When an elderly woman is shot in what appears to be a tragic accident, Shetland detective Jimmy Perez is called to investigate the mystery.
The sparse landscape and the emptiness of the sea have bred a fierce and secretive people. As Jimmy looks to the islanders for answers, he finds instead two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness have lasted generations.
Then there's another murder and, as the spring weather shrouds the island in claustrophobic mists, Jimmy must dig up old secrets to stop a new killer from striking again . . .
Also available in the Shetland series are Raven Black, Red Bones, Blue Lightning, Dead Water and Thin Air.***
[Anna opened her eyes and saw a pair of hands, streaked and shiny with blood]***
(@panmacmillan, 23 December 2010, first published 2009, 401 pages, ebook, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
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So I've read some of the Vera books and am a rabid fan of the TV show. I've also seen some of Shetland and enjoyed it but have never read any of the books. This failing has now been rectified. First off, this book is set in Scotland, my home country. I give a book an extra star for being set in Scotland whether the book is good or not. I love my country; I love the islands and more remote places. The setting is brilliant in the book, I got a real sense of life in the islands, a place which seems unchanged as people are born there, grow up and settle down in the same place. It seems so alien to my own experiences. I also don't think this is really a thriller, not in a traditional way, more a suspense and mystery. What makes this work it is focuses on life as a police officer in a remote area where things are going to be different than in a large city. You don't even realise a crime has been committed until much later in the book. I enjoyed this and plan to read more.
