White Nights
White Nights, the second book in Ann Cleeves' Shetland quartet, and sequel to Raven Black, will be published in the US by St. Martin's Minotaur on September 16. Kirkus Review said "Cleeves's keen sense of the seasonal rhythms of Shetland life and her vivid descriptions of its terrain satisfy like a peaty Highland dram, sipped slowly."
It's midsummer in Shetland, the time of the white nights, when birds sing at midnight and the sun never sets.
Artist Bella Sinclair throws a party to launch an exhibition of her work and to introduce the paintings of Fran Hunter. The Herring House, the gallery where the exhibition is held, is on the beach at Biddista, in the remote north west of the island. When a mysterious Englishman bursts into tears and claims not to know who he is or where he's come from, the evening ends in farce. The following day the Englishman is found hanging from a rafter in a boathouse on the jetty, a clown's mask on his face.
Detective Jimmy Perez is convinced that this is a local murder. He is reinforced in this belief when Roddy, Bella's musician nephew is murdered too. But the detective's relationship with Fran Hunter clouds his judgement. And this is a crazy time of the year when night blurs into day and nothing is quite as it seems.
In true Agatha Christie style, Cleeves once again pulls the wool over our eyes with cunning and conviction
Colin Dexter
A most satisfying mystery set in an isolated and intriguing location
Peter Robinson
Ann Cleeves' great strength is in enclosing the crime itself within the total picture of what is happening to the islanders, and of what happened years ago. The result is a building of momentum that explodes with memorable effect.
Amy Myers, Shotsmag
A carefully constructed, atmospheric and interesting mystery
Jessica Mann, Literary Review
Ann Cleeves' intriguing mystery is tangentially energised by the "simmer dim", a mid summer craziness attributed to the midnight sun
FT magazine
It's a good, character-led mystery, which displays the art of storytelling without recourse to slash and stab.
Susanna Yager, The Telegraph
Order White Nights from Amazon UK (or ask your local bookshop to order a copy, quoting the ISBN: 978-0-230-01445-9).
Advance order the US edition of White Nights from Amazon.com, or from your local bookstore (ISBN: 978-0-312-38433-3).
Read Ann's author page on her publisher's web site (with links to an interview with Ann, and an extract from White Nights.
And see the home page for the latest news about Red Bones, the third book in the Quartet.
Raven Black
It is a cold January morning, and Shetland lies buried beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a splash of colour on the frozen ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbour, Catherine Ross. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance.
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 neighbours nervously lock their doors, whilst a killer lives on in their midst.
Raven Black was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award for the best crime novel of the year. The judges praised Raven Black for its "superb sense of place." They called it "a depiction of an enclosed community with modern and entrenched values constantly competing, [and] a thrilling read."
Read more about the award.
Raven Black was shortlisted for the Swedish Martin Beck Award 2007 for best translated fiction.
Read what Ann has to say about "creating a text" - and about the origins of Raven Black - in John Baker's Blog.
The US edition has also been gathering rave reviews - starting with a starred review in Publishers' Weekly:
Set in the remote Scottish Shetland Islands, Cleeves's taut, atmospheric thriller, the first in a new series, will keep readers guessing until the last page. Det. Insp. Jimmy Perez investigates the murder of teenage Catherine Ross, found strangled on a snowy hillside shortly after New Year's. While the police and citizens alike are quick to lay the blame on local eccentric Magnus Tait, who was not only the last person to see Catherine alive but also the prime suspect in the disappearance eight years earlier of another girl, Perez has his doubts. He's soon drawn into an intricate web of lies as he unearths the long-buried secrets of everyone from a roguish playboy to Catherine's only school friend. Cleeves, winner of the CWA's Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award (formerly the Gold Dagger), masterfully paints Perez as an empathetic hero and sprinkles the story with a lively cast of supporting characters who help bring the Shetlands alive. When the shocking identity of the murderer is revealed, readers will be as chilled as the harsh winds that batter the isolated islands.
© 1997-2005 Reed Business Information
The American Library Association's Booklist liked it, too:
Cleeves offers up a dark, brutal, suspenseful page-turner that will keep even seasoned mystery buffs guessing right up to the end.
© American Library Association
On these bare bones, Cleeves drapes moody descriptions of the harsh climate conditions on "bare wastes of heather moorland," stark observations on the revolting instincts of birds of prey and suggestive profiles of characters who have lived too long in these lonely parts. Never mind the murders; her study of a forgotten soul waiting for someone to come to his door and wish him a happy new year is enough to freeze the blood.
New York Times
Don't miss this standout first of a promised Shetland Quartet, both for its setting and top-notch storytelling.
Jane Dickinson, Rocky Mountain News
In the UK, order Raven Black from Amazon UK, or buy it from your local bookshop (if necessary, they can order it, using the ISBN):
- Order the hardback edition,
ISBN-13: 978-1-4050-5472-0 - order the paperback:
ISBN-13: 978-0-330-43251-1 - the Soundings Audio cassette
ISBN-13: 978-1-84559-318-6 - or Soundings Audio CD (both read by Gordon Griffin)
ISBN-13: 978-1-84559-456-5 - or in the Ulverscroft large print edition
ISBN-13: 978-1-84617-497-1
In the US, order Raven Black from Amazon.com or from your local bookstore, quoting the ISBN (978-0-3123-5966-9) and publisher (St. Martin's Minotaur).
What the critics said
"Have you ever read a new-to-you author and wondered what on earth took you so long to discover them? Raven Black is Ann Cleeves nineteenth novel and I'm wondering why I wasn't aware of her before now."
Sunnie Gill, Eurocrime
"I've discovered a wonderful writer, one whose description of a little-known area brings its world to life. She writes wonderful descriptions, and creates fascinating people."
Lesa Holstine, Lesa's Book Critiques
"I must say that I read very few whodunits these days, but Ann Cleeves is one of those writers who can keep me turning the pages until the final revelation.
"And that is exactly what happened with Raven Black, and I was gripped as much by the landscape and climate of Shetland as I was by the characters living in fear and suspicion along its coastline."
John Baker, John Baker's Blog
"The village mystery has a long pedigree, but it fell into disrepute when practitioners lost touch with realism and took all their characters from stock. With Raven Black, Ann Cleeves shows how it can be brought up to date.
"... There is nothing startling about the plot, but it is beautifully constructed. Each character's discoveries and fears build towards the climax they all experience, which means there is no need for laboured introspection or footprint-chasing. The people involved have back stories that work, and there is a warmth between them that makes an effective contrast with the wind and the harshness of the landscape.
"Cleeves writes with an easy directness that brings alive the tensions in a place where everyone knows everyone else and nothing can be forgotten... With the bare but beautiful landscape, painful family relationships as well as good ones, and the emotional torture of the simple-minded Magnus, Raven Black is a lively and surprising addition to a genre that once seemed moribund."
Natasha Cooper, Times Literary Supplement
"Ann Cleeves has written a lot of crime novels and collected many admirers without making the kind of headlines that some less skilful authors have achieved. Raven Black shows what a fine writer she is when on top form... The revelation of the murderer's identity comes as a surprise, but then seems obvious - a clever piece of characterisation and a satisfying end to an accomplished and thoughtful book."
Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph
"Cleeves is a very good writer - strong on atmosphere, plot and people."
Marcel Berlins, The Times
"Cleeves creates a convincing world of hostility against outsiders, of genuine ancient feuds but pseudo-history for the tourists, of small snobberies and major jealousies. Raven Black breaks the conventional mould of British crime-writing, while retaining the traditional virtues of strong narrative and careful plotting"
Jane Jakeman, Independent
(Jane Jakeman also placed Raven Black on her Christmas list of "books of the year".)
"The book is crammed with excellent incidental details of Shetland culture, and Cleeves vividly evokes the claustrophobic nature of life in a small, isolated community where everyone knows everyone else and secrets are common currency. Raven Black is as much about the intricate pattern of relationships in such a community as it is a conventional whodunit and, with a cast of well-drawn and convincing characters and an unexpected conclusion, it is the perfect novel to while away the long winter evenings by the fire."
Pete Whittaker, Tribune
And read what Shetland Library tells its readers about Raven Black.
Raven Black was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association. The Duncan Lawrie Dagger replaces the CWA's Gold Dagger award, and the winner receives £20,000, making it the world's largest award for crime fiction.
Ann's success was announced at the 2006 Dagger Awards ceremony at the Waldorf Hilton, in London's Aldwych, on Thursday 29 June 2006. She said: "I have never won anything before in my life, so it was a complete shock - but lovely of course.. The evening was relatively relaxing because I'd lost my voice and knew that even if the unexpected happened there was physically no way I could utter a word. So I wouldn't have to give a speech. My editor was deputed to do it!"
Read all Ann's reactions to the news at first hand, in her online diary.
The judging panel consisted of Geoff Bradley (non-voting Chair), Lyn Brown MP (a committee member on the London Libraries service), Frances Gray (an academic who writes about and teaches courses on modern crime fiction), Heather O'Donoghue (academic, linguist, crime fiction reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, and keen reader of all crime fiction) and Barry Forshaw (reviewer and editor of Crime Time magazine).