THE DARK WIVES - Ann Cleeves

DI Vera Stanhope  and her team are called to Rosebank Children's Home to investigate the murder of Josh Woodburn. Josh was a student at university and a volunteer at the home. One of the residents - 14 year old Chloe Spencer - is missing. It doesn't seem possible the two incidents aren't connected, but Vera can't imagine the young teen killing a college boy.

Another murder, this time of a boy from Rosebank, is found near three ancient standing stones known to the locals as The Three  Dark Wives. Complicating the investigation for Vera and her team is an influx of tourists for the local witch festival.

Prior to reading this book, my knowledge of Vera is based the long-running television series which I've been watching on BritBox. And based on this familiarity it threw me for a bit of loop that Vera's 'second' was DS Joe Ashworth.  In the series, Ashworth only lasted four seasons and it's been DS Aiden Healy for the last ten years. But it's almost like only the name has changed.

For those who aren't familiar with either the books or the series, Vera is a detective inspector with a smaller community in England. She's very good at what she does, she's no nonsense and expects her team to be as thorough and dedicated as she is. But she can also be nurturing - in a work sense. She's not at all happy with errors but she'll also tell them to move on and try not to let it happen again. She's good with all her team, but she definitely treats Joe differently. A favorite, perhaps, but she also expects more of him.

This comes into play in the book as there's a new member of the team - DC Rosie Bell - who, like many of the newcomers, is ambitious and out to prove she belongs with this squad. But when Vera shows appreciation for what Rosie does, jealousy comes over Joe. He recognizes it and tries to understand why he feels the way he does.

As you might be able to see here, the murder mystery is only part of what makes the Vera series so interesting. Solving murders is Vera's (and her team's) business, but who they are, as individuals, as a team, and how they work together is what makes it most interesting. (I think about a number of detective mysteries I like - Walt Longmire, Cork O'Connor, Rushmore McKenzie - and it's the people that make the series interesting while the mystery is only good for one book.)

The book moves along quite quickly and, like the television series, ends with Vera having figured it all out before anyone else on her team does.  Usually because she puts one small, thought-to-be-innocuous clue to the killer.

I definitely want to read more of these Vera books, but I do think I need to wait until I'm done watching the series (one more season is coming out, I understand, and I'll have caught up to it be the time it arrives on U.S. television) because I did make some assumptions based on current television characters.

Looking for a good book? The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves is the eleventh book in the Vera Stanhope book series. It's a popular series (both in book form and on television) for good reason. Fans of detective procedurals and solid mysteries should be sure to read it.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

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The Dark Wives

author: Ann Cleeves

series: Vera Stanhope #11

publisher: Minotaur Books

ISBN: 9781250836847

hardcover, 384 pages