Raven Black by Ann Cleeves

Isn't this a stunning cover? I love that the script also has images within in. Strangely, I haven't read any Anne Cleeves' books before this particular one, nor have I seen the show created from this series. It's on my list! I'm just very, very behind on TV shows. The show is called Shetland (and the cinematography gorgeous because they filmed in the Shetland Islands). Well, okay, I saw the first few minutes of it, which doesn't truly count.

Raven Black is the first book in the series. I picked up the second one yesterday (it's called White Nights). The setting is the Shetland Islands which are apart of Scotland. 

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Title: Raven Black
Author: Ann Cleeves
Page Number: 389 pages
Genre: fiction, mystery
Publisher: Pan (Macmillan)
Year: 2006

Raven Black begins on New Year’s Eve with a lonely outcast named Magnus Tait, who stays home waiting for visitors who never come. But the next morning the body of a murdered teenage girl is discovered nearby, and suspicion falls on Magnus. Inspector Jimmy Perez enters an investigative maze that leads deeper into the past of the Shetland Islands than anyone wants to go.

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The book features Fran Hunter, known as the ex-wife of Duncan Hunter, but also a photographer, mother, and returnee to Shetland Islands. One day while out walking, she finds her neighbor, teenager Catherine Ross, murdered in a field. Catherine Ross was a newcomer (along with her father) to the Shetland Islands. 

Most of the locals believe the killer to be a man named Magnus Tait. Tait is a recluse and is intellectually slower than others. He was also thought to be involved in the disappearance of another girl named Catriona decades before. 

A local copper named Jimmy Perez teams up with an investigator from Inverness (I think named Taylor...) to lead the case. 

Of course, the residents of the area have their own secrets that they'd prefer to keep. So figuring out which secrets might be worth killing for keep Perez and Taylor busy. 

Catherine Ross was also an aspiring film maker. She had picked certain residents of the town to be her subjects. Perez ends up retracing Ross' steps on her film journey hoping for a break in the case. 

​The viewpoint between Fran and Perez lead the reader through both sides of the investigation - as investigator and townsperson.

I thought the book was a fast read and enjoyable (in the sense of a mystery). The writing wasn't complicated and the characters are developed enough but have room to be (hopefully) fleshed out even more as the series progresses. The setting itself, which does so well on film, isn't really a feature in this book (a shame). I've decided to continue on this series but I'm not running to begin the second book. It was a solid 3.5-4 star read for me. 

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Extra content: 

The Shetland Islands created a guide to tour Jimmy Perez's footsteps
The Shetland Islands has it's own governmental/tourism website
Ann Cleeves' personal website