I think one of the things I most love about her work, is that I never have any idea as to who the 'bad guy' might be. We get to know the characters intimately, their hopes, dreams and desires, their disappointments and frustrations, their family history. We can picture the setting down to the last mound of dirt, surging wave. We can feel the atmosphere she creates seep into our bones. THE AUTHOR: Ann is the author of the books behind ITV's VERA, and the BBC's SHETLAND, which was aired in December 2012. Ann's DI Vera Stanhope series of books is set in Northumberland and features the well loved detective along with her partner Joe Ashworth. Ann's Shetland series bring us DI Jimmy Perez, investigating in the mysterious, dark, and beautiful Shetland Islands... The challenge I faced for Shetland was much the same as any other adaptation - you have to show and not tell. Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Shetland TV series | Shetland.org Shetland TV series | Shetland.org

I really love this series, there's just something about it, it's like going home, or putting on a comfy pair of slippers. I just love Ann Cleeves writing, I mean this woman can write. The setting, Shetland, is so interesting and mysterious, and the characters in these Shetland books - they give me the creeps! Everyone has secrets they want to keep hidden. Everyone has a past. Shetland is adapted from the novel Red Bones. The book is based around an archaeological dig and the mystery starts with the murder of the elderly woman who crofts the land where the dig is happening. The book and the TV drama is about digging into the past to find answers to family disagreements. And in the TV adaptation there's the wonderful climax of the Viking fire festival 'Up Helly Aa'. Shetlanders should be proud of the series because they contributed so much to the show. From the archaeologist who recreated an authentic dig on set, to the officers of Shetland Islands Council who helped out with office accommodation to the 'Up Helly Aa' committee who agreed to stage the parade, everyone's been amazingly supportive.” The third story of the Shetland Island series is more personal. A murder that involves one of Perez's colleagues that we get to know a little better and has a bigger part in this investigation.Perez thinking about his boss, the Procurator Fiscal: "He found it hard to explain the role of the Fiscal to English colleagues. Even Fran couldn't grasp it. 'But what does she do?' Perez always said that she was a cross between a magistrate and a prosecuting lawyer, but Fran didn't even get that." Jimmie is in a relationship with Fran, an English woman. Stars — Cleeves writes elegantly & Detective Perez is an endearing character both for his skill and insight as a detective but more so his genuine nature, his willingness to have empathy as a person first, is refreshing. His attributes as a Father who’s there for his child when he can be and his constant struggle to balance that with his job are more real and human than many a detective ever displays in the loads of Literature out there focused on crime. The main part of the book is set on the island of Whalsay, where Sandy and his family come from. Two young students are conducting an archaeological dig on a small croft owned by Mima Wilson, Sandy's widowed grandmother. The old lady is unconventional and gets on well with the young women, until the students discover a skull and some bones buried on the property. Hattie, one of the students, is tremendously excited by the find as she believes it will vindicate her theory that there was a well-established old trading route, confirming the island a powerful commercial force in its time. Her relationship with the archipelago began in 1975, when she took a job as assistant cook at the Fair Isle bird observatory. On Fair Isle Ann met her late husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist, and it was on a return trip that a single stark image provided inspiration for her first Shetland novel. Well, Evelyn, what do you look like?' Mima said. 'On your hands and knees like some sort of beast. In this light you could be one of Joseph's pigs, grubbing around in the soil there. You be careful or he'll be slitting your throat and eating you as bacon.' She laughed so loud that she coughed and spluttered.

Red Bones by Ann Cleeves | Waterstones

I rate this book a solid 4 stars. The cover classes it as a thriller, but I thought it was more of a mystery than a thriller. A woman named Mima is killed one night on Whalsay Island, part of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. At first it is thought to be an accident, because a neighbor was out shooting rabbits at midnight in fog and accidentally shot her. But DI Jimmie Perez suspects that there is more to this and keeps digging. A second person is found dead, possibly suicide. Perez does solve the case,but the killer is not revealed until near the end, and the author left enough false clues, that I wasn't sure of the who or why until it all came together at the end. I would be complaining or criticizing on behalf of all these bait and switches, but instead I enjoyed the book for its individualist take on a crime story, as a s sneaky way to burrow under the skin of a very imperfect cop, and to experience a picturesque and way-too-human small community in the hinterlands of the world. For the National Year of Reading, Ann was made reader-in-residence for three library authorities. It came as a revelation that it was possible to get paid for talking to readers about books! She went on to set up reading groups in prisons as part of the Inside Books project, became Cheltenham Literature Festival's first reader-in-residence and still enjoys working with libraries. I haven't worked with Davy before, though I did come to Shetland with him and the script editor before he started writing and that gave us a chance to share ideas about the characters and the story. I think it's a very strong script, which captures the essence of the book. It's actually a bit odd seeing my novels adapted for TV. Occasionally the dialogue is taken almost exactly from the book and that is a bit spooky, as if my characters have come to life. Usually though, although the adaptation captures the spirit of the original, it's quite a different form. I can watch it and enjoy it as any other viewer would.

Another suspicious death. The uncovering of a history where during the war a Norwegian resistance fighter disappeared mysteriously. How Sandy’s family was involved and how the dig started a tragic chain of events. Cleeves έχει χτίσει μια πολύ καλά δομημένη ιστορία, πλέκοντας στα δίχτυα αυτής ανθρώπους, συναισθήματα, αλλά και μυστικά που βρίσκονται κρυμμένα στις σκιές εδώ και πολλά χρόνια. Οι εμπλεκόμενοι στην υπόθεση αυτή, μυστηριώδεις και τρομακτικοί, κατά μία έννοια, σε κάνουν συνεχώς ν' αμφισβητείς τα κίνητρα και τις προθέσεις τους, αλλά και σε αποπροσανατολίζουν σε σχέση με το ποιος μπορεί να είναι ο ένοχος, καθώς και για το ποιοι μπορεί να είναι οι λόγοι που όπλισαν το χέρι του, οδηγώντας τον στην απόφαση να σκορπίσει το θάνατο. Ο ρυθμός της αφήγησης είναι έντονος και γρήγορος, χωρίς όμως να γίνεται ασφυκτικός, διατηρώντας σε εγρήγορση όλες σου τις αισθήσεις, αλλά και το ενδιαφέρον σου αμείωτο. Ann is the author of the books behind ITV's VERA, now in it's third series, and the BBC's SHETLAND, which will be aired in December 2012. Ann's DI Vera Stanhope series of books is set in Northumberland and features the well loved detective along with her partner Joe Ashworth. Ann's Shetland series bring us DI Jimmy Perez, investigating in the mysterious, dark, and beautiful Shetland Islands... Red Bones was adapted into a 2-part TV show that made up the first series of the of the Scottish television crime drama Shetland.

Red Bones: A Thriller (Shetland Book 3) Kindle Edition Red Bones: A Thriller (Shetland Book 3) Kindle Edition

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. After an accident Perez is called to investigate and decide what is to be done with the person responsible. As the story continues questions arise as to wether or not it was an accident and then another person dies under tragic circumstances and Perez doubts that it's a coincidence and tries to find the pieces that fit to complete the puzzle and connect the two murders. MY THOUGHTS: In her own beautiful style, Cleeves takes a handful of unrelated threads: an archeology dig, the birth of a baby, the discovery of a skull, family feuds, and weaves them into a tapestry of intrigue. She is a master at the slow boiler, the novel that doesn't really appear to have much action but simmers slowly until it boils over at the climax. Surrounded by people he doesn't know and in unfamiliar territory, Jimmy finds himself out of his depth. Then there's another death and, as the spring weather shrouds the island in claustrophobic mists, Jimmy must dig up old secrets to stop a new killer from striking again . . .Because I've worked with this production team before I knew they would be respectful of the original, and any changes will be to make a better film. Evelyn Wilson, describing university students working on an archaeological dig: "The two lasses from the university were there. What nice wee girls they are, although I think that Hattie could do with a bit of feeding up.. She's a skinny little thing. All eyes and bone."

Red Bones - Macmillan Red Bones - Macmillan

UPDATE: The TV series based on the idea of the books is on Netflix in the US. Aired four years ago, and you can tell: And the idea that a really satisfying mystery/thriller gets justice against a really bad guy? Well, not so satisfying in that regard.

I recommend the book as one to take you to a far away place, and make you know real people you will now expect to meet there if you ever manage to get yourself to this water-defined land.