Raven Black: Book One of the Shetland Island Quartet

Ann Cleeves

St. Martin's Press, May 29, 2007 - Fiction - 384 pages

Long a celebrated crime writer in Britain, Ann Cleeves’ fame went international when she won the coveted Duncan Lawrie Dagger for this amazing suspense novel, Raven Black. Like Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse or Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks, Cleeves’ new detective, Inspector Jimmy Perez, is a very private and perceptive man whose bailiwick is a remote hamlet in the Shetland Islands.
 
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.
 
Ann Cleeves is sure to dazzle U.S. mystery readers with this unforgettable series debut.

What people are saying

Review: Raven Black (Shetland Quartet #1)

User Review  - Shannon - Goodreads

Inspector Jimmy Perez was born of the Shetland Islands but, from the beginning, doesn't quite fit at the same time. Who, in the Shetland Islands, is of Spanish descent, other than an outlander? Family ...

Review: Raven Black (Shetland Quartet #1)

User Review  - Johanna - Goodreads

I have been kind of lazy reading books in English (German simply goes so much faster) but then I got this one for Christmas and it was an absolute pleasure reading it. I really enjoyed the richness of ...

About the author

Ann Cleeves grew up in the British countryside. She is reader-in-residence for the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, and she was twice shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award before winning the first Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award last year for Raven Black. She lives with her husband, Tim, in Yorkshire, England. Visit her Web site at www.anncleeves.com.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Raven Black: Book One of the Shetland Island Quartet; Volume 1 of Shetland Island Quartet; Shetland Island Thrillers
• Author: Ann Cleeves
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2007
• ISBN: 0312359667, 9780312359669
• Length: 384 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General