A visit to a local prison brings Inspector DI Vera Stanhope face to face with an old enemy-former detective superintendent, now inmate, John Brace. Convicted of corruption and involved in a suspicious death, it seems that Brace has mellowed in prison. Notorious wheeler and dealer Robbie Marshall has been presumed missing, but Brace knows he's dead and points Vera in the direction of his grave.
The grave site is a shocking surprise, and the cold case takes Vera back in time-and close to home. Brace, Marshall, and a mysterious stranger known only as 'the Prof', were all close friends of her father, Hector. Hector was one of the last people to see Marshall alive before he disappeared in the mid-eighties from the faded seaside town of Whitley Bay, a wild, sleazy place. The one sophisticated establishment in the town at the time was The Seagull. Everyone involved in the case seems to be connected through the bar, including Brace's lover, the exotic waitress Mary-Frances Escuola who disappeared at the same time Marshall was killed.
To dig up the truth, Vera must overcome her prejudices and confront unwanted memories. Vera's vulnerability and her strength are on full display as she lends support to John Brace's motherless daughter, and comes to terms with the lack of a mother figure in her own life.
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[The woman could see the full sweep of the bay despite the dark and the absence of street lights where she stood]
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(@panmacmillan, 29 August 2017, 398 pages, paperback, gift)
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This is my second Vera book. However, I've been a fan of the TV series for years. This means that I know Vera and her team pretty well. I loved this book. Vera finds herself digging into her father's murky past when her father's old friend, a bent cop she put behind bars leads her to two bodies, hidden in the same place years apart. What makes the Vera books different than the multiple police procedurals available? Vera herself, she's a brilliantly realised, larger than life character. Vera on screen is exactly like Vera in the books. I loved the fact this book reveals some of Vera and her father Hector's past. This makes her seem more real. I now need to read all of the Vera books.