I inherited this one from a book club friend and read it on a little weekend beach outing. I don’t usually seek out thrillers/mysteries – I find that their quality/pacing/gore levels/etc. vary so wildly that I have a hard time finding one that sticks. In other words: I’ve given up on a lot of thrillers, but I finished this one! It’s apparently #3 in Ann Cleeves’ Shetland series, and apparently also has been made into a BBC show. The more you know!
Anyway, here’s the gist: an elderly, slightly reclusive, matriarch is killed one night on Whalsay Island, part of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It’s odd, but it’s a plausible accident, and everyone kind of wants to call it an accident and move on. But things are just a little weird! There’s clearly some history and bad blood amongst these Whalsay families, but is it enough to kill? Jimmy Perez, the detective assigned to this case, can’t shake the feeling that there’s just something wrong.
On the deceased’s property is an ongoing archaeological dig, being performed by two grad-student types. They discover some old bones that caused quite a stir – but the bones and the other archaeological discoveries are dated centuries apart from the recent death, and connections between the dig and modern Whalsay are thin. But Jimmy and Sandy, a local who also happens to be a policeman, if a slightly dimwitted one, have enough hunches to follow and keep the case open, cautiously snooping around for other clues. As they discover deeper connections between old Whalsay families, they also uncover historic grievances, jealousies, and loves. Everyone seems to be hiding something, but none of it seems to be a great cause for murder.
This story has a very slow pace, and there’s a lot of scene setting. Jimmy is a kind-hearted detective who takes his time and notices things before coming to conclusions; he’s very easy to root for. I had a little trouble keeping track of all the Whalsay characters (“Wait, who’s this guy again? Who is he married to?) but that seemed more like an effect of big families, rather than poor storytelling. It didn’t change my life – thrillers rarely do – but it was a very nice read for a vacation with not much gore, realistic characters, and a mystery that resolved nicely, which is what I want in a mystery. Solid 3 stars.
