Ann Cleeves Books

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Ann Cleeves was born in the year 1954 and is a renowned British crime writer. In the year 2006, Cleeves was awarded the inaugural Duncan Lawrie Dagger, which happens to be the richest crime-writing award worldwide, for her book, Raven Black. Cleeves attended Essex University where she majored in English. However, Cleeves dropped out and decided to take on various odd jobs as a cook, probation officer, auxiliary coastguard, childcare officer and library outreach worker. Currently, Ann Cleeves resides in Whitley Bay, with her husband and two kids. One of her best performing series, the Vera Stanhope novels have been adapted into a television series, Vera. The Jimmy Perez book series have also been adapted into a television series. In the year 2004, Ann Cleeves was awarded and an honorary doctorate by Sunderland University.

Print:

In 2015, Cleeves served as the programming chair for the Theakston’s Peculiar Crime Novel and Theakston’s Peculiar Writing Festival. In the same year, Ann Cleeves was nominated for a Dagger in the Library award.

Ann Cleeves Awards

Ann Cleeves is the inaugural winner of the coveted Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the world.

Ann Cleeves Books into Movies

The book series Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez have all been adapted for a screenplay.

Best Ann Cleeves Books

Raven Black: One of the best books by the author is Raven Black, which is the first installment in the Shetland Islands book series. This book begins as Catherine Ross; a sixteen-year-old girl is found murdered by an individual known as Fran Hunter. This killing, in turn, brings lots of bad memories to the individuals who resided in the island. More than eight years ago, another young girl went missing, and her body was never located. At that point in time, an exceedingly old man, who resided alone was believed to be the person who was responsible for the crime. Now, the old man is once again linked with the killing of Catherine Ross.

The author introduces the reader to Inspector Perez. Despite the fact that Perez is a Spanish name, the inspector is a native of the island. Once he heard about the killing, he is not fully convinced that Magnus Tait, the old man is responsible for the death. What then follows is an interesting cast of suspects including Catherine’s ex-husband, Fran, Catherine’s father, the exceedingly rich Robert Ibister and many others. As the storyline unfolds, you will be more than happy to go with the story, even at some point, you will also try to guess who the real killer is. While conducting a series of investigations the indomitable DCI Vera, manages to rub shoulders with the locals. However, unlike Vera, Perez has a way of getting things done without necessarily brushing his shoulders with anyone.

White Nights: This is another great read by the author, and it is also the second book in the series. Just like the first installment, this book features artist Fran Hunter and Jimmy Perez. As the story begins, Fran together with one of the celebrities in the island have arranged for a joint exhibition of their work at the herring house, a café or gallery located on Bella’s land. However, once the exhibition begins, very few turn-up, and one of the individuals in attendance is Roddy, a rock star nephew. It does not take long before one of those in attendance begins to burst into tears when looking at one of the pictures of the display.

Jimmy moves to where the man was standing and takes him into the kitchen so that he could calm down. The man has completely no idea of who he is, and he has no form of identification with him. Thus, Jimmy decides to check as to whether there is any person in attendance who knows the man. However, upon returning, Jimmy notices that the man has disappeared. The evening ends disappointingly, and Jimmy is invited to Fran’s house. On the next morning, the body of the man who had been crying is found hanging in one of the boat shades within the beach. Thus, once the body is found Jimmy together with his friend decide to call the ambitious and irritable Roy who works for the Inverness police.

Once he begins to conduct the investigation, Jimmy soon discovers that the man who had been killed had been dishing out leaflets on the same day. The leaflets being circulated informed the public that the exhibition had been canceled due to the sudden death of one of Jimmy’s family members. Jimmy tries to establish what the reason behind Jimmy’s spiteful act was. With that said, this is a well-written novel that will undoubtedly keep you the reader on the edge of your seat.

When Does The Next Ann Cleeves book come out?

Ann Cleeves doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Dark Wives and was released on August, 27th 2024. It is the newest book in the Vera Stanhope Series.

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