Ann Cleeves' The Dark Wives (Minotaur Books 2024), Book 11 in the Vera Stanhope series, starts as a pretty straight forward murder, but--no surprise for a Vera Stanhope mystery--gets more complicated with each clue Vera and her team uncover. A worker at a residential care facility for troubled teens is murdered and one of the residents disappears the same day. Conventional wisdom says Chloe fled the scene of her crime, but to Vera--as is often the case--the dots don't line up like they should to make this troubled teenager a killer. First, why would she kill the one worker who seemed to befriend her? And then, how did she manage it? When another resident is found dead in an area familiar to Chloe, some think she might have killed both, but Vera again thinks the clues tell a different story. Adding to the complexity is that Vera is still struggling to come to terms with the work-related death of Holly, one of Vera's team members, and getting a replacement so soon afterwards isn't helping. The new girl is clever, energetic, and seemingly oblivious to the big footsteps she is filling. As in all Vera Stanhope novels, it seems to take forever to resolve anything, but still seems crazy busy.

I’m a huge fan of both the Vera TV show and the books. They follow each other pretty well with just a few differences I adapt to. I give this an enthusiastic 5/5 and do recommend interested readers start at the beginning to get the entire convoluted background on Vera, her team, the area, and everything else. It'll help to make sense of the story.

"The Dark Wives," is Ann Cleeves 11th installment in the Vera Stanhope mystery series. This latest narrative centers around the disappearance of a young girl from a care home, coinciding with the discovery of a murder. Vera is aided by her stalwart Lieutenant Joe and Rosie, an agressive new team member who replaces Holly a recently deceased colleague. Joe is loyal to Vera, almost to a fault and now begins to feel challenged by Rosie. As they embark on a frantic search for the missing girl, they must grapple with the unsettling question of whether she is a victim or possibly the perpetrator of the murder. The Dark Wives refers to three standing stones that form part of the historical landscape of the brooding Northumberland Hills. The story is set in late Autumn, post Halloween and after Guy Fawkes Day (Nov 5) . Much of the narrative builds up to a Witch Hunt in the hills that takes place in total darkness lending a palpable gothic atmosphere to the final thrilling conclusion.
True to her style, Cleeves creates both principal and secondary characters who are believable. despite their flaws . She possesses a gift for crafting intricately layered and complex plots. For American readers there is sometimes the challenge of local dialect but this adds flavor and authenticity to the story. Trying to second guess Vera in solving crimes proves to be a near-impossible feat for readers. "The Dark Wives" a compelling addition to the series.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGallet for the eARC of this book. The Dark Wives is the 11th in the successful Vera Stanhope series.

A young man, Josh, is found dead outside a private care home specializing in troubled teens. Turns out Josh was employed by this care home and now a young fourteen year old girl, Chloe, is missing. Everything Vera learns about Josh and Sophie, she just can't believe Sophie is guilty of murder. If not guilty then she most likely saw or heard something that's put her at risk. Then another young man's body turns up out in the countryside, very near the National Park, in a spot only known to Sophie and her family. The race is on to find Sophie and to bring a murderer in.

There's a lot going on in the book. In addition to solving the murder. Vera and her team are still reeling from the death of their colleague, Holly, in the previous novel. A new team member, Rosie, has been added to replace her. The introduction of Rosie, the murders, and the missing vulnerable teen all add up to a heart stopping read. 5 Stars from me.

I love all three series that Ann Cleeves writes, and The Dark Wives is as good as any of them. It begins with a diary entry from a missing girl, but immediately Vera is thrown into a challenging case. The girl's mother is in a nursing home and her father has gone off to Dubai, so she's in a residential home run by a for-profit corporation. Now that she's missing, Vera is in a race to find her. Did she kill the counselor who she had come to trust? Or did she witness his murder?

I love the way that recent books have forced Vera to confront her past and her family. She meets a man who was mentored by her father, and hangs out at a pub called the Stanhope Arms. She's also haunted by a recent death, and struggling to help a new team member fit in. Overall a great book and a great mystery.

The Dark Wives is part of a police procedural series by Ann Cleaves. This is the first book in the series I have read and was able to catch on quickly. I usually stay away from books as part of a series as I feel like they are churned out by a formula but I did enjoy this one. The book is set mainly on the coast of Northumberland which is like a character itself in the novel. The plot was ok but the character development was good. I would recommend this book.

If there are any better characters than the ones that Ann Cleeves has given us, I don’t know them. Vera is my favorite one. The BritBox series follows the books and this one was a winner!

A young man’s body is found by a dog walker in a park outside of a troubled children’s home. He is a staff member named Josh and has only been working a short time.

DI Stanhope is called out and other than one of the teenagers missing, Chloe, there is little to go on and everyone is telling half truths.
Could a fourteen year old girl have done this? And why?

The team is out in full force with Joe and Vera leading the search. When another body is found by the Three Dark Wives monument, superstition becomes fact to some.

While they work to find Chloe, they have to suss out who Josh really was and why he was killed.

There are so many suspicious people in here, it was hard to settle on just one!

Always a pleasure


NetGalley/ St. Martin’s / August 27, 2024

I love Ann Cleeves's books no matter what, but this was actually a surprisingly good installment, with a few new conventions and characters that really made it fun!

Scrubbed pine table count: A pub-full! (plus one more)

I think this is her best book so far. Her Vera series is a little uneven and fat phobic, but this book was very solid, and had the best parts of Vera on showcase. Vera is best when she’s caring for the vulnerable. we had a missing girl who needed Vera and the teams help and they all shown. I like the introduction of the new detective. She seems very capable and adds a lot to the team. I look forward to the next book or even a spin off if she decides to retire Vera. The mystery was very entertaining and I love the location.

I love Ann Cleeves she writes in her usual stellar manner . She is a master with plot and setting and you got to love Vera .
Another winner for this author

Very interesting plot. Engaging. You won't want to put it down!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

As a die hard fan of Vera, the unassuming, witty and caring detective inspector, this Ann Cleeves book did not disappoint with the Vera character shine in place. From the moment I read…Pet… I was right at home in this text. However, this title and world building around this mystery shrouded in some ancient folklore or witchcraft was a bit confusing.
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Another suspenseful stand out in the Vera Stanhope series. This one gives you guessing as you follow Vera, Joe, Charlie and new hire Rosie through the Northumberland country side in search of a killer and a missing teen. Vera struggles with the loss of DC Holly as she leads the team on the search of the killer of a volunteer at a group home for troubled teens. Cleeves gives away few clues until you reach the surprising conclusion.

What a wonderful addition to Ann Cleeves' Vera series.

Of course, I'm a huge fan of Ann Cleeves and particularly of this series. I got into it via the British television series--especially loving the actress, Brenda Blethyn, who plays Vera (Cleeves says that when she writes Vera now, she hears Blethyn's voice!).

As usual when I watch adaptations, I went to read the books they're based on. And these do not disappoint. If anything, they're even better than the tv versions. A little harder-hitting, a little darker.

The title of the book, The Dark Wives, refers to three huge stones, reminiscent of Stonehenge, ancient and foreboding, which overlook a small town in rural England--Northumberland, a very northern region, near the border of Scotland. The towns are quite urban, surrounded by farms and then wilder territory.

Cleeves takes us to a child care facility housing traumatized teens who have, one way or another, lost their families, even if only temporarily. One of the workers is found brutally murdered and one of the residents, a young girl, is missing. Vera doesn't know if the girl is a suspect or possible victim.

I loved the characters and the plot moved along at a good, even pace. The book did not drag (I often find that mysteries, even ones I like, slow down somewhere around the middle and then pick up again toward the end. This one does not. And the ending was a complete surprise (which happens less frequently as I age and the number of mysteries I read adds up!).

Although I did like the ending, I found it pushed the bounds of probability. Cleeves makes it work and ultimately I was satisfied but it took a bit of effort and suspension of disbelief on my part.

As always with this series, Cleeves' writing is crisp and her characters vivid. Dialogue is lively and reinforces the setting and the characters' personalities.

The book can be read as a stand-alone but I think familiarity with the rest of the series, especially the beginning ones which establish some of the major characters and the most recent ones which makes at least one of the events much more meaningful, is definitely helpful.

Altogether a highly enjoyable read. One of those books I wish I could read again for the first time.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Minotaur books for providing me with an advance copy.

I’m always so happy when there is a new Vera installment and the latest is no exception. The characters and mystery was terrific as always, and the twist I never saw coming. Another massive hit!

I have ready the entire Vera series and was excited to revisit this world. This was a dark and compelling mystery that takes place shortly after where the Dark Tides left off. It was interesting to see Vera deal with the fallout from the last book.

The Dark Wives in the next installment in the Vera Stanhope mystery series. In this novel. Ann Cleeves moves away from emphasis on Vera's personal appearance and failings as a person to show her humanity and her desire to change in how she cares for her team. This book is police procedural at its best, with all the clues laid out for anyone to notice but no one to figure out on their own. A young girl who lives in a care home goes missing at the same time that a murder is discovered. Vera and her team race to find the young girl, all while wondering whether she is a victim or the murderer herself.

The story slowly unfolds in a thematic way. This book had a more gothic feel than other's she has written, being set in the late fall during the Witch Hunt time. The character development is spot on. You can help but love all the principal characters. They are so endearing even with their flaws. This is Cleeves' forte.

I highly recommend this book. But before pick this one up, make sure you read the other delightful Vera Stanhope books. This one can be read on its own, but it's so much more delicious if you've already been invested in the character's lives.

I highly recommend this book!

Ann Cleeves has done it again! The latest in the DI Vera Stanhope series, The Dark Wives, was truly amazing! It not only kept me guessing about the whodoneit, but also about other key parts to the plot, as well as motivations of other key players.

DI Stanhope was given a new team member after having lost someone that Vera cared for, and this makes her act differently to the newest team member. She almost chains the new member to the desk when the team gets assigned a new murder to investigate, all in an attempt to keep the new member safe.

The new murder that happened on their patch was a young man who worked at a home for troubled teens, Rosebank. As more information is found, the more twisted and interesting the plot gets. At first, it seems like there can only be one culprit, but then it seems like the likely culprit might also have been the second victim…but nothing is certain until the end of the book. And you’ll never guess the motive for it all.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC!!

Once again, Ann Cleeves gifts the reader with the perfect mystery novel.
The beloved DI Vera Stanhope, is called to investigate the death of a young man found outside a Longwater home for troubled teenagers. The victim is Josh, a staff worker at the home and Chloe Spence a young female resident has gone missing.
While Vera, Joe Ashworth and Rosie Bell their new team member are deep in the investigation, a second body is found. Vera resists the thought of Chloe’s involvement in the murder knowing that Chloe must be found regardless of her innocence or guilt.
The plotting of twists, turns and well developed characters makes this 11th Vera installment a five star read.
The author weaves the storyline of twists, turns and well developed characters with the care of troubled teens today and the difficulties of the workers, residents and residences due to the lack of funding.
Of course, being a Vera viewer, I pictured each character vividly and the remarkable Vera (Brenda Blethyn) leading the way.
Thank you NetGalley, Ann Cleeves and Macmillan Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Vera Stanhope and the entire series of novels, based on this character, of which Dark WiIves is book 11. Ann Cleaves is a favorite author, and I could only be made happier if Louise Penny sent Gamache to visit Vera. That would be a dream pairing for me.

But back to Vera and Dark Wives. Vera is, as always, in charge and always thinking. Joe might wish she would share more information with him, but that is largely the fault of the new detective, Rosie, who pressures Joe into thinking that Vera should confide in him more often. I suspect that Rosie's goal is to solve crimes and to be the next Vera, but that is not how the real Vera operates. Vera is always in charge, and she likes to stay quiet, while thinking things through, just as Ann Cleeves demands that her readers must do to solve the mystery. Unlike so many other mystery writers, who have adopted the Agatha Christie model, Cleeves gives nothing away. She is a writer whose talent for multilayered, complex plotting far eclipses that of many other mystery writers. For readers to solve crimes before Vera does is nearly an impossibility.

Vera is the perfect character, a master of complex thinking, who grows, changes, evolves, and yet who remains the same character who has driven this series from book 1. In Dark Wives, Vera must solve a murder at a children's care home. We meet 3 teenage girls, who are strong, dynamic characters and whose loyalty to one another keeps Vera and her readers guessing. By the end of Dark Wives, Cleeves careful plotting will have kept readers turning pages far into the night.

Thank you to Cleeves, publisher, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley. I have read and loved every Ann Cleeves novel, but Vera Stanhope is my favorite series. I do enthusiastically recommend Dark Wives.

The Dark Wives is another exceptional entry into the Vera Stanhope mystery novels. Ann Cleeves is a master writer, her plot, characters and timing are written at such a high level. I was in a dilemma reading this book. I raced ahead to see who the killer was but at the same time wanted to read slowly so the book would last. This eleventh book in the series is just as well written and absorbing as the first. Highly recommended.