About the Author

Ann Cleeves is the author of more than thirty-five critically acclaimed novels, and in 2017 was awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger. She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn, who can be found on television in ITV’s Vera, BBC One’s Shetland and ITV's The Long Call respectively. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide.

Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. Ann also spends her time advocating for reading to improve health and wellbeing and supporting access to books. In 2021 her Reading for Wellbeing project launched with local authorities across the North East. She lives in North Tyneside where the Vera books are set.

Reviews

Had me hooked – a promising beginning to another fine chapter in the Ann Cleeves story
*The Times*

A traditional mystery of the best sort
*Guardian*

Cleeves combines a flair for evoking sense of place with a thoughtful, complex plot
*Mail on Sunday*

Hauntingly written, it evokes every possible emotion with Ann’s gripping narrative’
* Woman*

Brilliant, thoughtful and deeply engaging
*New York Times*

Ann Cleeves is a phenomenal talent. With unfailing skill, gorgeous setting, flawless plot and seamless voice, she brilliantly conjures new worlds in crime fiction.
**

Cleeves writes of the left-behind and the unfortunate with intelligence and compassion’
*Literary Review*