Series Update

Where are we up to in the series?

Ratings This Far:
Raven Black: 4.58
White Nights: 4.70
Red Bones: 4.17
Blue Lightening: 4.40
Dead Water: 4.40
Thin Air: 4.90
Cold Earth: 4.43
Wild Fire:

Note
#8, Wild Fire will be the last of the Shetland Island series in print...but season 4 of this series is now out on DVD...so Jimmy and his friends are not gone, but "preserved" in little round discs. I own all 4 seasons and the first season consists of the first 4 books. The scenery alone is worth the price of the DVD's.

Raven Black by Ann Cleeves
Shetland Island series Book #1

Inspector Jimmy Perez, is a very private and perceptive man whose territory to police is a remote hamlet in the Shetland Islands of the northwest coast of Scotland.

On a cold January morning while trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a splash of color on the frozen ground, ravens circling above.

It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbor, Catherine Ross. The locals stubbornly focus their suspicions on one man---loner and simpleton Magnus Tait…who was accused--but never convicted--of kidnapping another girl eight years earlier.

Detective Jimmy Perez and his colleagues from the mainland insist on taking the investigation further afield…throwing a veil of suspicion and fear over the entire community.

As he investigates, he uncovers a web of sinister secrets, strange superstitions, petty rivalries, thwarted love, and illicit affairs…revealing the dark underbelly of Shetland's tight-knit community.

Romance soon drifts in the air for Jimmy and Fran

There were 6 of the participants in the discussion.
Overall rating: 4.58

Comments
"The story builds well toward the revel which is provided by numerous clues that readers will have to pay very close attention to throughout the book if they hope to solve it."

"This mystery was an exquisite reading experience from beginning to end. I love the setting, the characters and the plot."

White Nights by Ann Cleeves
Shetland Island series Book #2

Inspector Jimmy Perez returns and is unsettled with the prospect of a new romance with Fran Hunter

Fran’s art work is exhibited for the first time at a local gallery opening. During the exhibit, a man falls to his knees… weeping, in front of a painting at the exhibit.

Claiming to be suffering from amnesia, the unknown man disappears before Perez can question him further, This same man…a tourist… is later found hanged in a fishing hut, his face obscured by a clown mask.

Detective Jimmy Perez is convinced that the man has been murdered. He is reinforced in this belief when Roddy, Bella’s musician nephew, is murdered, too.

With the appearance of the second body Perez must sift through generations of closely guarded island secrets to find the truth.

There were 7 participants in the discussion.

All agreed that the ending was a rushed and not very complete.
Overall rating of 4.70

Comments
Pros:
" A really good book with an excellent setting, intrsesting characters, and an engaging story. I would certainly recommend it to mystery fans and I know I will be searching out more of Ann Cleeves books."

"The characters are realistic and well drawn, quite believable and convincing in every respect."

If you like crime novels with gunfire echoing on the page, this is not for you. But if you want a novel that explores how what is human in all of us can sometimes produce evil, and then explores its devastating consequences, you can't do better than this."

Cons:
Group had no negative comments

Red Bones by Ann Cleeves
Shetland Island series Book # 3

There are few major crimes in the Shetlands, so it's a shock to Jimmy Perez when eccentric octogenarian Mima Wilson is found shot dead.

Her nephew Ronald believes that he is to blame. While drinking, and shooting rabbits…he assumes one of his shots had accidently hit Mima.

Inspector Jimmy Perez investigates the shooting death…but to make matters worse…learns that Mima is the grandmother of Perez's underling…Sandy Wilson.

Mima's land is the site of an archeological excavation led by eager Ph.D. student Hattie James, who recently uncovered a skeleton of indeterminate origin.

When another body turns up near the dig site, Perez becomes more suspicious… even though the second death is an apparent suicide.

With Sandy's help, he begins to unravel a knot of tall tales and family betrayals that stretches back to a WWII resistance movement known as the Shetland Bus. Now he knows that a killer lurks among the townspeople.

There were 6 participants in the discussion.
Overall rating: 4.17

Comments

Pros
"The pace is steady but not quick, as the layers of this close knit community is peeled away."

"I have never read a book where I feel I've experienced the rain, wind and sunshine that she portrays so well on these islands."

Cons
Group made no negative comments.

Blue Lightening by Ann Cleeves
Shetland Island series Book #4

This adventure took us to Fair Isle, a tiny island off the coast of Scotland that is a mecca for bird-watchers.

Inspector Jimmy Perez has brought his fiancée, Fran, home to meet his parents.

The engagement party is a welcome diversion from petty competition among birdwatchers, but the festivities end abruptly with the discovery of a murder.

As a storm rages, access to the island is cut off and Perez is the only law enforcement official available.

Until facts prove otherwise, he must consider everyone a suspect..

The murder victim is a celebrity scientist…who none of us liked very much… who ran the island’s bird-research center.

While Perez investigates he uncovers a nest of complicated relationships and petty academic rivalries.

The stormy weather adds to the gloom as more bodies pile up.

A major character meets an untimely end in this novel that was not popular with the some of the discussions.

There were 7 participants in the discussion
Overall rating: 4.40

Comments:

Pros:
“Love the atmosphere of this island and it’s people.”

Cons:
"Not as enjoyable as the first three. I felt the ending was unnecessarily harsh."

Dead Water by Ann Cleeves
Shetland Island series Book #5

When the body of a journalist is found, Detective Inspector Willow Reeves is drafted from outside to head up the investigation.

Inspector Jimmy Perez has been out of the loop, but his local knowledge is needed in this case, and he decides to help Willow.

The dead journalist had left the islands years before to pursue his writing career. In his wake, he left a scandal involving a young girl.

When Willow and Jimmy dig deeper, they realize that the journalist was chasing a story that many Shetlanders didn't want to come to the surface.

One big surprise is the role of the Fiscal, previously a testy character that only made occasional appearances. In Dead Water we see Rhoda differently as new light is shone on her character.

Willow Reeves has the possibility to become a new love interest for our Jimmy.

There were 6 participants in the discussion.
Overall Rating: 4.40

Comments
Pros:

"The setting--the Shetland Islands--makes the novel. Ann Cleeves does a wonderful job of placing you in the rugged windswept islands."

"Ann Cleeves' writing is so enjoyable and descriptive with characters you really like and feel you know personally it's always a pleasure to read."

"Another cracking read in this excellent series."

Cons
The group made no negative comments

Thin Air by Ann Cleeves
Shetland Island series Book # 6

Two couples going to a wedding in a remote area off Scotland's coast. They are the bridesmaids and their partner/husband going for their friend the bride.

When one disappears it becomes a murder mystery.

Detective Jimmy Perez teams with his superior Willow Reeves and is called to investigate a murder on the northernmost isle of Unst.

Assisting is the local officer Sandy Wilson. The victim was creating a film about encounters with ghosts and was including the local sightings of Peerie Lizzie.

Everyone becomes likely suspects. The victims husband…their university friends…their dates and a few of the locals.

This installment is very atmospheric. The local legend adds to that feeling.

Jimmy is still coping with the loss of his wife but we all wondered if Willow would become more than just a supervisor to him. It was interesting to watch her emotional play throughout the book.

Thin Air is a very quiet mystery, muffled in fog and shrouded in secrecy. It's as quiet and deceptive as Jimmy Perez himself-- and every bit as satisfying.

There were 5 participants in the discussion.
Overall rating 4.90

Comments

Pros:
"This is an excellent read and works well as a stand alone novel. Different in feel from the Vera Stanhope series, but strong in its own way."

"Other characters speculate on Jimmy Perez and his grief but he seemed more of a cardboard cut out than full fledged character. Hope he gets back to his old lovable self soon."

"Excellent sense of place and a good mix of characters make this an interesting read with several “who-can-you-trust” moments."

"This was yet another excellent book in this superb series. This would have to be one of my favourite series, I love the setting for the books, the main group of characters, the suspense and tension that is built up during the book

Cons
Group made no negative comments

Cold Earth by Ann Cleeves
Shetland Island series Book # 7

In the dark days of a Shetland winter, torrential rain triggers a landslide that crosses the main road and sweeps down to the sea.

At the burial of his old friend Magnus Tait, Jimmy Perez watches the flood of mud and water smash through a house in its path.

Everyone thinks the home is uninhabited, but in the wreckage he finds the body of a dark-haired woman wearing a red silk dress.

Perez soon becomes obsessed with tracing her identity and realizes he must find out who she was and how she died.

There were 7 participants in the discussion
Overall Average: 4.43

Comments

Pros;
"Just being back on the Shetland Island was great. Ann Cleeves always writes a close to her vest type of book where the murderer is usually the least expected. But I think if you pay close attention, you can pick up the murderer."

"I liked how so many characters were made to seem suspicious. It kept me really interested. I also liked the feeling of the island and the characters. There were quite a few surprises and some of the chapters ended with cliff-hangers so that keeps me interested too."

"I like the setting and the main cast of characters, how their lives progress."

"I liked being offered a diverse group of characters that could have been suspects, Also Sandy getting to be more than just a sideline doing Jimmy's bidding. He had promise of being a good detective in this one."

"Ann Cleeves always writes a very readable story - in-depth characters and intricate plots which keep you guessing to the last."

Cons:
"I would've liked to see the killer developed a bit more so that the ending would be more convincing."

"I felt like Jimmy was sleepwalking through this book. He irritated me a couple of times."

"I would have liked to better understand the motivations some of the things that happened."

"Jimmy was doing things that were so uncharacteristic for him that I actually went back and read parts to be sure that it was Jimmy. We also were not given anything that indicated why the murders were taking place."

Thanks, Carol! Very helpful!

Thanks for this Carol 👏👏👏, interesting that the first two and Thin Air have the highest ratings. Hope the series goes out on a high.

>4 Andrew-theQM: Me too. So far this one has started out very well 4 's and 3.5's.

>5 Carol420: I think the rating for this one could be seriously affected by how the series ends for Jimmy.

>6 Andrew-theQM: I think you are right and the new series' future will also hang on it. We may have to seriously take her into our capable hands and "make her see reason."

>2 Carol420: Thanks, Carol, :)

>7 Carol420: I'll sit on her, while you throttle, sorry, I mean make Ann see sense...

>8 Sergeirocks: Whatever it takes! It's going to take me longer to get there so you and Andrew can start without me and I'll catch up:)

Thanks >2 Carol420:. I'm feeling a little melancholy..........