracted less by the ornithology than the bottle of malt whisky she saw in his rucksack when she showed him his room. Soon after they married, Tim was appointed as warden of Hilbre, a tiny tidal island nature reserve in the Dee Estuary. They were the only residents, there was no mains electricity or water and access to the mainland was at low tide across the shore. If a person's not heavily into birds - and Ann isn't - there's not much to do on Hilbre and that was when she started writing. Her first series of crime novels features the elderly naturalist, George Palmer-Jones. A couple of these books are seriously dreadful.
In 1987 Tim, Ann and their two daughters moved to Northumberland and the north east provides the inspiration for many of her subsequent titles. The girls have both taken up with Geordie lads. In the autumn of 2006, Ann and Tim finally achieved their ambition of moving back to the North East.
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.
Ann Cleeves on stage at the Duncan Lawrie Dagger awards ceremony
Ann's short film for Border TV, Catching Birds, won a Royal Television Society Award. She has twice been short listed for a CWA Dagger Award - once for her short story The Plater, and the following year for the Dagger in the Library award.
In 2006 Ann Cleeves was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association for Raven Black, the first volume of her Shetland Quartet. The Duncan Lawrie Dagger replaces the CWA's Gold Dagger award, and the winner receives £20,000, making it the world's largest award for crime fiction.
Ann's success was announced at the 2006 Dagger Awards ceremony at the Waldorf Hilton, in London's Aldwych, on Thursday 29 June 2006. She said: "I have never won anything before in my life, so it was a complete shock - but lovely of course.. The evening was relatively relaxing because I'd lost my voice and knew that even if the unexpected happened there was physically no way I could utter a word. So I wouldn't have to give a speech. My editor was deputed to do it!"
The judging panel consisted of Geoff Bradley (non-voting Chair), Lyn Brown MP (a committee member on the London Libraries service), Frances Gray (an academic who writes about and teaches courses on modern crime fiction), Heather O'Donoghue (academic, linguist, crime fiction reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, and keen reader of all crime fiction) and Barry Forshaw (reviewer and editor of Crime Time magazine).
Ann's books have been translated into sixteen languages. She's a bestseller in Scandinavia and Germany. Her novels sell widely and to critical acclaim in the United States. Raven Black was shortlisted for the Martin Beck award for best translated crime novel in Sweden in 200
Ann grew up in the country, first in Herefordshire, then in North Devon. Her father was a village school teacher. After dropping out of university she took a number of temporary jobs - child care officer, women's refuge leader, bird observatory cook, auxiliary coastguard - before going back to college and training to be a probation officer.
While she was cooking in the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, she met her husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist. She was attracted less by the ornithology than the bottle of malt whisky she saw in his rucksack when she showed him his room. Soon after they married, Tim was appointed as warden of Hilbre, a tiny tidal island nature reserve in the Dee Estuary. They were the only residents, there was no mains electricity or water and access to the mainland was at low tide across the shore. If a person's not heavily into birds - and Ann isn't - there's not much to do on Hilbre and that was when she started writing. Her first series of crime novels features the elderly naturalist, George Palmer-Jones. A couple of these books are seriously dreadful.
In 1987 Tim, Ann and their two daughters moved to Northumberland and the north east provides the inspiration for many of her subsequent titles. The girls have both taken up with Geordie lads. In the autumn of 2006, Ann and Tim finally achieved their ambition of moving back to the North East.
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.
Ann Cleeves on stage at the Duncan Lawrie Dagger awards ceremony
Ann's short film for Border TV, Catching Birds, won a Royal Television Society Award. She has twice been short listed for a CWA Dagger Award - once for her short story The Plater, and the following year for the Dagger in the Library award.
In 2006 Ann Cleeves was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association for Raven Black, the first volume of her Shetland Quartet. The Duncan Lawrie Dagger replaces the CWA's Gold Dagger award, and the winner receives £20,000, making it the world's largest award for crime fiction.
Ann's success was announced at the 2006 Dagger Awards ceremony at the Waldorf Hilton, in London's Aldwych, on Thursday 29 June 2006. She said: "I have never won anything before in my life, so it was a complete shock - but lovely of course.. The evening was relatively relaxing because I'd lost my voice and knew that even if the unexpected happened there was physically no way I could utter a word. So I wouldn't have to give a speech. My editor was deputed to do it!"
The judging panel consisted of Geoff Bradley (non-voting Chair), Lyn Brown MP (a committee member on the London Libraries service), Frances Gray (an academic who writes about and teaches courses on modern crime fiction), Heather O'Donoghue (academic, linguist, crime fiction reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, and keen reader of all crime fiction) and Barry Forshaw (reviewer and editor of Crime Time magazine).
Ann's books have been translated into sixteen languages. She's a bestseller in Scandinavia and Germany. Her novels sell widely and to critical acclaim in the United States. Raven Black was shortlisted for the Martin Beck award for best translated crime novel in Sweden in 200
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,157 reviews
January 5, 2022
Reading these books I always visualise the actress who plays the role in the TV series. She plays her exactly the way she is in the book down to a T. Her brusque manner, her dress, her constant use of the word 'pet' - it is all there.
In Silent Voices Vera and her team demonstrate their usual policing skills, always pulled along by Vera's own methods. She likes to be in the field, not sitting behind a desk, and she keeps everyone else busy too.
This is a great series and I am looking forward to the next one.
In Silent Voices Vera and her team demonstrate their usual policing skills, always pulled along by Vera's own methods. She likes to be in the field, not sitting behind a desk, and she keeps everyone else busy too.
This is a great series and I am looking forward to the next one.
October 20, 2024
I’ve had a great week of 4- and 5-star mysteries… and this Vera Stanhope installment was no different.
Cleeves’ strength in creating believable characters caught up in a web of their own making continues in this mystery involving the death of a nearly perfect woman.
Ahh, perfection— something Vera both resents and slightly envies. First at the rather unusual scene of the crime, Vera quickly immerses her team into both current events and the history of both victim and acquaintances.
Another good mystery— and an ending that I didn’t see coming at me until nearly too late (Vera and I had that in common this time).
I’ve purposely avoided watching the PBS series called Vera as I didn’t want any spoilers— if the first episode is based on this book (as the cover implies), then I’m looking forward to a new binge!!
As much as I’m looking forward to the next book!
(Reviewed 7/24/22)
Cleeves’ strength in creating believable characters caught up in a web of their own making continues in this mystery involving the death of a nearly perfect woman.
Ahh, perfection— something Vera both resents and slightly envies. First at the rather unusual scene of the crime, Vera quickly immerses her team into both current events and the history of both victim and acquaintances.
Another good mystery— and an ending that I didn’t see coming at me until nearly too late (Vera and I had that in common this time).
I’ve purposely avoided watching the PBS series called Vera as I didn’t want any spoilers— if the first episode is based on this book (as the cover implies), then I’m looking forward to a new binge!!
As much as I’m looking forward to the next book!
(Reviewed 7/24/22)
February 16, 2017
Is murder ever as much fun as when DI Vera Stanhope and her creator, Ann Cleeves, allow readers to ride side-saddle? Incomparable and uncompromising, devoid of airs and graces and forthright to the point of being blunt, Vera is overweight and unattractive by her own admission and radiates a "like it or lump it" robustness. Maybe that is part of her success as her whole embodiment catches people off guard for the very fact that she is contrary to what you expect a senior detective to be - basically, a well-presented man.
A routine check-up at the doctors has seen Vera encouraged to make some "important lifestyle choices", but overweight and with a fondness for the bottle, that news was never going to be a surprise to her. After finding yoga excruciatingly boring as "ideas charge around ones head, sparking a need for action", and the torture chamber gym out of the question, a regulation ten lengths (well, eight truthfully) of the swimming pool is her concession. Enrolling at the Willows Health Club in the out-of-town hotel where she won't be seen by her colleagues, Vera even jokes she is the "sloth of the swimming world". Five minutes in the steam room and a super-strength latte afterwards are her reward. Except her five minutes in the steam room bring her face to face with the dead body of Jenny Lister, age forty-one and a social worker and resident of Barnard Bridge where she lived with her eighteen-year-old daughter, Hannah. Evidently strangled by a thin ligature, fingerprints and DNA evidence is a write-off, but thankfully DI Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria Police is on hand!
The narrow-minded of the village are not slow to inform Vera of Jenny's involvement is a controversial and divisive case at work which saw a member of her team sacked, pilloried by the media and ostracised by a community. That this woman, Connie Masters, has recently moved to the village makes her prime suspect number one, but as Vera cajoles and wheedles out the specifics of the case several discrepancies emerge and force her to question the events. Connie was dismissed following an inquiry which surrounded the drowning of a young child, Elias Jones. Vera takes her own look and soon finds the investigation is not quite the open and shut case it appears. It isn't lost on Vera that very few people got close to Jenny or were privy to her innermost thoughts, causing her to wonder if it was a survival technique on her part. As Vera gets word of an unsuitable younger lover and discovers the outline for Jenny's planned book, the discovery of a petty thief at the Willows Health Club sees her returning to the scene of the crime and soon investigating a second murder.
Narrated in the third person with a particular focus on DI Vera Stanhope, Ann Cleeves also sporadically portrays things from the perspective of "Boy Scout" DS Joe Ashworth and DC Holly Clarke, and her occasional tendency to get above her station. Astute charmer Billy Cartwright is the crime scene manager who Vera cannot fault and detective Charlie the only one with a private life in as much disarray as Vera herself! The contrasting personalities of her team combine to make a highly entertaining read. Vera says what her readers are too diplomatic to enunciate, and her internal discourse (marked in italics in the book) is a source of wry amusement. Specifically she is the first one to raise an opinion on the victim (priggish and a "cross between Mother Teresa and Gandhi") and Vera knows that that combination is never witnessed in real life and is altogether more comfortable with sinners!
Undoubtedly Vera relies to a great extent on her Sergeant, Joe Ashworth, from the hours he puts in much to the dismay of wife Sarah, to his availability for a short notice summit at Vera's house. Yet even he does not go uncriticised and is never spared Vera's perceptive eye, even though she acknowledges how he is the son she never had and the only man who she has ever felt close to. One of Vera's many telling insights is how Joe represents her feminine side - so much more empathy while she herself provides the muscle! In turn, Ashworth's unspoken opinions and honest criticism adds to readers feel for Vera, from her habit of steaming straight in to confront suspects and her inability to delegate. With a profusion of credible suspects drawn from a variety of Jenny's life and several cleverly disguised red herrings, Silent Voices is a tense and well-plotted affair, and as the village does battle with rising floodwater, Vera's trusting four-wheel drive sees her charge into action. Needless to say there was never any mention of Vera returning to the swimming regime..
Having seen how Brenda Blethyn has captured the essence of Vera and made the role her own, it only adds to the enjoyment of this novel, as the shambolic, scruffy screen image loiters in the back of the mind. Although Vera doesn't care how she is perceived she is astute enough to understand that she didn't really have a lot of choice in the matter, being somewhat dragged up and spending most of her time with a gruff and picky father, Hector. Vera never shows any urgency to change her ways or take more care of her appearance, but you do get the sense that her lonely life isn't all she once envisaged. Cleeves provides a wonderful portrayal of a multifaceted mature woman that will leave readers with an empathy and admiration for DI Vera.
A routine check-up at the doctors has seen Vera encouraged to make some "important lifestyle choices", but overweight and with a fondness for the bottle, that news was never going to be a surprise to her. After finding yoga excruciatingly boring as "ideas charge around ones head, sparking a need for action", and the torture chamber gym out of the question, a regulation ten lengths (well, eight truthfully) of the swimming pool is her concession. Enrolling at the Willows Health Club in the out-of-town hotel where she won't be seen by her colleagues, Vera even jokes she is the "sloth of the swimming world". Five minutes in the steam room and a super-strength latte afterwards are her reward. Except her five minutes in the steam room bring her face to face with the dead body of Jenny Lister, age forty-one and a social worker and resident of Barnard Bridge where she lived with her eighteen-year-old daughter, Hannah. Evidently strangled by a thin ligature, fingerprints and DNA evidence is a write-off, but thankfully DI Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria Police is on hand!
The narrow-minded of the village are not slow to inform Vera of Jenny's involvement is a controversial and divisive case at work which saw a member of her team sacked, pilloried by the media and ostracised by a community. That this woman, Connie Masters, has recently moved to the village makes her prime suspect number one, but as Vera cajoles and wheedles out the specifics of the case several discrepancies emerge and force her to question the events. Connie was dismissed following an inquiry which surrounded the drowning of a young child, Elias Jones. Vera takes her own look and soon finds the investigation is not quite the open and shut case it appears. It isn't lost on Vera that very few people got close to Jenny or were privy to her innermost thoughts, causing her to wonder if it was a survival technique on her part. As Vera gets word of an unsuitable younger lover and discovers the outline for Jenny's planned book, the discovery of a petty thief at the Willows Health Club sees her returning to the scene of the crime and soon investigating a second murder.
Narrated in the third person with a particular focus on DI Vera Stanhope, Ann Cleeves also sporadically portrays things from the perspective of "Boy Scout" DS Joe Ashworth and DC Holly Clarke, and her occasional tendency to get above her station. Astute charmer Billy Cartwright is the crime scene manager who Vera cannot fault and detective Charlie the only one with a private life in as much disarray as Vera herself! The contrasting personalities of her team combine to make a highly entertaining read. Vera says what her readers are too diplomatic to enunciate, and her internal discourse (marked in italics in the book) is a source of wry amusement. Specifically she is the first one to raise an opinion on the victim (priggish and a "cross between Mother Teresa and Gandhi") and Vera knows that that combination is never witnessed in real life and is altogether more comfortable with sinners!
Undoubtedly Vera relies to a great extent on her Sergeant, Joe Ashworth, from the hours he puts in much to the dismay of wife Sarah, to his availability for a short notice summit at Vera's house. Yet even he does not go uncriticised and is never spared Vera's perceptive eye, even though she acknowledges how he is the son she never had and the only man who she has ever felt close to. One of Vera's many telling insights is how Joe represents her feminine side - so much more empathy while she herself provides the muscle! In turn, Ashworth's unspoken opinions and honest criticism adds to readers feel for Vera, from her habit of steaming straight in to confront suspects and her inability to delegate. With a profusion of credible suspects drawn from a variety of Jenny's life and several cleverly disguised red herrings, Silent Voices is a tense and well-plotted affair, and as the village does battle with rising floodwater, Vera's trusting four-wheel drive sees her charge into action. Needless to say there was never any mention of Vera returning to the swimming regime..
Having seen how Brenda Blethyn has captured the essence of Vera and made the role her own, it only adds to the enjoyment of this novel, as the shambolic, scruffy screen image loiters in the back of the mind. Although Vera doesn't care how she is perceived she is astute enough to understand that she didn't really have a lot of choice in the matter, being somewhat dragged up and spending most of her time with a gruff and picky father, Hector. Vera never shows any urgency to change her ways or take more care of her appearance, but you do get the sense that her lonely life isn't all she once envisaged. Cleeves provides a wonderful portrayal of a multifaceted mature woman that will leave readers with an empathy and admiration for DI Vera.
November 11, 2017
Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves.
Inspector Vera Stanhope of the Northunbria Police has (believe it or not) joined a popular spa. She enters the steam room occupied by one other woman...the woman appears to be quite still. So still that Vera takes her pulse and finds none. There are markings around her throat that cause Vera and the now summoned police to believe she was the victim of strangulation.
The victim is Jenny Lister an experienced social worker. The only family member they find for notification of her death is her daughter Hannah. Vera sets out to meet face to face with Hannah and inform her of her mother's murder.
This story has a list of characters so intertwined in this small community that the red herrings have no end. Each clue is researched and unearthed by Vera and her right hand man, Joe Ashworth. In depth interviews repeated with each individual as their background comes to light. Their relationship as the story evolves brings the excitement of the mystery to light.
The ending was completely dazzling...without the reader comprehending the motives until Vera reveals the hidden secrets from the past.
Fantastic read and this is a story I wanted to be there with Vera and Joe; not just a reader.
Inspector Vera Stanhope of the Northunbria Police has (believe it or not) joined a popular spa. She enters the steam room occupied by one other woman...the woman appears to be quite still. So still that Vera takes her pulse and finds none. There are markings around her throat that cause Vera and the now summoned police to believe she was the victim of strangulation.
The victim is Jenny Lister an experienced social worker. The only family member they find for notification of her death is her daughter Hannah. Vera sets out to meet face to face with Hannah and inform her of her mother's murder.
This story has a list of characters so intertwined in this small community that the red herrings have no end. Each clue is researched and unearthed by Vera and her right hand man, Joe Ashworth. In depth interviews repeated with each individual as their background comes to light. Their relationship as the story evolves brings the excitement of the mystery to light.
The ending was completely dazzling...without the reader comprehending the motives until Vera reveals the hidden secrets from the past.
Fantastic read and this is a story I wanted to be there with Vera and Joe; not just a reader.
August 26, 2019
I have been pondering how to review this book. It was a balm to my soul last week when I was experiencing anxiety. How do I explain this?! Well, I love being read to and I love the 'Vera' TV series starring one of my favorite actors, Brenda Blethyn, and the experience of listening to narrator Charlie Hardwick as she read in a beautiful Northumberland accent moved me and took me to another place. I am astounded at the seamlessness between the author's writing, the actor's interpretation and the author's narration.
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October 15, 2023
3.5-Stars ^ 4.0-Stars: "I Really Quite Liked It "
Audiobook: 10:14 Hours - Narrator: Charlie Hardwick
This was an enjoyable listen to my first Ann Cleeves audiobook, "Silent Voices", #4 of the DI Vera Stanhope crime series set in Northern England. Developed into a highly successful TV series, "Vera", which commenced in 2011, starring actress Brenda Blethyn as Vera Stanhope (pronounced 'Stannup'), with a total of 53 episodes made so far, including five in 2023.
In 2007, my beloved wife of almost 56 years, became acquainted with Brenda Blethyn, when Brenda was in Australia for the premiere season of Aussie movie, "Clubland", in which she starred. Needless to say, after that I had little choice in the matter but to watch "Vera" when the series was on TV, including the repeats😄!
I don't recall if "Silent Voices" was an episode in the TV series, but no matter, it was a well-written mystery, a genuine police-procedural, and I enjoyed meandering along with DI (later DCI) Vera and her devoted DS Joe Ashworth, plus a number of other recognisable names. I will admit that at times I was confused as the story moved hither and yon, and while I thought I knew who the killer was, at the big reveal I was way off base!
The narration by Charlie Hardwick was excellent! I loved her variety of "Northern England" accents and her vocal performances for both male and female characters. Of course, there were some 'Northern' words I didn't or couldn't understand properly, but that in no way diminished Hardwicke's reading performance.
Audiobook: 10:14 Hours - Narrator: Charlie Hardwick
This was an enjoyable listen to my first Ann Cleeves audiobook, "Silent Voices", #4 of the DI Vera Stanhope crime series set in Northern England. Developed into a highly successful TV series, "Vera", which commenced in 2011, starring actress Brenda Blethyn as Vera Stanhope (pronounced 'Stannup'), with a total of 53 episodes made so far, including five in 2023.
In 2007, my beloved wife of almost 56 years, became acquainted with Brenda Blethyn, when Brenda was in Australia for the premiere season of Aussie movie, "Clubland", in which she starred. Needless to say, after that I had little choice in the matter but to watch "Vera" when the series was on TV, including the repeats😄!
I don't recall if "Silent Voices" was an episode in the TV series, but no matter, it was a well-written mystery, a genuine police-procedural, and I enjoyed meandering along with DI (later DCI) Vera and her devoted DS Joe Ashworth, plus a number of other recognisable names. I will admit that at times I was confused as the story moved hither and yon, and while I thought I knew who the killer was, at the big reveal I was way off base!
The narration by Charlie Hardwick was excellent! I loved her variety of "Northern England" accents and her vocal performances for both male and female characters. Of course, there were some 'Northern' words I didn't or couldn't understand properly, but that in no way diminished Hardwicke's reading performance.
November 12, 2019
La novela arranca cuando la inspectora Vera Stanhope por recomendación expresa e impuesta de su médico, acude a la piscina de un hotel para hacer un poco ejercicio, al terminar va a la sauna y se encuentra con una mujer. Observadora por su trabajo se da cuenta que está muerta. ¿Qué hace la inspectora? Lo que haría cualquier mujer normal, NOR MAL, llamar a una empleada, "pss, pss, tengo aquí una muerta, voy a cambiarme, vigile que no entre nadie".
Esta primera escena me ha conquistado, trata la situación de lo que una mujer como tú o como yo, (patosa donde las haya), haríamos en esa situación, y no las novelas que últimamente nos venden donde las inspectoras después de un rifi rafe salen divinas de la muerte, siempre estupendas sin despeinarse un pelo.
Narrada en capítulos cortos no por ello hace que la novela tenga un ritmo trepidante, la investigación va lenta y la lectura también.
Lo mejor para mí el personaje principal y lo peor es el final, después de la resolución del caso en un capítulo final, no es un epílogo, la autora explica a su equipo de investigación como se cometieron estos actos. Me ha dado la sensación que era necesario explicarlo porque es un lector tonto, que no se ha enterado de nada, y en cierto modo tiene razón, no sabemos hasta este capítulo como se mató a una de estas personas y aquí también falla la novela. Primero por explicarlo y segundo por no aclararlo antes.
Esta primera escena me ha conquistado, trata la situación de lo que una mujer como tú o como yo, (patosa donde las haya), haríamos en esa situación, y no las novelas que últimamente nos venden donde las inspectoras después de un rifi rafe salen divinas de la muerte, siempre estupendas sin despeinarse un pelo.
Narrada en capítulos cortos no por ello hace que la novela tenga un ritmo trepidante, la investigación va lenta y la lectura también.
Lo mejor para mí el personaje principal y lo peor es el final, después de la resolución del caso en un capítulo final, no es un epílogo, la autora explica a su equipo de investigación como se cometieron estos actos. Me ha dado la sensación que era necesario explicarlo porque es un lector tonto, que no se ha enterado de nada, y en cierto modo tiene razón, no sabemos hasta este capítulo como se mató a una de estas personas y aquí también falla la novela. Primero por explicarlo y segundo por no aclararlo antes.
January 11, 2020
Anne Cleeves does it again! Another atmospheric, slow-burn read in the Vera Stanhope series. In this book more than the previous three, you really start to get a sense of who Vera is and, maybe more importantly, why she is the way she is. I’ve found with some series, the character’s personal lives can start to overshadow the mysteries until it starts to feel like you’re reading a soap opera. But Cleeves is careful to still keep the investigation the main attraction and the characters an interesting side note. I get the feeling that Joe and Holly’s characters may see further development in the next book which I am already looking forward to.
February 2, 2021
Greek - English review
Δεν θα μπορουσα να περιγράψω καλύτερα τα συναισθήματα μου τελειώνοντας αυτό το βιβλίο παρά μόνο με τη φράση "σε κάποιους αξίζει ο θάνατος!"
Άλλη μια καλή ιστορία με τη Βέρα Στάνχοουπ που σε μερικά σημεία η προσπάθεια της Ann Cleeves να μπερδέψει τον αναγνώστη σε σχέση με το ποιος είναι ο ένοχος και πώς λειτουργούσε η ντετέκτιβ θύμισαν Agatha Christie!
Πολύ ικανή η συγγραφέας στο να δημιουργεί πληθώρα συναισθημάτων για καθέναν από τους χαρακτήρες της ιστορίας της!
Καλό το κομμάτι του μυστηρίου! Μου άρεσε πολύ!
I couldn't describe my feelings better after finishing this story but with only one sentence "some people deserve to die!"
It was another good story with Vera Stanhope and at some points Anne Cleeves in her attempt to confuse the reader in the who dunnit part and her detective's management on some situations reminded me of Agatha Christie!
Also the author is very successful of creating characters that each provokes many emotions to the reader!
The mystery part well written and I enjoyed reading the story very much!
Δεν θα μπορουσα να περιγράψω καλύτερα τα συναισθήματα μου τελειώνοντας αυτό το βιβλίο παρά μόνο με τη φράση "σε κάποιους αξίζει ο θάνατος!"
Άλλη μια καλή ιστορία με τη Βέρα Στάνχοουπ που σε μερικά σημεία η προσπάθεια της Ann Cleeves να μπερδέψει τον αναγνώστη σε σχέση με το ποιος είναι ο ένοχος και πώς λειτουργούσε η ντετέκτιβ θύμισαν Agatha Christie!
Πολύ ικανή η συγγραφέας στο να δημιουργεί πληθώρα συναισθημάτων για καθέναν από τους χαρακτήρες της ιστορίας της!
Καλό το κομμάτι του μυστηρίου! Μου άρεσε πολύ!
I couldn't describe my feelings better after finishing this story but with only one sentence "some people deserve to die!"
It was another good story with Vera Stanhope and at some points Anne Cleeves in her attempt to confuse the reader in the who dunnit part and her detective's management on some situations reminded me of Agatha Christie!
Also the author is very successful of creating characters that each provokes many emotions to the reader!
The mystery part well written and I enjoyed reading the story very much!
September 1, 2021
I've only read a few of Ann Cleeves's Vera Stanhope series, admittedly not in series order, but I am an avid fan of the television adaptations based on and inspired by the books and starring the wonderful Brenda Blethyn in the titular role.
Silent Voices is the fourth in the series, and opens with D.I. Vera Stanhope out of her comfort zone - swimming slow laps at a country health centre in an effort to improve her fitness. Soon things take a turn in her favour though, when she discovers the body of another woman in the steam room. Social worker Jenny Lister has been murdered - is it because something in her professional history or does the murderer have a more personal motive?
Their investigation takes Vera, D.S. Joe Ashworth and the rest of the team to the village of Barnard Bridge, where the unfortunate victim lived with her nearly adult daughter. Also resident in the village is a former colleague of Jenny's, disgraced former social worker Connie Masters - blamed because a young child was tragically killed on her watch. Connie's trying to re-establish her life and privacy in the village, but faces exclusion and criticism, led by local bastion of society Veronica Eliot, whose son is engaged to marry the late Jenny's daughter, Hannah.
It's a complex and engaging mystery, featuring a well developed cast of recurring and new characters. While the mystery itself is seriously-handled, there are also plenty of mirthful moments as the socially inelegant Vera clashes with various members of the public and her own team. She's a multi-layered and sympathetic character on the whole, but there are moments when things she says or does have me shaking my head and chuckling. In spite of the hurdles, Vera always gets her man (or woman) and Silent Voices was a thoroughly enjoyable reading journey to the final, surprising but fitting, solution.
I'd highly recommend both the series of novels and the associated television series to those readers who enjoy complex mystery plots with great characters.
Silent Voices is the fourth in the series, and opens with D.I. Vera Stanhope out of her comfort zone - swimming slow laps at a country health centre in an effort to improve her fitness. Soon things take a turn in her favour though, when she discovers the body of another woman in the steam room. Social worker Jenny Lister has been murdered - is it because something in her professional history or does the murderer have a more personal motive?
Their investigation takes Vera, D.S. Joe Ashworth and the rest of the team to the village of Barnard Bridge, where the unfortunate victim lived with her nearly adult daughter. Also resident in the village is a former colleague of Jenny's, disgraced former social worker Connie Masters - blamed because a young child was tragically killed on her watch. Connie's trying to re-establish her life and privacy in the village, but faces exclusion and criticism, led by local bastion of society Veronica Eliot, whose son is engaged to marry the late Jenny's daughter, Hannah.
It's a complex and engaging mystery, featuring a well developed cast of recurring and new characters. While the mystery itself is seriously-handled, there are also plenty of mirthful moments as the socially inelegant Vera clashes with various members of the public and her own team. She's a multi-layered and sympathetic character on the whole, but there are moments when things she says or does have me shaking my head and chuckling. In spite of the hurdles, Vera always gets her man (or woman) and Silent Voices was a thoroughly enjoyable reading journey to the final, surprising but fitting, solution.
I'd highly recommend both the series of novels and the associated television series to those readers who enjoy complex mystery plots with great characters.
March 8, 2023
My first Vera Stanhope. Obviously I am not reading them in order. Loved it.
July 10, 2020
It's interesting but again there's an air of fait accompli to the reveal. We watch the investigation, following leads and considering options, then voila here's the villian and the why, somehow that part of the process managing to stay completely off page. It's frustrating because as the reader you don't have the information to link the facts, even if you suspect certain things you have read, on watch aspects get ignored; waiting along with Vera's team for the reveal to confirm and explain.
That said it's fascinating travelling around the houses nosing into people's lifes and trying to see what motivates them. After an interesting start there's a lot of travelling around restamping ground. Far more of the investigative team here; Charlie and Holly get page time. Not much of the setting here though.
I do think the tv series elevates the books. Without having watched much of them being able to picture Brenda Blethyn's version of the character helps a great deal. Blethyn's version is older, she has the world weary downtroddeness and unvarnished manner but there's still a likeability about her, you want her to do well. In the books we keep hearing how ugly she is, she's repeatedly refered to as fat, her intrespection when not smug leans towards depression; she drinks, frequently dwells on being alone and childless. I kept thinking we get the message, reminding us once per book would be more than adequate, it becomes tired. Vera is a great creation, scruffy in person but an incredibly smart intellect. But she's delivered with such bitterness there's a growing repugnance, hearing the thoughts of Ashwood and others they veer between admiration and disgust of her. Unheard of for me, I'm debating leaving the books and digging out my tv remote.
It's an interesting read, didn't grip me as much as the first, I think largely because I'm discovering that the villian is always pulled from the hat and the internal thoughts sour the deal.
That said it's fascinating travelling around the houses nosing into people's lifes and trying to see what motivates them. After an interesting start there's a lot of travelling around restamping ground. Far more of the investigative team here; Charlie and Holly get page time. Not much of the setting here though.
I do think the tv series elevates the books. Without having watched much of them being able to picture Brenda Blethyn's version of the character helps a great deal. Blethyn's version is older, she has the world weary downtroddeness and unvarnished manner but there's still a likeability about her, you want her to do well. In the books we keep hearing how ugly she is, she's repeatedly refered to as fat, her intrespection when not smug leans towards depression; she drinks, frequently dwells on being alone and childless. I kept thinking we get the message, reminding us once per book would be more than adequate, it becomes tired. Vera is a great creation, scruffy in person but an incredibly smart intellect. But she's delivered with such bitterness there's a growing repugnance, hearing the thoughts of Ashwood and others they veer between admiration and disgust of her. Unheard of for me, I'm debating leaving the books and digging out my tv remote.
It's an interesting read, didn't grip me as much as the first, I think largely because I'm discovering that the villian is always pulled from the hat and the internal thoughts sour the deal.
June 27, 2023
Another excellent Vera Stanhope Mystery. This is the fourth in the series and they just keep getting better.
The overweight and out-of-shape Vera who likes her drink maybe just a little too much has recently had her annual physical and the "child doctor" told her she needed to make some lifestyle changes. That couldn't have been much of a surprise, but what kind of changes can Vera tolerate? She tried yoga but found that her mind wandered and she couldn't concentrate on the downward-facing-dog. She settled on swimming. It was something that she sort of enjoyed and she could fit it in before work every day. Or as often as she chose. She joined a local health club at an out-of-the-way hotel where she wouldn't run into any colleagues and committed to doing ten laps - well, more nearly eight - in their pool each day. Then, a few minutes in their steam room and a latte and she was good to go. But then one morning she found another woman seated in the steam room. When she looked more closely, she realized her companion was dead.
Natural causes? Of course not! A close look revealed a ligature mark on the neck. The woman was strangled. Vera has a murder to investigate. Who needs swimming laps? She is in her glory!
The victim was Jenny Lister, a middle-aged social worker who lived in nearby Barnard Bridge with her eighteen-year-old daughter Hannah. Digging into her background, searching for a motive for the murder, Vera and her team discover that Jenny had a connection to a notorious case involving a mother who drowned her son. She was the supervisor of the social worker who worked the case, Connie Masters. After the child's death, Connie was sacked and recently she had moved with her young daughter to a community near Barnard Bridge. Suspicion falls on her as one person who might have resented the victim, but Vera isn't buying it. And then the situation is complicated by another murder, this time of a young man who worked at the hotel. What did he know that led to his murder?
The story is told by a third-person narrator, primarily from Vera's perspective. We also are privy to Vera's unfiltered inner dialogue which is depicted in the book in italics (although her public dialogues have minimal filters as well). Occasionally, the narrator also gives us the perspective of Vera's sergeant, Joe Ashworth, and her DC, the very ambitious Holly Clarke. Another detective, Charlie, and the crime scene manager, Billy Cartwright, round out the Stanhope team. She is hard on them, but they recognize that, as Cartwright at one point expresses, she is the best detective they've ever met.
It is great fun to follow as this team fans out to gather the information that will eventually add up to a solution to the crime. Vera has a problem with delegation and so she works right alongside her team in gathering that information. In the end, it all comes together in the middle of a disastrous flood as Vera and Joe rush to try to prevent yet another murder. Good stuff and highly entertaining.
The overweight and out-of-shape Vera who likes her drink maybe just a little too much has recently had her annual physical and the "child doctor" told her she needed to make some lifestyle changes. That couldn't have been much of a surprise, but what kind of changes can Vera tolerate? She tried yoga but found that her mind wandered and she couldn't concentrate on the downward-facing-dog. She settled on swimming. It was something that she sort of enjoyed and she could fit it in before work every day. Or as often as she chose. She joined a local health club at an out-of-the-way hotel where she wouldn't run into any colleagues and committed to doing ten laps - well, more nearly eight - in their pool each day. Then, a few minutes in their steam room and a latte and she was good to go. But then one morning she found another woman seated in the steam room. When she looked more closely, she realized her companion was dead.
Natural causes? Of course not! A close look revealed a ligature mark on the neck. The woman was strangled. Vera has a murder to investigate. Who needs swimming laps? She is in her glory!
The victim was Jenny Lister, a middle-aged social worker who lived in nearby Barnard Bridge with her eighteen-year-old daughter Hannah. Digging into her background, searching for a motive for the murder, Vera and her team discover that Jenny had a connection to a notorious case involving a mother who drowned her son. She was the supervisor of the social worker who worked the case, Connie Masters. After the child's death, Connie was sacked and recently she had moved with her young daughter to a community near Barnard Bridge. Suspicion falls on her as one person who might have resented the victim, but Vera isn't buying it. And then the situation is complicated by another murder, this time of a young man who worked at the hotel. What did he know that led to his murder?
The story is told by a third-person narrator, primarily from Vera's perspective. We also are privy to Vera's unfiltered inner dialogue which is depicted in the book in italics (although her public dialogues have minimal filters as well). Occasionally, the narrator also gives us the perspective of Vera's sergeant, Joe Ashworth, and her DC, the very ambitious Holly Clarke. Another detective, Charlie, and the crime scene manager, Billy Cartwright, round out the Stanhope team. She is hard on them, but they recognize that, as Cartwright at one point expresses, she is the best detective they've ever met.
It is great fun to follow as this team fans out to gather the information that will eventually add up to a solution to the crime. Vera has a problem with delegation and so she works right alongside her team in gathering that information. In the end, it all comes together in the middle of a disastrous flood as Vera and Joe rush to try to prevent yet another murder. Good stuff and highly entertaining.
October 28, 2018
What a treat!!!
I think you may have guessed by now that this is one of my favourite series EVER and this book was so brilliant.
I just loved it.
Multi-layered with great characters and loads of atmosphere.
This one doesn't have as many nature themes as others in the series but you still feel the north of England in every line.
And Vera...well, she is the best. A great murder mystery that kept me guessing to the end (and Vera only shares when she feels like it!).
I look forward to more in this series but will try and pace myself as I could polish these off in a week and then I would be very sad but let's not think about that yet.... Still got a few more books to read yay!
I think you may have guessed by now that this is one of my favourite series EVER and this book was so brilliant.
I just loved it.
Multi-layered with great characters and loads of atmosphere.
This one doesn't have as many nature themes as others in the series but you still feel the north of England in every line.
And Vera...well, she is the best. A great murder mystery that kept me guessing to the end (and Vera only shares when she feels like it!).
I look forward to more in this series but will try and pace myself as I could polish these off in a week and then I would be very sad but let's not think about that yet.... Still got a few more books to read yay!
January 10, 2023
I’m really getting into these books now and I’m loving them. So clever and very twisty. Although not full of action it’s still a great crime read and as I love the tv series as well makes it all the more enjoyable as I can see the actors who play the characters. This one was another slow-burner and the plot thickened as I got to the end.
December 6, 2020
Cleeves shines so very bright with the Vera Stanhope series.
I wasn’t sure about it after an uneven read in the first one in the series, but the snowball picked up weight and steam quickly thereafter and, though I’m still early in the series, I’m unquestionably won over and excited to start the next one.
I wasn’t sure about it after an uneven read in the first one in the series, but the snowball picked up weight and steam quickly thereafter and, though I’m still early in the series, I’m unquestionably won over and excited to start the next one.
October 12, 2022
Four Stars! ****
A good, solid, engaging mystery with many of the characters that we have gotten to know from the first three books in the series. Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, D.S. Joe Ashworth (Stanhope's right hand man), DS Charlie and DS Holly. This time, DI Stanhope finds a body in the steam room of the health club where she is half-heartedly swimming in an effort to try and get into shape. She is secretly delighted to turn her attention to murder instead of exercise. There are plenty of characters who can be suspected, affairs, foster children, jilted lovers, criminals and manipulators. Cleeves is really a master of a character-driven story with a deeply complex plot! So fun to read along and try and figure it out!
Recommended for readers who enjoy thought-provoking mystery novels! Highly recommended to start at the beginning of the series.
A good, solid, engaging mystery with many of the characters that we have gotten to know from the first three books in the series. Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, D.S. Joe Ashworth (Stanhope's right hand man), DS Charlie and DS Holly. This time, DI Stanhope finds a body in the steam room of the health club where she is half-heartedly swimming in an effort to try and get into shape. She is secretly delighted to turn her attention to murder instead of exercise. There are plenty of characters who can be suspected, affairs, foster children, jilted lovers, criminals and manipulators. Cleeves is really a master of a character-driven story with a deeply complex plot! So fun to read along and try and figure it out!
Recommended for readers who enjoy thought-provoking mystery novels! Highly recommended to start at the beginning of the series.
April 12, 2011
Ann Cleeves is a masterful storyteller who deserves a wider audience here in the US. (With an upcoming British TV production of the Vera Stanhope series coming, hopefully that will be rectified soon.) An award-winning author, she's penned absorbing psychological thrillers, as well as two exceptional mystery series. In Vera Stanhope, she has created a wholly original character. Vera is an unattractive, overweight, uncouth middle-aged woman who is also one of the most intelligent, cunning and ruthless police detectives you're bound to come across. Who could resist that combination? She cheerfuly manages to anger most people she comes in contact with - suspects and colleagues alike. (If you're familiar with the late RD Wingfield's work, Vera is the female counterpart to his irascible DI Jack Frost.)
In this fourth outing, Vera practically stumbles upon a murdered woman in the sauna of the local gym. Vera never feels more alive than when working on a homicide case - and this one is no different. She immediately goes into high gear, leaving everyone else in the dust, trying to keep up.
The story is revealed layer by layer and it's a tantalizing, twisty psychological puzzle that will keep readers guessing the who and why up until the very end. Fans of Minette Walters and Ruth Rendell will LOVE this series. Vera is addictive so be prepared to want to read all books in the series.
In this fourth outing, Vera practically stumbles upon a murdered woman in the sauna of the local gym. Vera never feels more alive than when working on a homicide case - and this one is no different. She immediately goes into high gear, leaving everyone else in the dust, trying to keep up.
The story is revealed layer by layer and it's a tantalizing, twisty psychological puzzle that will keep readers guessing the who and why up until the very end. Fans of Minette Walters and Ruth Rendell will LOVE this series. Vera is addictive so be prepared to want to read all books in the series.
April 8, 2020
Me ha encantado conocer a la inspectora Vera Stanhope. Me ha parecido una novela entretenida, con su protagonista como lo mejor del libro, claramente. Me falla alguna cosilla en cuanto a la resolución del crimen, pero en general me ha gustado y ha sido un buen estreno para continuar con la serie de esta inspectora y su equipo. Repetiré seguro.
May 3, 2022
Another good Vera book, she is such a quirky, dumpy frumpy, uncouth character but she is an amazing detective. I did think we learn a bit more of her past in this one, also thought she was rather tough on her partner, Joe Ashworth. Their relationship is complex as well as the murder mystery plot.
October 14, 2014
Inspector Vera Stanhope is played to perfection in the TV series by the wonderful Brenda Blethyn and thus I was interested in reading this book when offered on the kindle daily deal. Vera is not like other detectives who tend to have affairs and problem home lives. By her own admission she is large and shambolic with bare legs and blotchy skin and never wears makeup. There is a comical, even touching scene when Vera interiews the main suspect in the murder of social worker Jenny Lister, and there is a stirring of lust within her...."He smiled again and sat on the floor facing them. The movement was fluid, very graceful, and it came to Vera, unbidden, that he'd be very good at sex. The physical stuff. Was that part of his attraction? She felt a moment of panic, of the old regret that time was slipping past. Then something close to lust."
The story however is somewhat stilted and apart from this wonderful portrayal we are reduced to chapter upon chapter of police procedural as the team gathers together suspects in an attempt to find not only the murder of Jenny Lister but teenager Danny. DI Stanhope is helped in her investigation by Sergeant Joe Asquith a colleague she is jealous of with his settled home life and trendy "Ikea" furniture.
I believe this story would have been more attractive if greater attention had been paid to the unravelling of the main characters and their flaws together with a better use of the setting...the beautiful rugged Northumbrian coast.
The story however is somewhat stilted and apart from this wonderful portrayal we are reduced to chapter upon chapter of police procedural as the team gathers together suspects in an attempt to find not only the murder of Jenny Lister but teenager Danny. DI Stanhope is helped in her investigation by Sergeant Joe Asquith a colleague she is jealous of with his settled home life and trendy "Ikea" furniture.
I believe this story would have been more attractive if greater attention had been paid to the unravelling of the main characters and their flaws together with a better use of the setting...the beautiful rugged Northumbrian coast.
April 5, 2025
This is one of my favorite of the Vera mysteries. I found the differences between the book and its tv adaptation very interesting. Both versions work well.
Jenny Lister, a seemingly perfect woman, a well-respected social worker, beloved mother, is murdered. Is it connected to the death of a young child whose case she was supervising? Is it because of the mysterious man she is seeing? Are the two connected?
As usual, I found the plot engaging and the characters interesting. Most especially I love the cantankerous, eccentric and brilliant Vera, the reason I love this series!
Jenny Lister, a seemingly perfect woman, a well-respected social worker, beloved mother, is murdered. Is it connected to the death of a young child whose case she was supervising? Is it because of the mysterious man she is seeing? Are the two connected?
As usual, I found the plot engaging and the characters interesting. Most especially I love the cantankerous, eccentric and brilliant Vera, the reason I love this series!
July 9, 2021
I'm not sure I'm even worthy to review Ann Cleeves who is a master at what she does and her many books, awards and television shows based on her book series proves that. Let me just say that some of her books are more mystery/crime driven and others are more character driven. In Silent Voices I thought the crime itself was less important than what we learned about Vera. In the first three books of the series we saw her as a solid, albeit quirky, detective. In Silent Voices, Cleeves takes the reader deeper into her psyche, into who Vera is as a person. I found that I liked her even more after I finished reading the book. Sadly, I liked Joe less. Perhaps I'm just in a general anti-male mood these days. Again, if you haven't read Ann Cleeves before then you have no idea what you are missing and there are three separate series from which to choose - all of which are my very favorite :)
November 10, 2020
I thought I reviewed this book this year, but due to the unending hellscape of 2020 it just fell down a hole in my mind apparently. Not much to say here except this was really really good. I thought the way that Cleeves develops Vera and other characters in this one was top-notch. I honestly didn't get who the guilty party was until it was revealed. I loved the ending and the final comment the victim's daughter had too.
August 18, 2020
I guess I have watched more Vera than I have read, though I have read quite a few of the books. This one was on sale for 2.99 from Amazon and I happily grabbed it up. I was engaged from the first as there were a number of really interesting characters introduced along with many credible candidates for the role of murderer.
Vera's fondness for working with Joe is apparent from the start, and in the end he plays a pivotal role in satisfactory outcome of the complex search for the murderer before another one "hits the dust."
There are Northumberland sites as well as weather to deal with allowing Vera to rely on her father's old Land Rover rather than her own isssued Land Rover to get through some flooded road conditions. She and her team have to sift through a lot of people and their life stories to make progress toward finding the murderer after the book kicks off with Vera finding a dead woman in the steam room where she has a membership that allows her to go swimming for fitness.
I know I never saw her in a BBC episode working on her fitness. If it exists, I would love to find that. This was a very good read and kept me happy away from politics and virus news.
Vera's fondness for working with Joe is apparent from the start, and in the end he plays a pivotal role in satisfactory outcome of the complex search for the murderer before another one "hits the dust."
There are Northumberland sites as well as weather to deal with allowing Vera to rely on her father's old Land Rover rather than her own isssued Land Rover to get through some flooded road conditions. She and her team have to sift through a lot of people and their life stories to make progress toward finding the murderer after the book kicks off with Vera finding a dead woman in the steam room where she has a membership that allows her to go swimming for fitness.
I know I never saw her in a BBC episode working on her fitness. If it exists, I would love to find that. This was a very good read and kept me happy away from politics and virus news.
January 20, 2020
3 de 5 estrellas ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (me ha gustado)
Es un libro entretenido y ameno, un asesinato con investigación a cargo de la inspectora Vera.
Vera es particular, su personaje hace mucha gracia y dista bastante de lo que es cualquier poli de novela negra. Ella es entrometida, mandona, pesada, a veces con poca consideración a los demás y bebedora incansable de cerveza. Me parece de lo mejor de la novela.
La trama está bastante bien construida y es súper amena, enseguida conoces a los personajes, posibles sospechosos y todo rueda con mucha facilidad para el lector. En este caso es algo flojo el argumento pero aún así te lo pasas muy bien avanzando entre página y página.
Pienso leer todo lo que se publique de esta inspectora porque me tiene ganada.
Es un libro entretenido y ameno, un asesinato con investigación a cargo de la inspectora Vera.
Vera es particular, su personaje hace mucha gracia y dista bastante de lo que es cualquier poli de novela negra. Ella es entrometida, mandona, pesada, a veces con poca consideración a los demás y bebedora incansable de cerveza. Me parece de lo mejor de la novela.
La trama está bastante bien construida y es súper amena, enseguida conoces a los personajes, posibles sospechosos y todo rueda con mucha facilidad para el lector. En este caso es algo flojo el argumento pero aún así te lo pasas muy bien avanzando entre página y página.
Pienso leer todo lo que se publique de esta inspectora porque me tiene ganada.
Read
April 23, 2020'Silent Voices' is number 4 in the Vera Stanhope mystery series and does not fail to deliver. We continue to get to know Vera through her musings about her childhood and about the case that she's on. We also get glimpses into Joe Ashworth's life and a bit more of the newer team member, Holly. This mystery centers upon the death of a woman in a health club sauna found by Vera, of all people. She has taken up swimming at the advice of her doctors. You really have to smile at the thought of this if you have read any of the other Vera novels.
The story brings the reader into learning about each of the characters. We follow the trails through Vera's thought process and ultimately to a satisfying ending.
The story brings the reader into learning about each of the characters. We follow the trails through Vera's thought process and ultimately to a satisfying ending.
July 19, 2020
This was another one that I watched first and then read. There were more similarities in this one than the other ones, but I still had forgotten how it ended and who the murderer was and so I was shocked all over again! YAY!!!
I do love this series; Vera is not your typical DI and the way she does things just gets. it. done. And it is all very satisfying.
I do love this series; Vera is not your typical DI and the way she does things just gets. it. done. And it is all very satisfying.
April 22, 2020
Μια ακόμα ιστορία με τη Vera Stanhope, όπου όπως όλοι οι ήρωες της Cleeves είναι αντιπαθητικοί με την πρώτη ματιά, μέχρι να γνωρίσεις λίγο τη ζωή και τις σκέψεις τους. Ακόμα και αν δεν τους συμπαθήσεις θα συμπάσχεις μαζί τους και θα αναγνωρίσεις για ποιο λόγο σκέφτονται και αντιδρούν με τον τρόπο που περιγράφεται, αποδεχόμενος τις ανθρώπινες αδυναμίες αλλά και τη δύναμη του μυαλού του. Η Cleeves κατορθώνει το φαινομενικά ακατόρθωτο, να σε κάνει να συμπονέσεις και να αποδεχθείς ένα πρόσωπο που η κοινωνία στην πλειοψηφία της απορρίπτει, μια μεσήλική, υπέρβαρη, άσχημη και μονόχνωτη γυναίκα, που όμως όταν είναι στο στοιχείο της - διαλεύκανση εγκλημάτων - αστραποβολά. Η γραφή της Cleeves είναι εξαιρετική, αποδίδει το χαρακτήρα και τη εξέλιξη της έρευνας με λογικά και μετρημένα βήματα και όχι άλματα, μας μεταφέρει στο κλίμα και στη φύση της Νορθάμπρια και αφήνει τον αναγνώστη καλυμμένο από κάθε πλευρά.
August 26, 2014
This was an enjoyable murder mystery. The primary characters were well developed, realistic and likable, and the setting gave the book a good atmosphere.
I am of two minds about Ann Cleeves' style. On one hand, I like the fact that she leaves you guessing until the end. On the other hand, the reveal is always so sudden and so late in the story that it is hard to really buy into the conclusion. I am always left wondering, wait...how did the inspector figure that out? I wish there was a little more foreshadowing to at least allow the reader to figure out the mystery with the inspector, or at least enough so that the reveal doesn't seem so out of left field. I suppose this is a hard balance to achieve.
I liked Vera and her crew, and would like to read more books in this series.
I am of two minds about Ann Cleeves' style. On one hand, I like the fact that she leaves you guessing until the end. On the other hand, the reveal is always so sudden and so late in the story that it is hard to really buy into the conclusion. I am always left wondering, wait...how did the inspector figure that out? I wish there was a little more foreshadowing to at least allow the reader to figure out the mystery with the inspector, or at least enough so that the reveal doesn't seem so out of left field. I suppose this is a hard balance to achieve.
I liked Vera and her crew, and would like to read more books in this series.
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