The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves

 

The Rising Tide by Ann Cleeves is a seriously good British crime novel. The plot, the characters, the locations: perfect! This was my first Vera novel but, having seen a couple of episodes on television, I think Brenda Blethyn was perfectly cast as DCI Vera Stanhope and I had no trouble picturing her as I read.

For fifty years a group of friends has been meeting once every five years on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne to commemorate a weekend retreat they had all once attended as sixth formers; this year, however,  Vera and her team are called in to investigate the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of one of the group after their first night on the island.

From that point on the story unfolds in the most interesting way, exploring the personal stories of not only the suspects but also the investigating detectives. The writing is in turns witty and empathetic and it seems possible that all of the suspects, who at first appeared to have no motives for killing their friend, could have secrets buried in their pasts. Vera needs to find out if, or how, there could be a connection with this death and the apparent accidental death of a group member at the first reunion, forty five years ago, when her car was engulfed by the rising tide over the causeway between the island and the mainland. 

England is a treasure trove for writers of crime fiction with all its ancient historic locations and, as well, the sea closing in over the causeway is always a stunning dramatic effect in a murder mystery. The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a perfect setting for this terrific Ann Cleeves story. It was hard to pick who might have dunnit but the solution was absolutely satisfactory.

I read a lot of crime novels and this one was a standout!

Published by Macmillan