The Dark Wives

Vera Stanhope, Book 11

De: Ann Cleeves

Narrado por: Janine Birkett

"Janine Birkett's marvelous narration enhances this riveting mystery, part of the Vera Stanhope series, set on the majestic northeast coast of England"—AudioFile on The Seagull, an Earphones Award winner

As New York Times bestseller Ann Cleeves's beloved Vera series explodes in popularity in print and on TV, this stunning eleventh book explores the web of secrets surrounding a young man's death.

The man’s body is found in the early morning light by a local dog walker in the park outside Rosebank, a home for troubled teens in the coastal village of Longwater. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who was due to work the previous night but never showed up.

DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate the death, with her only clue being the disappearance of one of the home’s residents, fourteen-year-old Chloe Spence. Vera can’t bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder, but even she can’t dismiss the possibility.

Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie Bell, are soon embroiled in the case, and when a second connected body is found near the Three Dark Wives monument in the wilds of the Northumberland countryside, superstition and folklore begin to collide with fact. Vera knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, and the dark secrets in their community that may be far more dangerous than she could have ever believed possible.

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

©2024 Ann Cleeves (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Forceful . . . Multiple narrators and a core cast of keenly rendered characters lend the tale dimension while furthering the series arc. Cleeves’s fans will be well satisfied.”—Publishers Weekly

“A taut police procedural enhanced by relevant social consciousness.”—Booklist

“Like Rendell and James before her, like McDermid and Rankin today, Ann Cleeves is one of our secret chroniclers, charting—under cover of a series of expertly plotted and mesmerizing crime novels—how we live now.”—Mick Herron, author of the Slough House series

Too easy to guess

I still love Vera and all the team, but the storyline hinted way too early about the real motives. And yet we had to endure the team missing it for pretty much the entire book. and what is up with Rosie and her love of alcohol? That must play into a future book.

Perfect narrator, intrusive social messaging

Narrator Janine Birkett has always performed immaculately in bringing the Vera Stanhope novels to life, and remains perfect in this role. I've listened multiple times to each preceding Vera novel; perhaps it's excessively high expectations that lead me to bail on this one. Ann Cleeves' writing has always managed to draw out sympathy for her characters and situations in subtle ways. This time it felt like there were heavy-handed intrusions on the text with clunky social messaging and instruction. It really broke immersion in the story. It's not an issue of disagreeing with any sentiment, it just felt like the author- or editors- didn't trust the reader to reach their own conclusions, and maybe learn more for themselves after listening to/ reading the book.

Part mystery, part social justice

The setting in the rural area held my interest while getting acquainted with the new member of the team. I feel this series winding down though.

New team member

Vera’s development and the focus on childcare and teamwork. It’s good to have her back.

the story line

Who done it,and how they found out . The twists and turns. the cast of the story.

Another Vera Book!

I’ve always enjoyed the Vera books & was so happy when another was written. And this was as good as the older ones, the author hasn’t lost her touch. Keep our fingers crossed there may be more.

never formulaic

I so appreciate that this author does not just crank out a formulaic series: her characters evolve and the situations involve important issues without being preachy. I particularly like the continuing presence of Vera’s departed complex father in the story. Cleeve’s descriptions of the natural world as context are superb.

Vera is back!

Ann Cleeves is a masterful storyteller. Twists and turns abound.
As usual Vera Stanhope had it figured out before her team or the reader!

Vera never fails to impress!

There was one thing that kept bugging me today, even though the story was interesting. I felt like it was a little too pulled out of the hat in terms of her, figuring it out, and the lack of teamwork is beginning to bug me a little. I’m now used to detectives having relationships with ornery, Pathologist, and, difficult bosses, and Vera seems to work and in world of her own. I was also hoping to have a little bit more… Mystical?… Connection with the three dark wives. So I would say this is a good story, but not one of her best.

Love the characters, the story just OK

Always love to listen to another Vera story, but they are getting a little predictable and politically correct.