The Crow Trap: A Vera Stanhope Mystery
Ann Cleeves. Minotaur, $16.99 trade paper (560p) ISBN 978-1-250-12274-2
Fans of the Vera Stanhope novels already available in the U.S., as well as the TV series Vera, will welcome Cleeves’s intricate series opener (first published in 1998), which introduced the Northumberland detective inspector. Three very different women—team leader Rachael Lambert, botanist Anne Preece, and mammal expert Grace Fulwell—are conducting an environmental impact assessment to estimate the damage that a new quarry would do to a national park’s pristine land and wildlife. When a suicide and a murder rock the project, Vera must sift through the murk to catch a ruthless killer. Though it offers a fine mystery, the story nevertheless belongs to its women. Cleeves thoroughly explores the passions and motivations of each, while exposing the human greed and sorrow beneath the bucolic landscape. The Columbo-esque Vera, who hides a fierce intelligence and razor sharp instincts under garish clothing, uses every tool at her disposal to solve the crime. Agent: Sarah Menguc, Sarah Menguc Literary Agent (U.K.). (Feb.)
Details
Reviewed on: 11/28/2016
Release date: 02/21/2017
Genre: Fiction
Open Ebook - 352 pages - 9780330540476
Paperback - 352 pages - 9780330535366
Paperback - 560 pages - 9780330389983
Hardcover - 544 pages - 9781250122735
Paperback - 544 pages - 9781250122742