“The Killing Stones” by Ann Cleeves

Jimmy Perez is back, at least in a co-starring role. 

A few years have passed since Perez left the Shetland Islands. We thought that might have been the end of the beloved series by British author Ann Cleeves. But no, he’s returned to the printed page, this time in his new home, the Orkney Islands. (For geographical information, the Shetlands (main city: Lerwick) are northeast of Scotland; the Orkneys (main city: Kirkwall) are more north. (Personal promotion: part of my novel Dancing Prince is set on the fictional island of Broughby in the Orkneys.)

 

Perez, his pregnant wife Willow Reeves, and their young son are living in the Orkneys. The marriage is a bit complicated, in that Willow is technically Perez’s boss; she supervises all police detectives in the islands, although Perze is assigned to a specific police unit with its own boss.

 

Archie Stout, a farmer on the Orkney island of Westray, is found murdered near a gold course. An  odd murder weapon has been used – one of two ancient stones from the Westray history museum, and the other stone is missing. Perez is initially assigned to investigate, but Stout is his closest friend and a friend since childhood. That relationship puts Perez too close to maintain professional objectivity, and Willow steps in, with Perez doing supporting work back in Kirkwall.  

Ann Cleeves

At first it seems that Stout had no enemies, but as Willow on her end and Perez on his soon come to learn, few things were what they seemed. It’s almost as if it would be easier to investigate who didn’t have a motive.

 

The Killing Stones is the new Jimmy Perez novel, and it has all the characteristics of the original Shetland series (minus some of the familiar supporting characters). That includes tight writing, a mystery that seems almost unsolvable, several suspects with motives, a few surprises and twists along the way, and a fast-paced and nail-biting climax. It might not have as much of Perez as the Shetland novels do, but Cleeves is still telling a great story.

 

Cleeves has published eight mysteries in the Jimmy Perez / Shetland series, including Raven Black (2008), Red Bones (2009), White Nights (2010), Blue Lightning (2011), Dead Water (2014), Thin Air (2015), Cold Earth (2017), and Wild Fire (2019). She’s also published 11 mystery novels in the Vera Stanhope series (also a television series), six Inspector Stephen Ramsay mysteries, and several other works and short stories. The Jimmy Perez novels are the basis for the BBC television series “Shetland.” Cleeves lives in northeastern England. 

 

Related:

 Missing in the Snow by Ann Cleeves. 

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves.

The Woman on the Island by Ann Cleeves. 

My review of Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves.

My review of Cold Earth by Ann Cleeves.

 My review of Red Bones by Ann Cleeves.

 My review of Raven Black by Ann Cleeves.

 My review of White Nights by Ann Cleeves.

 My review of Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves. 

 My review of Dead Water by Ann Cleeves.

 My review of Thin Air by Ann Cleeves.

My review of The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves.

 

Some Monday Readings

 

Is Harper Lee Rolling in Her Grave? – Kat Rosenfeld at The Free Press.

 

The Doomed Romances of Noir – Vincent Zandri at Crime Reads.

 

The Post-Literate Republic – Adam Smith at The Ford Leadership Forum.

 

At the Archbishops’ Palace in Charing – Spitalfields Life.

 

London Rebuilt 1897 – 1927. A Snapshot of an Ever Changing City – A London Inheritance.