Shetland Series by Ann Cleeves

 

            

Scotland’s Northern Isles

Geoffrey W. Sutton

 

The Shetland series is set in the Shetland Islands, which are at the far north of the United Kingdom. The stark landscape dotted with sheep, filled by the author with an intriguing variety of birdlife, and battered by storms seems like an ideal place for a series of murders especially when cold winters bring snow, dense fogs can obscure vision, and summers present with an eerie long evening light—the simmer dim.

The lead detective is Jimmy Perez who was born on Fair Isle but works out of the police station in Lerwick on the main island. Jimmy had been married to Sarah who divorced him following a miscarriage.

His team includes Sandy Wilson from the off island of Walsay and inspectors from elsewhere in Scotland. In the first story, Raven Black, we meet Fran Hunter who is divorced from Jimmy’s old school friend, Duncan Hunter. They have a daughter Cassie. The relationship between Jimmy and Fran progresses along with the investigations. I’ll say no more to avoid spoiling the mysteries.

Ann Cleeves has a unique style. She builds her stories slowly following the discovery of a body. Soon the detectives are on the scene, which for the most part is Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez and his loyal but often clueless Sargent, Sandy Wilson.

Lead detectives vary with the novel. Early on there is Liverpool native Roy Taylor and in later novels, Willow Reeves from the West Hebrides. In all cases, Jimmy Perez shines as the detective with the keenest insight attributed in part to his understanding of how Shetlanders think and try to maintain a degree of privacy in communities where secrets are hard to preserve.

We learn about characters as they approach murders and relationships from a distinct point of view. Ann weaves her characters’ history into each story. Some features are relevant to solving the crime. Other histories misdirect us or just add flavour to life on these remote islands.

As a final background note, Cleeves adds cultural texture to the series by including some of the Shetlanders’ vocabulary. Early inhabitants were the Picts. The Vikings came in the 800s and remnants of their language add nuance and help us separate locals from visitors. Shetland and Orkney became part of Scotland in the 1400s thus, the Scots language is in common use. On 1 May 1707, the Scottish and English Parliaments united, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. I’ll add some vocabulary words at the end of this post.

These crime stories do not just consist of interviews and cerebral problem-solving but there is much less action than found in American Crime novels like the works of Baldacci.

The BBC has created a series called Shetland based on the characters in these bestselling books by one of Britain’s bestselling authors, Ann Cleeves. I have reviewed a few of the novels in more depth--see the links.

For more background, see my travel blog about Shetland.

I recommend the series to anyone who enjoys British crime novels. And I recommend the video series as well. I own the paperback box set.

A map of the Shetland Islands provided by Ann Cleeves can help find the places where the stories take place.

Learn more about the Shetland Islands at this Google Maps Link

 

The Shetland Series Books

Here I will list the books in order and provide a link to my reviews of each one. I recommend reading the books in order; however, each novel is a self-contained story and Cleeves repeats key features of the lead characters’ biography.

  

1. Raven Black  Shetland Series Book 1 by Ann Cleeves

Shortly after the New Year, Fran Hunter of Ravenswick finds incomer 16-year old Yorkshire lass, Catherine Ross, in the snow. She and her father were coping with the loss of her mother in different ways.  Black Ravens circle above her dead body. Fear quickly spreads in the community and Magnus Tait, a man on the margin of society, becomes the focus of suspicion by his neighbours. To make matters worse, another girl disappeared eight years ago and Tait was a suspect in her disappearance as well.

Read my review of Raven Black

 

Buy Raven Black Paperback   also an   Audiobook

 

2. White Nights   Shetland Series Book 2 by Ann Cleeves

There’s been a party in Shetland during those white nights when the light of day fades into a long, twilight evening, known as the simmer dim. Fran Hunter joins flamboyant Shetland artist Bella Sinclair in an art show. A strange man garner’s everyone’s attention as he falls before one of Bella’s paintings. Later, someone finds him hanging in a shed where fishermen store their gear. Local DI Jimmy Perez starts to investigate the staged suicide as a murder. The team includes lead DI Englishman Roy Taylor from the Inverness office and local sergeant Sandy Wilson. The tension increases in the small village of Biddista when another one is murdered.

Read my review of White Nights

 

            Buy White Nights  Paperback   also an   Audiobook

 

3. Red Bones   Shetland Series Book 3 by Ann Cleeves

An old woman, Sandy Wilson’s grandmother Mima Wilson, stepped outside her house one night. She is shot and killed. It looks like a hunting accident.

Two young women have been conducting an archeological dig on her land. The  discovery of old bones, combined with the memories of the islanders, help solve the mysterious murder but not before another killing increases grief and paranoia.

 

            Buy Red Bones  Paperback   also an   Audiobook

 

4. Blue Lightning   Shetland Series Book 4 by Ann Cleeves

Jimmy Perez takes Fran Hunter to meet his family, James and Mary, on Fair Isle. Cassie stays with her father, Duncan Hunter, on the main island. At the same time as the family visit, a group of avid birdwatchers are at the Bird Observatory at the North Lighthouse. It isn’t long before a mostly unloved scientist is found murdered and left in an unusual pose befitting her specialty. As the storms rage, everyone is trapped on the island. And most of the guests are suspects. Another becomes a victim. And there’s a race to stop the killer before it’s too late.

Buy Blue Lightning Paperback or  Audiobook

 

5. Dead Water  Shetland Series Book 5 by Ann Cleeves

Journalist Jerry Markham, a Shetlander with an uneven reputation has returned from London to investigate a story linked to the island’s energy industry. He ends up murdered after someone runs his alpha off the road near the Sullom Voe oil terminal. His body is found by Jimmy Perez’ boss, Procurator Fiscal Rhona Laing, in a racing yoal in Aith Marina.

 

Buy Dead Water  Paperback     Audiobook

  

6. Thin Air   Shetland Series Book 6 by Ann Cleeves

Three English women are uni friends. Two bring their partners to join the newlywed couple for a celebration on the northern Isle of Unst. The beautiful Eleanor, intrigued by a century old ghost story, disappears until her body is found in a small loch. Willow Reeves and Jimmy Perez along with Sandy Wilson investigate the English and nearby islanders.

 7. Cold Earth   Shetland Series Book 7 by Ann Cleeves

Magnus Tait has died. Then, there’s a horrible and destructive mud slide. The body of a woman in a red dress is found.

 

8. Wild Fire   Shetland Series Book 8 by Ann Cleeves

An English family move to Shetland with their son who has been diagnosed with autistic disorder. In their barn, the body of a nanny is discovered.

 Shetland- The TV Series

The TV series are based on the Shetland novels by Ann Cleaves. The early TV productions are closer to the novels with some differences. As in the novels, the main character is Detective Inspector, Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall). Also from the novels is Detective Constable Sandy Wilson (Steven Robertson) and Jimmy's daughter, Cassie (Erin Armstrong) and her biological father, Duncan Hunter (Mark Bonnar). Detective Sergeant Alison 'Tosh' Macintosh (Alison O'Donnell) is not a character in the books.

Season One is based on the novel, Red Bones.

Season Two is based on three of Cleeves' Shetland novels: Raven Black, Dead Water, and Blue Lightning. Each is presented in two parts.

Season Three and following are original stories based on the characters created by Ann Cleaves and mostly filmed on Shetland.

The TV series began in 2013 and includes 7 Seasons through 2022, which is the final season for Jimmy Perez.

The Shetland TV series videos are currently available on Britbox and  Amazon  and likely elsewhere too.

 

A Short Vocabulary List for Ann Cleeves Shetland Islands Series

bairn:  a Northern English and Scottish term for a child

brae: a steep hill or hillside (Northern England, Scotland)

byre:  a barn or cowshed

crabbit: grumpy, crabby, ill tempered

 

croft: a small, enclosed farm

 

cry off: to suddenly decide not to do something that was planned

 

dram: In Scotland, a dram of whiskey may be either 25 ml or 35 ml. A wee dram is an informal amount a friend would pour. Some say a dram equals the amount of you would drink in one swallow.

 

fizzed: informal description of a person who is very excited or bubbly like a fizzy drink

 

flash house: 1. a pub where illegal activity takes place; 2. old term for a brothel

 

flash people: criminals, thieves, prostitutes

 

forty fits: a highly emotional and angry outburst

gabble: a quick conversation; to speak so quickly that the words are not clear or easy to understand

 gloaming: dusk (Scotland)

 

god-botherer: a slang term for a very religious person—especially one who promotes their unwanted religious beliefs

 

hamefarin: a homecoming event for those who left the Shetland Islands

incomer: a person who is new to an established community—especially a small rural village

 

muckle: large or much of something (Scotland)

neeps: a turnip (Scotland); neepy lanterns are hollowed out turnips used as a Halloween decoration

noo

peerie: small, tiny (Scottish isles Orkney, Shetland)

 

planticrub: a round dry-stone garden for planting cabbage in Shetland; also called a crub

 

Rayburn: A Rayburn is a stove like an Aga, which is made in Telford, Shropshire at a factory that makes the Aga.

simmer dim: twilight; the dim light of night in the Shetland Islands during the summer months

soothmoother: This is a term used in Shetland for people who visit, or were originally from, places south of the islands (south mouth).

Tammy Norrie: a Shetland name for puffin; an insulting term for a man who is bashful or who doesn’t know what is going on (also spelt tammie)

tattie: potato (Scotland)

Up Helly Aa: This is an annual fire festival of Viking origin in Lerwick, Shetland that takes place the last Tuesday of January. One person is the Viking chief called Guizer Jarl. Expect to see hundreds of men in disguises, people dancing, a procession through the city and a large dragon ship bonfire.

Read more at this Shetland link: https://www.shetland.org/visit/events/lerwick-uha 

voe: a narrow inlet or small bay (Scottish islands; Shetland, Orkney)

 

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