I Discovered Vera Stanhope

 

I'm not sure where I've been for the last twenty years. Ann Cleeves published the first Vera Stanhope mystery, The Crow Trap, in 1999. The television shows based on this series began in 2011, and I missed all of them. I did read a number of books in the Shetland series, as well as seeing some of the television episodes and I am an enormous fan of Jimmy Perez, the police inspector who is the main character. I've also read The Long Call, which was published last year. It introduces Detective Matthew Venn, and it is well worth a separate post of its own. But somehow I missed my introduction to Vera Stanhope. 

Thanks to my friends at Net Galley, I received a copy of the Darkest Evening and literally read most of Saturday and then finished the book on Sunday. I can't remember when I've read a book virtually non-stop and didn't commit the crime of skipping to the end. In The Darkest Evening Vera returns to her extended family's estate and the countryside surrounding it. A young woman is found dead in the snow and as the investigation of her murder proceeds we meet most of the village and discover many not-so-well hidden secrets.   

I particularly enjoyed getting to know Vera Stanhope and learning her story. Vera is an eccentric workaholic Detective Inspector and we come to understand how Vera entered police work and the source of her personality. I am now totally engaged in the series and look forward to catching up on the books that I've missed. I generally wouldn't start with the most recent in a series, but better late than never. I'm very pleased to share The Darkest Evening today, which is its publication day in the United States. 

If you're interested in learning more about Ann Cleeves, please visit the link for The Long Call above. It links to a very interesting interview with Lori Rader-Day in the Chicago Review of Books. 

I appreciate the comments over the last few months asking about my welfare and I hope I've properly responded to all of them. I've been well -- thankfully -- and cozy, especially during the worst months of March through May. Honestly, I've been lonely, like so many others, and all the Zooms and virtual tours on the internet don't make up for spending time with friends and family.  I hope you're all well, cozy and reading.

As ever, thanks for visiting and wishing you many happy hours of mysteries.     

What I'm Reading on My Winter Vacation

Not surprisingly, Ian Rankin

I'm off tomorrow on a quick winter vacation and, of course, I've got a mystery novel with me. Somehow I missed Ian Rankin's In a House of Lies when it came out in 2018, but luckily found it when I was looking for books to take with me on the library website. It's not my only book, but it's the one that I plan to read on the plane tomorrow. 

 How do you find new books to read? Do you browse the library shelves? I do! I still enjoy spending time looking at the array of books at my local branch library. It's one of my favorite things to do. Until very recently I didn't know that the "open stacks" library system wasn't part of libraries until the beginning of the Twentieth century. Before that it was necessary to know what book you wanted and to request it from the librarian. 

I also find read reviews online, browse my terrific local independent bookstore and read the NY Times book review. What are your favorite ways to find new books?  

Another favorite way to find new books is to chat with friends. Dear book-loving friends, what are you reading these days? 

As ever, thanks for visiting and happy reading!

In Memory of Mary Higgins Clark

It may have been the simplest obituary in today's New York Times. It was succinct, with simply a name, dates of birth and death and the details of the wake and funeral. It was a little lost among the longer obituaries that had a number of paragraphs and a photo.

This was the woman known in life as "The Queen of Suspense," Mary Higgins Clark. Beginning in 1975 with the publication of her first suspense novel, "Where Are the Children," she published over 50 suspense books that sold an amazing cumulative total of over 100 million books. All were bestsellers and all are still in print.  

Mary Higgins Clark left the world and us, her readers, with a legacy of decades of reading pleasure, for which I am most grateful. But it's the final sentence of her obituary that may tell those of us who never met her, her true legacy. We are asked to "perform an act of kindness for someone in need." If the millions of us who read one of Mary Higgins Clark's novels performed just one kind deed in her memory, that kindness would light the world.

My prayers are with Mary Higgins Clark's family and with her family of readers throughout the world.  Is anyone else a fan of her writing?

What is your favorite Mary Higgins Clark novel? I'm going with her first and still my favorite, "Where are the Children?"

As ever, thanks for visiting and happy reading!