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    Raven Black: Book One of the Shetland Island Mysteries
    Raven Black: Book One of the Shetland Island Mysteries
    Raven Black: Book One of the Shetland Island Mysteries
    Audiobook11 hours

    Raven Black: Book One of the Shetland Island Mysteries

    Written by Ann Cleeves

    Narrated by Gordon Griffin

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    About this audiobook

    The basis for the hit series "Shetland" now airing on PBS.

    Winner of Britain's coveted Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award, Ann Cleeves's Raven Black introduces a dazzling suspense series to U.S. mystery readers.

    It is a cold January morning and Shetland lies beneath a deep layer of snow. 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 on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man--loner and simpleton Magnus Tait. But when detective Jimmy Perez and his colleagues from the mainland insist on opening out the investigation, a veil of suspicion and fear is thrown over the entire community. For the first time in years, Catherine's neighbors nervously lock their doors, while a killer lives on in their midst.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateNov 18, 2014
    ISBN9781427263346
    Author

    Ann Cleeves

    Ann Cleeves is the author of more than thirty-five critically acclaimed novels, and in 2017 was awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger. She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn, who can be found on television in ITV’s Vera, BBC One’s Shetland and ITV's The Long Call respectively. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide. Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. Ann also spends her time advocating for reading to improve health and wellbeing and supporting access to books. In 2021 her Reading for Wellbeing project launched with local authorities across the North East. She lives in North Tyneside where the Vera books are set.

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    Reviews for Raven Black

    4/5

    868 ratings91 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I love the television series so I wanted to read the book series. It isn't as edgy. I wanted more descriptions of the people and places. I never felt like I was there inside that world.
    • 4/5
      Ah, I'm entrapped by yet another mystery/detective series! Jimmy Perez is a great character who intrigues me enough to want to read all the books. I was surprised by the reveal because I don't remember even the tiniest hint of that person as the culprit. Maybe I missed something, or maybe Cleeves is just that good at subtlety. At any rate, it was an entertaining read and the other books in the series are on my TBR list.
    • 5/5
      It is a cold January morning and the ground is covered with a deep layer of snow. Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a splash of red on the frozen ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbor Catherine Ross The crime is committed in the cold, dark and isolated Shetland Islands. The islanders are united in their belief it is the work of old Magnus Tate, as he is suspected of previous child murder. The police however are more open-minded and ready to follow the clues and uncover possible motives.Great read, the twists and turns abound. Once you think you know the killer, Ann Cleeve throws in a monkey wrench and leads you down a differing path!  You will be challenged.
    • 5/5
      The body of a teenager is found lying in the snow. The whole community thinks they know who is responsible – the same man they also consider responsible for the disappearance of another girl some years earlier. As the effects of the girl’s death ripple out into the community, old secrets come to light.A tense and subtle story. Cleeves cleverly shows the personalities and relationships in a way which hints that there is always more than the reader can quite grasp. Every portrayal is subjective, and every character has secrets or thoughts that they are trying – not always with much success – to hide. Detective Jimmy Perez is an appealing and rounded character, and a quietly competent detective. The reader is never quite sure who is truthful, and what is true – and never sure, either, who is responsible for the crimes. The layers of personality and community are carefully described and delicately peeled away to reveal an astonishing and dramatic conclusion. I was absolutely hooked on this story, and suspicious of almost everyone. The tension and drama wound tighter and tighter as the story neared its conclusion, and I felt absolutely compelled to keep reading. (When a reader picks up a book over their Saturday breakfast and continues reading in their pyjamas until lunchtime, unable to put the book down long enough to shower and get dressed, the author is doing a very good job.) I was very surprised by the final revelations, and very impressed by the skill with which the author concealed and yet hinted at the truth throughout the book.
    • 3/5
      This is the first of the Jimmy Perez Shetland mysteries. It’s atmospheric and compelling, with the strangulation murder of a young girl leading the action. Lots of character development and the eerie Up Helly Aa celebration of the longest nights of the year made this a winner for me.
    • 5/5
      Book Description
      Winner of Britain 19s coveted Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award, Ann Cleeves introduces a dazzling new suspense series to U.S. mystery readers. Raven Black begins on New Year 19s Eve with a lonely outcast named Magnus Tait, who stays home waiting for visitors who never come. But the next morning the body of a murdered teenage girl is discovered nearby, and suspicion falls on Magnus. Inspector Jimmy Perez enters an investigative maze that leads deeper into the past of the Shetland Islands than anyone wants to go.

      My Review
      I loved the Island setting of this first book of Ann Cleeves set on Shetland Islands. It was a great atmosphere for a mystery and the characters were very interesting. The plot was suspenseful enough to keep the pages turning. A shocking twist at the end was an unexpected surprise. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
    • 5/5
      I love Ann Cleeves both of jer series are wonderful
    • 4/5
      Raven Black by Ann Cleeves; bk 1 of the Shetland series; (4*); I was drawn to this book because of its setting in the Shetland Islands, which I have long found fascinating but know very little about. Cleeves writes well about island life among people in a remote area where there are no secrets kept except for the bad ones. The story centers around two murders of young women. One occurred eight years ago and one very recently. Both girls were seen in the company of Magnus, who has limited intellect and has lived a sheltered life with his domineering mother who, even in death, can control him. He is a simple man, alone & lonely. The story takes place shortly after New Years when everything is still, frozen and covered with snow. It is a perfect atmosphere for the events of the story. Magnus is fascinated by the two pretty young ladies who show up at his house on New Years Eve, drunk and giddy. When one of them is found dead in a snow covered field a few hours later, Magnus' world tips on its head.Enter detective Jimmy Perez who is quickly on the case, working the mystery.Cleeves is a very sparse and straight forward author and her writing keeps the reader immersed in the story. Nothing is overdone. Her characters are well drawn and believable. I enjoyed Raven Black and look forward to others in the Shetland series. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      This is a great murder mystery. Set in the Shetland Islands, the story kept me guessing until the end. I found it to be well written, I loved all of the quirky townspeople, and am looking forward to reading the next installment.
    • 4/5
      A great mystery set in the Shetland Isles, the atmosphere of the small community is perfectly portrayed as Ann Cleeves beautifully describes the characters and their lives. The story centres on a murdered girl and the impact this has on the small village where everyone not only knew her but knows everyone else. Everyone could be a suspect and it's up to local detective Jimmy Perez to get to the bottom of it. Old suspicions and grudges come out and initially a local man, Magnus Tait, who has withdrawn from society is suspected of commiting the crime. But as we follow Jimmy Perez try to piece together the dead girl's last days it seems more and more people have motives and opportunity to have murdered Catherine Ross.There are plenty of red herrings and clues along the way to keep even the most avid crime fan and amateur armchair detective happy. A great introduction to Ann's writing.
    • 5/5
      love Ann Cleeves books . Enjoy all her series Shetland, Vera
    • 4/5
      It was the day after New Year’s when Fran Hunter, walking her dog on the way home from dropping her young daughter off at school, found 18-year-old Catherine Ross’s body under a layer of snow. It was her red scarf standing out from the white snow that attracted artist Hunter. She immediately called a neighbor who called the police. The prime suspect was hermit Magnus Tait, who had recently talked with Catherine and who lived near where her body was found. Magnus was always a little odd, but had become more so after his mother died several years earlier. Additionally, Tait was the central suspect in the disappearance of a young girl, Catriona Bruce, many years earlier. Catriona’s body was never found and there was no evidence attaching Tait to the disappearance.Inspector Jimmy Perez of the Shetland police force was called to the scene. Having little experience in solving murders, he called in reinforcements from Inverness. Perplexing Perez was the question of why would anyone want to kill an 18-year-old girl. Catherine was new to the community, had lost her mother to cancer recently and had a father so consumed with sorrow, he basically ignored is daughter. Catherine’s only friend was Sally Henry, daughter of the school administrator. Catherine was her only friend as well. As Perez investigates he learns that Catherine was making a video for school about Shetland and its citizens...telling it like it really is. However, no one can find the video nor the script. Could the video be that incriminating? Could that be a motive for murder?While it is convenient that the populace thinks Magnus Tait is the murderer, Perez has his doubts. Too many problems exist for this to be the case. Luckily, the Inverness detective, Roy Taylor, also believes in justice vs. taking the easy way out. Together, they set out to solve the murder.Cleeves has created some memorable characters. Tait’s emotions are extreme: his loneliness, his fear of the police after being brutally questioned about the Catriona Bruce disappearance, his attraction to Catherine and Sally. Perez has personal demons he must confront. Fran Hunter plays a small but pivotal role, moving back to Shetland after a time away. And of course, Catherine and Sally, inseparable friends dealing with being teenagers and being somewhat ostracized.And Shetland itself. An archipelago of more than a hundred islands, it is one of the most remote places in the United Kingdom. Its fifteen hundred miles of shore mean that wherever one stands, there is a view of the sea. It has sheltered voes and beaches and dramatically exposed cliffs, lush meadows full of wild flowers in the summer and bleak hilltops where only the hardiest of plants will grow. Shetland is a small community. Everyone knows everyone and there is little to no privacy. If you are looking for an solid police procedural, Raven Black and Shetland is perfect. With 8 books in the series, it won’t take long to read them all and then move on to the Vera series.
    • 4/5
      On New Year's Day, Fran Hunter is walking home after a major snow fall. She notices something bright coloured in a field which seems to be attracting a flock of ravens. When she investigates, she discovers a local 16 year old school girl dead. Across the road lives an elderly man who has been ostracized by the community because of his suspected involvement in a previous unsolved murder of another female child. Of course he becomes a prime suspect and Inspector Jimmy Perez has to over come his initial acceptance of the man's guilt to prove who had the most to win with the recent murder. The unsolved murder from some years earlier complicates the investigation.Another page turner from Ann Cleaves which introduces readers to Jimmy Perez including his background in Shetland and to police work. A winner!
    • 3/5
      After reading one of the other books in the Shetland series, I said I wouldn't read another - not that it wasn't a good book, more that it isn't the kind of book I normally enjoy. I've spent some time in Shetland this year and bought this book while I was there, to give them another try.

      I enjoyed this a lot more than the last one I read, the locations and scenery are really well depicted and I loved wintry atmosphere. I also enjoyed getting to know the characters. I felt the reveal at the end was a bit rushed though. I'm not sure I will read the others, it's still not my kind of book, but I loved the setting.
    • 4/5
      I saw a few episodes of the television series, including the premier based on this book. Luckily, I didn’t remember how the show turned out. This novel presents a clear example of how the book is almost always better than the movie. The author artfully weaves together the lives in the little town of Lerwick on the Shetland Isles. She captures the small town atmosphere where everyone knows everyone else’s business; and she does it without creating ridiculous caricatures. The main characters are beautifully done even if some of the supporting characters fall a bit flat. A newcomer to Lerwick is found murdered not far from her home on an icy winter morning in January. The immediate suspect is an old man best described as developmentally disabled. Everyone in this close-knit community is certain he did it, just as they are certain he killed another, younger girl some eight years earlier. Luckily for Magnus Tait, Inspector Jimmy Perez isn’t as sure as the lifetime residents of Lerwick. Perez is only too familiar with tiny communities and being an outsider, as he grew up on Fair Isle but boarded in Lerwick for high high school years. So, Perez and Senior Inspector Taylor from the mainland keep asking questions in spite of being handed the easy answer. As they keep probing, a bizarre story of youth and anger and betrayal unfolds to — for me, at least — a surprise ending. I will be looking for the second Perez mystery set in the Shetland Islands and ither works by this author.
    • 3/5
      I picked this book to read both because it took place in the Shetland Islands in Scotland, and by the indication it had won an award for mystery. I wasn’t entirely won over by the presentation of the setting, and was perplexed by the award. The body of Catherine Ross, 16, is found in the snow near the waterfront, and also very close to the house of Magnus Tait, a mentally challenged older man who lives alone since the death of his mother. The villagers immediately suspect Tait, just as they surmised him to be responsible for the presumed death of a little 11-year-old girl named Catriona who had gone missing eight years before. A team is called in from Inverness, headed by DI Roy Taylor, to manage the case But Taylor still needs to rely on the local knowledge of the Shetlander DI, Jimmy Perez.The story mostly consists of the detective team’s efforts to get to know who Catherine was and who might have wanted to kill her, or conversely, to find enough evidence to pin the crime on Magnus.The atmosphere of the Shetlands is conveyed mostly in relation to the Lerwick Up Helly Aa, an annual celebration of Shetland’s Viking history with a Mardi Gras flavor, which is also the setting for the denouement of the book. Evaluation: The author managed to throw in a few twists, but overall I thought the writing was heavy-handed and the pacing a bit tedious. As for the characterizations, the teenagers weren’t very interesting, and the adult characters remained enigmatic.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book in an apparent series and the first I have read. It took a while to get into the story and the people. The story, it turns out, is a good one. I am still withholding judgment on the key characters.
    • 4/5
      This is solidly engaging and suspenseful. The pace builds slowly to the denouement, but the plot kept me guessing. I will happily read more of these books in the series.
    • 2/5
      I had started this awhile ago, but restarted it after having watched the wonderful SHETLAND teevee series. RAVEN BLACK has an awful lot in there focused on one girl who was a friend of a murdered girl. An awful lot of her thinking about an older guy, an awful lot of her thinking about her classmates, her mom, her dad, etc., etc. It is, basically, almost mind-numbingly painful. And the rest isn't all that good. Cleeves is not a great writer.

    • 4/5
      This first book in the Shetland series was better than I expected (based upon watching the TV adaptations). A tad more about Jimmie Perez's personal life than I prefer but at least it wasn't completely angst-ridden!
    • 3/5
      This is a professional job, effectively enough done by a writer who knows how to do it.

      It's confident but understated, nothing too exciting, and consequently nothing special.

      I like the policeman, Jimmy Perez, a sympathetic character in both senses, and I will tune in to #2 to follow his story; other characters are less well drawn, and the Shetland setting adds little that is unique (see Peter May's Lewis trilogy for the sort of thing I mean).

      Regarding the pace, I found this quite a stately read until about three quarters of the way through; then it picks up before, yes, I concede, a pedestrian resolution to the plot.
    • 3/5
      Atmospheric setting in Shetlands. Told from various viewpoints but the reader only gets some of the intent of the murderer before Perez solves the case. Read more of the series?
    • 5/5
      I have watched the Shetland TV series, and I love it, so I wanted to read one of the books and chose this first one. It was wonderful. There are some differences between the book and the episode based on the book, but the mystery is the same, and the guilty parties are still the same. I enjoyed the descriptions of the islands, and as I read, I felt like I was really there. It helped give me a background, at least how the author intended it, for some of the characters.
    • 3/5
      The recent history, the culture, and the geography of the island are as much elements of this mystery as the characters. Still, there is some feeling of skipping over the top and just sketching the outlines for me in this book. A twisty mystery with several look over there misdirections.
    • 4/5
      I saw the TV series of the book, it appears that some modification was made to make it more melodramatic. The book is well written and good starting of the series. I am not sure about the murder motive that seems a bit stretched.
    • 4/5
      A good thriller, fast moving with interesting characters.
    • 4/5
      Raven Black is the first book in the Shetland series. This book starts with the introduction of Inspector Jimmy Perez and the murder of a beautiful teen aged girl, Catherine Ross. Seems just about everyone in the small town believes eccentric Magnus Tait is responsible for the murder of Catherine. She was strangled and left in a snowy field near Magnus’ house.Magnus is clearly a mentally deficient person although capable enough to live on his own. But is he capable of murder?A young girl named Catriona had disappeared some 10 years earlier and Magnus was their prime suspect. No body was found and he couldn’t be charged. But did he do it? This is resolved later in the book. This girl’s disappearance is introduced early in the novel to establish the mistrust of old Magnus as well as give the reader one of many suspects to consider for Catherine’s murder.In addition to Jimmy Perez we have multiple perspectives. Each chapter gives us a different point of view. Fran Hunter and her ex-husband Duncan who have a young daughter named Cassie. Fran is the one to discover Catherine’s body.Sally Henry is a teenager, Catherine’s friend and the daughter of a school teacher. It’s very difficult to attend school when your parent is a teacher. Hard to fit in and be trusted. There is Robert, a tall handsome student who Sally is interested in. Robert’s father is a big figure with the upcoming festival Up Helly Aa. We don’t meet Robert's father but you can tell how important and prestigious it is that Robert is involved in his father’s business and the festival.There are preparations for Up Helly Aa, something I had to look up because I had no idea what it is. To read about the festival, make travel arrangements to visit and get involved, click HERE. I added an interesting video at the end of the post explaining Up Helly Aa.When I grabbed the book at the library and read the flap I wondered how a name such as Jimmy Perez came up on a remote Scottish island. It is explained early on about his ancestor, probably from Spain, shipwrecked near Shetland. I pictured Antonio Banderas so was shocked to see a reddish-brown haired man playing this part on the TV series. I haven’t picked up the series yet, just watched a preview in IMDB.Anyway, he settled on Fair Isle and generations of Perez families prospered. Jimmy is a good detective and an empathic man and longs for a family life. I like this guy.The weather is almost a character in its own right. It comes up so much and it’s so very descriptive about the wind, the ice, the snowdrifts, the cold. If you like mysteries and police procedurals this may be a book for you. This one has potential for sure and I already like a few of the characters so I will continue with book 2 next.Foodie stuff: Stopping at the coffee shop for a mug of milky coffee and a pastry with apricots and vanilla or a slice of chocolate cake. Tea and coffee, lots of it. Drams of whiskey, bottles of wine, toast and jam.And now for a treat, click below for Learning with Rowan to see what Up Helly Aa is all about. Looks like a fun festival but oh so cold!Learning with Rowan about Up Helly AaThe video is on my site, very cool!
    • 3/5
      This is the first of the Jimmy Perez Shetland mysteries. It’s atmospheric and compelling, with the strangulation murder of a young girl leading the action. Lots of character development and the eerie Up Helly Aa celebration of the longest nights of the year made this a winner for me.
    • 4/5
      Easy read and I had completely forgotten the culprit so that was a surprise. Enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      Like so many others, I was drawn to Raven Black because of the PBS series. I found the novel very easy to read and quick to draw the reader into the atmosphere of Shetland and the characters who lived there. Cleeves did an admirable job of developing the characters in such a way as to coax the reader through the process of figuring out what led up to the deaths of the two young ladies. I'm a great fan of Peter May who is a master of creating a sense of place in his Lewis trilogy. While there are similar moments in this novel, Cleeves strength seems to be in her ability to create complex characters on several different levels and then letting them "live" out the plot. I look forward to reading more in this series.