What is it with Ann Cleeves’ books that make it so difficult for me to get into? I don’t know, but I’m always glad I persevered. Red Bones was no exception. The Shetland series is one of the first series I’ve read, and it’s nice to get to know the characters throughout the different books. You’ll be presented with so many different angles of their lives and it’s hard not to get invested.
Red Bones by Ann Cleeves
3.5 out of 5
Published 2009 by Pan Macmillan
Number of pages: 392
Purchased from Amazon
Blurb:When an elderly woman is shot in a tragic accident, Shetland detective Jimmy Perez is called to investigate.
The sparse landscape and the emptiness of the sea have bred a fierce and secretive people. As Jimmy looks to the islanders for answers, he finds instead two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness have lasted generations.
Then there’s another death, and, as the spring weather shrouds the island in claustrophobic mists, Jimmy must dig up old secrets to stop a new killer from striking again.
My thoughts: Shetland – a place where detective Jimmy Perez is a master at solving murders, and boy there are more than a fair share of murders on the islands. Ann Cleeves is a master at pulling wool over your eyes.
Red Bones is also more than just a murder mystery – dissecting the family dynamics between the Wilsons and Clouston it gives a chilling insight into what really is going on behind closed doors. Getting to know Sandy on a more personal lever made me like him more too. I wasn’t very keen on him in the first two books.
And OK, whilst said Red Bones is enjoyable, the pacing was too slow. Lets just say I got a bit itchy to finish it and it definitely isn’t my favourite of the series.
I rate it a solid 3.5 out of 5 though and confirm it is worthwhile picking up if you are after family secrets and a clever who-dunnit where you’re unable to guess the bad guy until they slap you in your face in the last chapter.
