Category Archives: Ann Cleeves

Crime Fiction Alphabet: O is for Old People

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Perhaps my inability to really get into YA novels has more to do with the sad reality that I’m closer to receiving my senior’s card than I am to having had a student bus pass.  Anyway, I do rather like old people, both in real life and in my fiction. I know some of ‘em are crotchety and curmudgeonly but I was born that way so I fit right in, and I like the fact they know lots of stuff. There are a surprising number of old people in crime fiction who aren’t doddering or silly and they are some of my favourite characters of all.

One of the world’s best-known and most-loved elderly solvers of mysterious puzzles is Agatha Christie‘s Jane Marple, who appeared in 12 novels and around the same number of short stories. The second novel in which she appears, The Body in the Library (1942), is probably my favourite. In St Mary Mead, the village where Miss Marple lives, the body of a woman in evening wear is found in the library of the home of Colonel Bantry and his wife. Both the Colonel and his wife claim to have no knowledge of the woman or how she came to be strangled in their library but village gossip makes their lives difficult. Eventually, after several other (younger) people muddle around, Jane Marple’s shrewdness and ability to observe human nature unravel the complicated story.

Dorothy Gillman‘s series featuring a grandmother turned CIA agent seems to have been written purely to confound the stereotypes normally associated with old people. In The Amazing Mrs Pollifax (1970) our intrepid heroine travels to Istanbul to make contact with a Russian spy who is a double agent for the Americans but must survive a swag of near-death experiences before arriving home safely.

Before her Vera Stanhope novels and the Shetland Quartet Ann Cleeves wrote 8 novels featuring retired civil servant George Palmer-Jones and his wife Molly who had been a social worker before the pair retired and devoted their time to bird watching and crime solving. The first of these is 1986′s A Bird in the Hand in which Tom French, one of the best bird watchers in England has his head bashed in George and Molly have to untangle a morass of rare sighting claims, unrequited love and various other elements of human nastiness.

In 1993′s Dead Man’s Island Carolyn Hart introduces Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins (known as Henry O) a retired journalist who seems to be able to do anything she puts her mind to. I didn’t actually like Henry O as much as I wanted to (a little too full of herself for my taste) but it is always good to see an older person being portrayed as intelligent and non-dithering. In this book she’s really put to the test as a group of people are marooned on an island in the middle of a hurricane and the storm isn’t the only thing trying to kill them.

I recently listened to The Water Room (2004) which is the second book of the Peculiar Crimes Unit series by Christopher Fowler. The two protagonists are John May and Arthur Bryant who should both have retired some years earlier but they have been retained due to their particular skills. In this book they investigate a series of deaths which no one is sure for some time are murders but alongside the main narrative there is an intelligent exploration of the aging process and how old people are treated by society.

Colin Cotterill‘s series featuring Dr Siri Paiboun is one of my very favourite to have an old person as its main character. We first meet him in The Coroner’s Lunch (2004) when Dr Siri is 72 and has been appointed, very reluctantly, as Laos’ first Coroner. As Dr Siri and his able assistants investigate a series of peculiar deaths we are treated to flashbacks of Dr Siri’s life as a doctor, communist activist and husband which is one of the nicer aspects of having old people as protagonists: they have lots of experiences to share with readers.

These are just a few of my favourite ‘old people’ of crime fiction. Do you have any favourite crime fiction tales to feature old people in a more flattering light than the stereotypes would suggest? Are you comfortable with the term ‘old’ or do you think we should refer to ‘the elderly’ or ‘seniors’? I feel like claiming the word old back from its stereotype-laden inferences which is why I deliberately chose it for ‘O’ week but I do draw the line at ‘geezer-lit’ – that is a term I just don’t like and won’t use.

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Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise is hosting the crime fiction alphabet meme which requires the posting of an article relating to the letter of the week. Do join in the fun by reading the posts and/or contributing one of your own. You don’t have to write every week.

Books of the Month – October 2010

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That Was Then

I finished another 15 books during October (a couple of reviews still to come). Although I didn’t have any 5-star reads it was a high quality month with nothing rating below a 3. My pick of the month has to be Jo Nesbø’s The Redbreast, a novel I abandoned on my first reading last year but picked up again after you all told me to and fell in love with the book’s protagonist, Harry Hole.

There are a veritable treasure trove of honourable mentions which I simply cannot separate. They include trips to Scotland, Iceland, Ghana, America, England, 1850′s Australia and Japan.

New Additions

Since buying my eReader I have curtailed my acquisition of printed books quite dramatically (good for the trees) but have been busy stocking up eBooks and audio downloads (bad for the bank balance). Included among my new acquisitions are the latest Belinda Lawrence mystery, a Harry Bosch novel (Maxine made me give Connelly another go), a flash fiction anthology of stories that involve a mythical ‘Mega Mart’, the second novel in Karin Fossum’s Inspector Sejer series (yes I know I’m behind) and a historical work that blends fact with fiction in what promises to be an interesting fashion.

Challenge Progress

It’s a good thing I had a whole year to complete the Global Reading Challenge as it looks like it will take me that long to finish it. This month I read another two books to bring my total to 19 of 21. Both Villain and Wife of the Gods made it to my honourable mentions for the month.

My only other open challenge is the Canadian Book Challenge which requires me to read 13 books by July next year. I read four books that counted for this challenge in October bringing my total to 7.

Isn’t it marvellous that Canada produces enough entertaining female crime writers that I can have a smorgasboard of them without even trying? Well I am assuming Wolfe is female though of course as it’s a pseudonym I could be wrong.

Reading Now and Next

I’m keen to finish the global challenge now that I only have 2 books to go so have started Southwesterly Wind which is set in Brazil and I’ll probably read my wildcard historical fiction straight after that. Then it might be time for my second Elly Griffiths novel I think. I’ve just started a new audio book, C J Box’s Three Weeks to Say Goodbye, which I am already enjoying and have no plans for what will come after that in audio format.

Chart of the month

So far this year I have finished 129 books which seemed like a statistically significant enough number to look at where they all come from. As you can see I buy most of my books in one form or another. Wonder what this will look like next year? Will I have a giant chunk of pie for pirated eBooks ( and if I do how will I hide it to avoid going to prison)?

What about you? What was your favourite book for October? Or your most exciting acquisition? Or is there something coming up for you in November that you can’t wait to get to?

Review: Red Bones by Ann Cleeves

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The third installment of Ann Cleeves’ Shetland quartet takes place on the island of Whalsey. Two young female students are conducting an archaeological dig on land belonging to one of the islands older residents, Mima Wilson, and discover some bones. These are quickly sent for dating in the hopes they will support the theory that Hattie, one of the students, has developed about the site’s past but their discovery sets off a chain of tragic events for the island.

Much of this book is told from the perspectives of two police officers who are involved in the very low-key investigation at the centre of the novel. Inspector Jimmy Perez is a master questioner, being particularly adept at allowing silences to linger until the other person has to fill them. In this book he seems much more mature than he was in the previous book, White Nights, which is probably a combination of natural aging and the fact he is leading the investigation on his own this time. I think I enjoyed him more in this outing because his girlfriend was absent for most of the book. It’s not that I have anything against her as a character but their romance is very laboured which I found quite dull in the previous book. The second person whose point of view features in the book is Sandy Wilson who is Perez’ detective sergeant and is from Whalsey. It is through his eyes that we see into the family dramas and history of the island. Both men are well-developed, introspective characters whose personal reflections on the case and wider events are compelling.

Once again Cleeves has painted an intimate picture of a small, relatively isolated community with strong links to the past and where people feel strongly about the importance of family and traditions. Even the outsiders who make a success of their entry into the society do so because of their respect for those elements. For me, a city girl through and through, such depictions are cloying and, frankly, a little scary (I love being able to be anonymous when I choose) but half the fun of reading these stories is seeing an environment totally different from my own.

As a mystery Red Bones is more accomplished than its predecessor in that it’s more logical and less melodramatic though I have to say it is, if anything, slower. There really isn’t a lot of action at all, in fact for much of the book it is uncertain whether a crime has been committed. There were a few times when I thought it could have done with a hurry along or at least an event other than another visit to one of the two main island families to sustain my curiosity. So, if you’re looking for a fast-paced or action-packed story you’d best look elsewhere but Red Bones, though slow and very gentle, does captivate and draw the reader into its world.

What about the audio book?

Gordon Griffin is my favourite kind of narrator who manages to portray an entire cast of characters without really seeming to change his voice at all yet at the same time making it perfectly clear who is speaking. It’s all done with slight changes of tone, volume and pitch and really does make for the perfect listening experience

You can check out my review of book 2 in the series, White Nights, and Red Bones has been reviewed at Euro Crime (by Maxine)

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My rating 3.5/5
Narrator Gordon Griffin
Publisher ISIS Audio Books
ISBN N/A (downloaded from audible.com)
Length 11 hours 21 minutes
Format audio download (unabridged)
Source My collection

Review: White Nights by Ann Cleeves

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Title: White Nights [Unabridged Audiobook]

Author: Ann Cleeves

Narrator: Gordon Griffin

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books [2008]

ISBN: N/A [downloaded from audible.com]

Length: 11hrs 35mins

Setting: Shetland Islands, Scotland, Present day

Genre: Police Procedural

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My rating: 3.5/5

One-liner: A story where setting takes center stage, ably supported by compelling characters.

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It’s summer in Shetland and well-known artist Bella Sinclair is hosting an exhibition of her work alongside that of new artist Fran Hunter. Although there are not as many guests at the opening as Bella expected, one unknown Englishman does make an impression when he breaks down in tears at the sight of one of the paintings. Local Detective Jimmy Perez, attending the exhibition on a date with Fran Hunter, takes the man aside and discovers he has amnesia. When the man disappears from the gallery Jimmy doesn’t make much effort to find him but wishes he had done when the man is discovered dead the next morning. This presumed suicide and subsequent events all seem to be affected by the endless daylight of the far northern summer and the isolation of the islands.

I’m a sucker for books set in remote locations. They are as different from my inner-city life as it gets (and not somewhere I’d willingly spend more than about 5 days) but I love reading about them. Cleeves does a superb job of immersing readers in the isolated world populated by familiar faces  who, although they share much, all seem to work incredibly hard at keeping a little piece of themselves private. I quickly developed an image of Biddista, the village of half a dozen houses where most of the action takes place, and its inhabitants thanks to Cleeves’ imagery and her depictions of how the locals interact with the various ‘incomers’ in the story.

Cleeves takes time too to develop a range of characters. Jimmy Perez is engaging as he pursues both personal and professional interests despite the fact he is unsure of himself in both spheres. I thought his mixture of introspection and decisiveness quite realistic although I was a bit bored by his somewhat laboured relationship with Fran. Several of the island ‘old-timers’ were utterly absorbing including Kenny who has the misfortune to discover more than one body and who seemed to represent the Islands’ struggle to have its traditions coexist with modern ways. The Inverness Inspector in charge of the case, Roy Taylor, was a different type of character all together but equally well depicted and a good source of conflict for the novel.

For me the book fell down a bit in its story. The establishment portion was quite good but after that I found the plot fairly predictable and I actually thought the ending a bit too melodramatic (and not terribly credible) which was out of keeping with the earlier events. As all the suspects were highlighted then rejected during the final scenes I got the sense that the culprit had been chosen for shock value more than continuity.

I haven’t read the first book in this quartet but I didn’t feel that I was at any disadvantage. There were mentions of earlier events but I wasn’t troubled by not knowing the details which scores bonus points from me as books which can be read independently seem to be a rare commodity in crime fiction these days. Although the story wasn’t the most gripping I’ve read there is much else to recommend this book, especially when narrated by the delightful Gordon Griffin who managed to portray an entire range of people without really changing his voice at all.

Other Stuff

I reviewed another book set in Shetland last year, SJ Bolton’s Sacrifice, and this is the second book in Ann Cleeves’ Shetland Quartet: for islands with a population of around 23,000 people they seem to be inspiring a disproportionate number of murders!

White Nights is also reviewed at It’s Criminal, Mysteries in Paradise, Euro Crime, Euro Crime again and, for a review with a difference, try WhereDunnit