Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves
{Book 6 in the Vera Stanhope series}


The book starts with a murder on a stalled Metro train. The setting is northern England,  Christmas time, snow causing delays for all the travelers.  Sgt. Joe Ashworth is trying to get home with his daughter when the train stops. The lights go out and in that short time an elderly woman is murdered - it's Joe's young daughter Jess who discovers the body as she tries to awaken the woman.

I like the character Joe Ashworth and am pleased how his role is developing in this series. Vera is not an easy woman to work for and has some annoying traits but she is mellowing. 

The investigation begins on Harbour Street where the murdered woman lived and through the questioning, it appears there are shady connections with residents of the street. There is another mystery and murder which will  relate to an unsolved case from decades prior.

This is book 6 in the Vera Stanhope series.  I love the detective Vera for her flaws, for not being the well dressed, elegant beautiful detective star so many series have.  Vera can be ill tempered and impatient, a loner who imbibes too much some days, a woman who exudes confidence yet is scarred by her father Hector's verbal abuse when she was a child. That's a side she never shares publicly. 

Onward to the last three in this series and I will be caught up.


10 comments:

  1. I've not read any of the books but have watched the whole series, so far. Awfully good. I did hear Brenda Blethyn reading what I think was the newest in the series, and it was wonderful. From what I recall it is set in wintertime, Christmas maybe?, and there is a country house when the car breaks down. I just went looking on youtube and found it!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVbF6p9gVUY

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    1. Nan, thanks for the link! I haven't seen the series yet but I want to read the entire seris first. The DCI Banks series was quite off from the books and I have read all in that series, so far.

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    2. I started watching DCI B. but they did something unexpected - killed someone off, and I quit! Haha. I've read some of the books, and mean to get back to them.

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    3. Nan, I read an interview with Peter Robinson and he didn't like the way the series was going. Appartently authors do not have complete autonomy with the scripts.

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  2. Vera Stanhope sounds a bit like a non cozy version of Agatha Raisin. I've read one book by Anne Cleeves and enjoyed it but always meant to read this series. I'll have to pick up the first one!

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    1. Katherine, it's definitely a non cozy mystery but not too graphic. Funny thing about the first book in the series is Vera isn't introduced in the beginning, something like 40% into the story.

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  3. I would probably enjoy this series.

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    1. Vicki, Cleeves is quite a descriptive author. I want to get back to the Sheyland series.

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  4. I watched the series long ago enough now that I've forgotten the plots. This might be a good time to start the books!

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