The blunt object that killed DI Jimmy Perez's old friend was a Neolithic stone carved with ancient symbols and was one of a pair of ancient story stones stolen from the local museum. There's no one else to head up the local team because Perez's superior officer is also his very pregnant partner at home as well as at work. If things weren't sticky enough, the next murder makes investigating both murders even more difficult because of the winter weather and the grieving by Perez and so many others. Excellent read that begins rather slowly and escalates in speed and intensity working around the plot twists until the dramatic ending. Fascinating!
I requested and received a free temporary uncorrected digital galley from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Pub Date Sep 30, 2025
#TheKillingStones by Ann Cleeves #DIJimmyPerezBk9 #JimmyPerezandWillowReevesBk1 @stmartinspress @minotaur_books #NetGalley #OrkneyIslanders #suspensethriller #procedural #friends #secrets #grudges #winter #isolated #murder #artifact #depression #grieving

It’s such a pleasure to read a well written and well crafted book. Ann Cleeves does it again with her descriptions of people,
Places, and things. You feel
As though you are out in the wind and rain with the characters. The plot is well conceived and there are so many red herrings that you won’t be able to discover the killer to the end. Outstanding.

The Killing Stones (Minotaur Books 2025), ninth in the Detective Jimmy Perez series, is Ann Cleeves' usual rambling crime solving mystery soaked in culture and filled with clues. In this case, Detective Jimmy Perez is digging into the murder of a local man killed by being bashed in the head with the town's historic story stone, an artifact that shouldn’t have been outside of its protected location. The man is well liked with a wide-reaching family, but no surprise, when Perez begins digging (with the help of his wife, Willow), he turns up complications. There's an unexplained argument and a possible love interest. The dead man's father is a long time islander who helped write a history of the island and Perez wonders if that is somehow involved. Willow is heavily pregnant but--as his boss--does what she can which is a lot. She is a curious sort. When more deaths occur, Perez knows they must be related. He just has to figure out how.

As always, Cleeves' writing style is conversational, drawing readers in, making us comfortable in the world she creates. She includes details of living not dissimilar to our own lives despite that this murder occurred in the British isles on a tightly knit island community. There are endless cultural details that keep the story fascinating as with all Cleeves' series. I never tire of her storytelling. If you like a meandering sort of cultural wander that starts with a murder, you will love this book.

Publication on my blog and Pinterest at a later date.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely love Ann Cleeves stories and the characters. Vera and Shetland series have been one of my most loved to read and to watch so when I saw a new jimmy Perez story coming I had to read it, and it didn’t disappoint.

This story is set in a new island and not in Shetland. Jimmy is here with his partner and his family is growing, one day he receives a call about his oldest friend going missing and when he goes to his house, jimmy finds a horrible scene. Being close to the family he finds it difficult to figure things out and the rumor about his oldest friend doesn’t help either. Overall it had all the great twist and turns that I love to read in Ann Cleeves books and this book didn’t disappoint. I will highly recommend it.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this wonderful novel.

So nice to be with Jimmy Perez again. He's now a cop on the mainland of Orkney, and Willow is in charge of all the Scottish islands, so she's his boss still. Willow is pregnant with their second child, and the first is four years old. Willow has started her maternity leave.

Jimmy's best friend since elementary school, Archie, has gone missing and Jimmy finds him dead near the golf club. He's been hit on the head with one of the two story stones, Neolithic relics from the Heritage Centre. Jimmy and Willow begin the investigation, but the main crew from Glasgow cannot attend due to the poor weather. A couple of days later, Jimmy agrees to meet with a local school teacher, but when he gets to the meeting point, the man is also dead, again hit over the head with the other story stone. What's the reason for these two deaths? The only plausible idea was the stones.

I was worried that Willow would go into labour early due to the travelling she does, but by the end of the book she's still not feeling any pangs. The Orkney islands sound much easier to live on that Shetland.

"The Killing Stones"by Anne Cleeves ... I was provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review"
The author sets the stage for a solid, atmospheric mystery in the Orkney Islands, where tradition runs deep and secrets are well-kept. Detective Jimmy Perez, born and raised on the islands, is forced to confront both his past and his community when a close friend is found murdered with a Neolithic artifact. As more murders follow, Perez navigates a complex investigation while trying to stay objective. Cleeves captures the stark beauty of the islands and the quiet intensity of island life, all while keeping the reader guessing until the very end. A well-paced and engaging read.

#netgalley #thekillingstones #annecleeves

Greatly enjoyed my first Jimmy Perez novel after devouring all episodes of the Shetland TV series. The book and the series have exactly the same vibe - slow burn, many characters that interconnect, unexpected reveal at the end. This is not a crazy and wild thriller, but rather a well executed crime drama. I will now have the pleasure of going back and reading all of the earlier Ann Cleves novels. Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.
Ann Cleeves is my no. 1 favorite author and 'Vera' my favorite series. That said, I also really enjoy the Jimmy Perez series and it was such a treat being back with Jimmy, Willow and their little boy James. Plus, there will be a new baby soon!
The description of the islands is lovely and evocative. The case itself, the murder of Jimmy's best friend Archie, is causing not only heartbreak, but also frustration. But between Jimmy, Willow and Ellie, they get the culprit in the end.
Another excellent read and I'm hoping there will be another book in the series; looking forward to baby no. 2!

A solid, if plodding murder mystery set in the Orkney Islands. The setting and insights into the culture were enjoyable, but the tempo wasn't for me; even as the bodies dropped, I never felt a sense of urgency or truly got lost in the book. On the other hand, strong lead characters and smooth writing (and my love of deftly executed Scottish crime novels in general) keep this book on the high end of 3 stars, so I'll give it a four. Fans of Ann Cleeves will find it satisfying..

The ninth installment of the Shetland series, this mystery takes place in a new location — Orkney, a remote series of islands north of Scotland, rich with archeological significance. Famous for their Neolithic structures, the author incorporates two of these — a pair of ancient story stones from the local museum — as the murder weapon in a tale that begins with the killing of Detective Jimmy Perez’s oldest friend, Archie Stout.

Seeping with atmosphere, life on the remote Scottish islands is rugged, harsh, and close-knit, peopled with multi-generational families and couched in history, the longest of memories, and not surprisingly, many deep-seated grudges. As Jimmy, with his partner (in love) and sort-of-boss (in policing) Willow Reeves, immerses himself into the community, suspects, clues, and the occasional red herring abound. Willow, as a detective of higher rank than Jimmy, is a particularly intriguing character, and the juggling of personal and professional roles for the pair is both interesting and tricky.

With POVs presented by both Jimmy and Willow, this is an absorbing read and a satisfying mystery. For this reader, a huge fan of this author, the story felt both familiar, (with Jimmy and Willow, and that quietly mesmerizing writing style) and somewhat different, taking cues from the new geography. As expected on the islands, the pacing and character development moves slowly, with secrets unfurling, and tensions escalating, all the way to an unexpected ending, that could have perhaps used a tad more prodding to help the reader along, before the final revelations.

A solid read, as always, I’m looking forward to more of this series, and spending more time with these characters.

A great big thanks you to #Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

I was so excited to see that there was going to be another jimmy perez book. I have read all the books in the series. I would recommend if you enjoy character driven mysteries that take place in Shetland.

A deeply engrossed whodunnit by an extremely entertaining author. The language colloquialisms are abundant in this book, as is expected but despite and perhaps because of this, a slow read with an unexpected outcome. All of Ms. Cleeves books have been great reads, this is no exception. Well worth the time to understand and enjoy. A definite addition to your TBR list. Spend some time in Scotland and it’s isles through the eyes of this author.

I greatly enjoyed this book as I have the earlier books in the series. I enjoyed the mystery as well as the descriptions of the area. I was surprised at who the killer was, didn't expect that at all.

I am a long time Ann Cleeves fan having read all her series. Of course, the Vera series is my favorite. I did enjoy this and hope there are more books to come. There are references of the main characters back stories but the clarity will hopefully be in a future book. This is her usual great story telling.

Oh how I love Perez and Shetland this book went back to all the reasons I love Cleeves writing . I devoured this one and hope Jimmy stays for good
Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read and review this book

Detective Jimmy Perez is back, working to solve the murder of his childhood friend, Archie Stout, who was bludgeoned to death with a Neolithic stone. Perez's partner, Willow, is near the end of her pregnancy and is technically on maternity leave but finds herself unable to stay completely out of the investigation.

I was happy to revisit Perez and his associates; the Orkney Islands setting is as wild and lovely as ever but like another reviewer mentioned, for this title especially it would have been helpful to have a map of the islands---there was a lot of traveling between islands, and I wasn't always clear on where characters were in proximity to each other. I did not understand the friendship between Perez and Stout, who seemed like kind of an awful person. The ending was a little abrupt, with not much sense that the action was ramping up toward the mystery's resolution, but overall it was a good story.

Recommended for fans of Cleeves and mystery readers who enjoy evocative settings.

Jimmy Perez is back, this time living in Orkney with his wife Willow and their young son, with a baby on the way. A friend of his, a charismatic islander, has been murdered, his head smashed by a carved rock stolen from a local museum. It's not easy to pry into the lives of people Jimmy knows so well, but the team from Glasgow that would take over is stranded by a snowstorm (and by their own reluctance - it's only a few days until Christmas). When there's another murder with a second stone, it's hard to untangle the various motives and opportunities.

I enjoyed the setting and the overall story, though there were a lot of clues the investigators had to follow, but there wasn't a lot of information shared with the reader that would point to the actual killer. That aside, it was quite a good read and an interesting return to a character from the past.

The return of Jimmy Perez in Ann Cleeves' The Killing Stones is like visiting with an old friend. Whether you have read the precious Shetland novels or saw the television series, this standalone novel is a mysterious, suspenseful yarn that could be independently read from any of the other Jimmy Perez stories in the past. It also seems to be a good jumping off for Cleeves to continue writing about Perez in a new series. The setting is now the Orkney Islands but Willow is still present to help with the investigation. The story was quite enjoyable and I hope Cleeves continues to write more stories about Perez in Orkney.

Five stars! Highly recommended!

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a sneak peek. I can't wait for its release in the fall to buy a physical copy and read it again--and post reviews online to spread the word about such a terrific book.

I have read all of Ann Cleeve's mysteries and they are all fantastic. This one is right on track - the way that Cleeves describes the scenery of the Scottish Isles is authentic - at least I believe it to be - or at least very descriptive and engaging. She puts the reader on the isle with her characters. In The Killing Stones, there is an added element of Perez being good friends with the first victim, which allows his partner, Willow, to take a more active role in the story, which works really well. I love how she develops these two characters, reflects on their pasts, and allows them to take on new roles in this novel. I don't want to give away any of the plot - as it is a mystery - but Cleeves develops the plot and characters so well that it keeps the reader guessing until the very end. I highly recommend this book to mystery lovers and I recommend reading all the books in the various series that Ann Cleeves writes - she does not disappoint! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this arc.