Ann Cleeves just keeps getting better. This newest in the Vera Stanhope series is one of the best mysteries I’ve read this year. Vera is as prickly as ever, although Cleeves throws in several instances of introspection for Vera and her team.

The story takes place on Holy Island, a location in England that has fascinated me since reading LJ Ross’ Holy Island book. Here, in Cleeves’ hands, the island becomes at turns breathtakingly beautiful then creepy and sinister. The characters reminded me of an Agatha Christie cast - they are all likable and detestable at the same time.

But it is the ending that will take your breath away. My knuckles were white, nails dug into my palms as I read, then just when I thought ti was all over…BAM. A totally unexpected ending. It’s what puts Cleeves in a league of her own among crime writers.

Highly recommended.

Writing: 3.5/5 Characters: 4/5 Plot: 5/5

A group of friends have been meeting for reunions on Holy Island for fifty years. One — a particularly obnoxious media star who just lost his job due to a #metoo style accusation — is surprisingly upbeat with a new plan he is hatching. At least until he is found hanging in his room the next morning. Suicide? He didn’t seem the type but … Vera has to untangle a pile of messy relationships and a forty year old tragedy before she gets to the bottom of it. I didn’t figure out whodunnit until very near the end.

I’m a long time fan of the ITV Vera series, but this is the first book (number 10) that I’ve read and it was completely impossible to put down! There is a lot more (interesting) depth on the team dynamics and internal states of the main characters — definitely not apparent in the TV series. But Cleeves’ real strength lies in her stories — perfect pacing of new information twisting and shifting current assumptions. No filler (i.e. no gratuitous taking of tea, repeating what everyone knows twenty times to other characters, etc) — constantly kept my brain engaged in trying to figure things out. Some very interesting political commentary as asides to the story — not your standard PC or standard non-PC Stuff.

I devoured the latest Vera novel, and as always, it was exciting, absorbing and exciting. The end came as a shock, and more to the point, I can’t wait for the next one. A huge BRAVO indeed

Still reeling a bit from the ending of this book. Ann Cleeves is a brilliant writer - you sit down to read and all of a sudden hours have passed. As a reader you want to not only know what happens next but also further understand the characters and their motivations. Eagerly awaiting the next title in the series .

Maybe it’s that I’ve had a short attention span lately, but this book was just too tedious to keep my attention. I kept reading because I love the character of Vera, but the constant recaps and Dacian pacing made this a tough one for me to read. I’ll keep reading anything that Ann Cleeves writes, though, despite this minor blip in the series.

I am familiar with the show. This is my first book in the Vera book series that I have read. I was hooked from page one. Highly recommend if you are an Anne Cleeves fan. I finished this in two days.

Vera does not disappoint...I read this book as if she were a "real" person...This author is talented and gifted at weaving a cannot put down story. Don't miss this one. Friends meet every five years for a reunion of sorts...one is found hanging in his bedroom. Suicide? Murder? Vera is on the case with her cohorts helping. The setting is dark and dreary, but the story moves quickly and more about the characters than the place. Who did it? Why? One of the reunion members? A stranger? An exwife? A friend? Who? Read this story that moves quickly, of course, and attempt to solve the ending. This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review...Enjoy.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It hooked me from the very beginning and kept me hooked the entire time!

By far my favorite vera novel. The set up for this book is a classic. A group of friends get together and one ends up dead. The ending did not disappoint.

Once again Vera and her team are drawn in to solve a murder, no make that two murders, on Holy Island in North Northumbria. And once again Ann Cleeves treats her readers to a complex mystery steeped in the bleakness and the beauty of the land and featuring characters that we have watched mature over the years. They are joined by a group of characters, many of them friends from their grammar school days, who have secrets or shame from the last that they are desperate to hide. It is not hard for readers to become absorbed in this tale and many will be as reluctant as I was to put it down before reading to the end. Not everything is wrapped up neatly at the end, but in a way that adds to the strength of this novel. Highly recommended for both devotees of the series and to readers experiencing a Vera mystery for the first time.