Red Bones (Shetland Quartet 3) [Hardcover]

Ann Cleeves (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2009 | Series: Shetland Quartet 3

Spring: a time of rebirth and celebration. And a time of death...for April is the cruellest month. When a young archaeologist studying on a site at Whalsay discovers a set of human remains - the island community is intrigued. Is it an ancient find - or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly is shot on her land in a tragic accident and Jimmy Perez is called in by her grandson - his own colleague Sandy Wilson. He finds two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness has divided the surrounding community. With Fran in London, and surrounded by people he doesn't know and a community he has no links with - Jimmy finds himself out of depth. Then another woman dies and as the spring weather shrouds the island in claustrophobic mists the two deaths remain shrouded in mystery.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ann Cleeves worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She now promotes reading as Harrogate Crime-Writing Festival's reader in residence, and is also a member of 'Murder Squad', working with other northern writers to promote crime fiction. In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for Best Crime Novel, for Raven Black . Ann lives in North Tyneside.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: MacMillan; 1St Edition edition (April 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230014461
• ISBN-13: 978-0230014466
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,681,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Bones, February 25, 2010

By 

Mary Adams-Legge (Winchester, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Bones: A Thriller (Shetland Island Thrillers) (Kindle Edition)

Another terrific Shetland read from Ann Cleeves! Superior characterization, concise but effective description, and best of all, an intriguing plot that keeps the reader puzzling until the end. Please hurry with the next one!

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murder and gossip, January 30, 2011

By 

Knut L. Seip "The environmental reader" (Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Bones (Paperback)

This book is a novel, a detective story and a travel guide- in that order. It is about two malel detectives, inspector Jimmy Perez and his associate Sandy Wilson - and it is written by a woman, Ann Cleves. I suggest the following hypothesis: Woman writers having men as heroes (or main characters) add a flavor to a story - that, when read by men, could not have be added by a male writer. To compare; the stories of Peter Temple (The broken shore) and Ann Cleeves (Red bones) both concerns murders taken place in small communities where the indigenous people (aborigines in "The broke shore", local fishermen, or locals, in "Red bones" ) plays a central role. So the settings are sort of similar. However, whereas the aborigines are described rather schematically (to me), the description of the fishing society is emotional and detailed.

In Cleeves' story, both men and women are reflecting over their lives with equal intensity. Sandy (one of the policemen) reflects: "He couldn't face the stoic cheer of his father and his mother's restless energy. " (p. 203). And Hattie thinks: "I was never that comfortable with my body" she thought, "not even as a child". Why would any man want to sleep with me?" (p. 65) In Temples story the detective hero becomes a living character, but the women remains backgrounds for the male characters. (No critique, it is just another way of writing a story.) However, it is nice to read a story where both genders get equally insightful attention (maybe Cleeves is giving men too much credit for their reflections, but this is a novel, not reality).

Cleeves' writing style digs into our imagination in short sentences. Here is the essence of a marriage characterized in 24 words: "He said there was no point in taking on the world- He'd never win. Besides, he had Evelyn to do that for him." (p.91).

Cleeves detective story is (also) well written and has a surprising end - to me. Best of all, the solution gets its credibility from the character description. Now, if the character descriptions were real, one would probably not go for a visit to the island where the murder took place. However, the author assures us that the island is a friendly place (p. vii), and some of the characters claim they could not live in another place "You are lucky to have been borne here" (p. 202). Still, the island is described as barren, and covered in fog (not all the time). So, why does Cleeves' story still make you want to visit Shetland? Maybe this: " so she could smell the salt, feel the air on her skin.--"these days I don't feel I can breathe in the city"(p.371). Strangely, this book is also a nice travel guide.