Telling Tales (Vera Stanhope, 2)

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My introduction to Deputy Chief Inspector (DCI) Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria Police came by way of my local public television station, which for the past several years has hosted Vera, the television series based on the edge-of-your-seat novels written by Ann Cleeves. As soon as I saw the first couple of episodes, I immediately went in search of the books. Some were harder to find than others.

Telling Tales is one of the “Vera” series by Ann Cleeves which I know so well from the TV series. In this novel, Inspector Vera Stanhope has been called away from her home county of Northumberland to reopen a murder case in a small Yorkshire village by the sea, east of Hull. But first the author takes us into the mind of Emma Bennett, who was 15 years old when she found her best friend, Abigail, lying dead. Now Emma is a dissatisfied mother with a baby, apparently happily married to James. But James has a secret and we are able to read his point of view too. Cleeves' portrayal of rural life is as far removed from chocolate box as you could hope for. The natural world here is all-powerful, striking rather than pretty and relationships in the community as bitter as the winds that scour the coast. Whether detailing the domestic world, life with a small baby or the work of the pilots on the ships, Cleeves has an accomplished eye. An excellent psychological thriller." Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves is the second book in the Vera Stanhope series, where a ten-year-old murder case is reopened, leading to an investigation into a small town full of big secrets (available August 22, 2017).

Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope is tasked with uncovering the truth and, as her new inquiries stoke up past secrets the villagers will lie to protect, she must find out which lies will bring her to the killer.

As this was Vera’s first full appearance, I found myself mainly focusing on her traits and mannerisms. Vera is naturally snoopy and can be very understanding and supportive when she interviews people. It makes her a good investigator. On the other hand, she is impatient and sometimes it comes out in her abrupt responses to people. Telling Tales is the second book in Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope series - which is now a major ITV detective drama starring Brenda Blethyn as Vera . Sitting at the bedroom window, Emma looks out at the night-time square. The wind rattles a roof tile and hisses out from the churchyard, spitting a Coke can onto the street. There was a gale the afternoon Abigail Mantel died and it seems to Emma that it’s been windy ever since, that there have been ten years of storms, of hailstones like bullets blown against her windows and trees ripped from the earth by their roots. It must be true at least since the baby was born. Since then, whenever she wakes at night – to feed the baby or when James comes in late from work – the noise of the wind is there, rolling round her head like the sound of a seashell when you hold it to your ear. Another great novel by Ann Cleeves with Vera. I keeps you guessing right to the end. If you are astute you might spot the anomaly near the beginning but after that Vera chases down a list of people who could be suspects all as a result of anomalies and secrets revealed. All are reasonable outcomes and they remain live to the end. You just have to keep reading.

She starts her investigation by interviewing both Michael and Emma. Emma finds out that her neighbor Dan was one of the police officers on the original case. Emma’s brother, Chris comes on a rare visit and confesses that he was obsessed with Abigail. By morning, he has disappeared, leaving no note. I liked this second book in the Vera Stanhope series better than I did the first. There was less fussing around with setting the stage, and Vera herself entered the scene much earlier in the story. On Sunday, her head filled with confused memories, Emma attends church with her husband, James, and her infant son. As she sits holding her son, Matthew, on her lap, she wonders if the tragedy will be announced from the altar. Exciting, right? That is not even the best news yet! The spectacular news is that Seagull, the eighth book in the series, will be on shelves this September, and it is the first of the series to be released in the USA and the UK simultaneously. So I get to read it at exactly the same time as my friends in Belfast! Because a new witness had just come forward. It seems Jeanie Long couldn’t have murdered that lass.’ He paused. Emma watched him rub his forehead with his broad, stubby fingers. It was as if he was trying to rub away the exhaustion. She wondered why he cared so deeply about a ten-year-old murder case. She could tell that he did care, that he had lain awake worrying about it. But he hadn’t even been living in the village then. He dropped his hands from his face. No traces of clay were left on his skin. He must have washed his hands before leaving the forge. ‘Shame no one bothered to tell Jeanie, huh?’ he said. ‘Or she might still be alive.’