After calling the police about a dead body he had
discovered a way in from the road, Percy is surprised by
who shows up soon after his call. He certainly isn't
prepared for the likes of Vera Stanhope, Detective
Inspector. Still, his daughter Susan took to her and
gave her tea, cake, gossip and a key to the manor house
where Susan did the cleaning.
Billy Cartwright, the crime scene manager, quickly
determines the identity of the victim and that he had not
been killed as a hit and run. Now, with Susan's key, Vera
and DS Joe Ashworth go to check out the place where
Patrick Randall had been house-sitting. As Vera ponders
why and what a well-off young man is doing up in the
Northumberland countryside, more mysteries come into
play. There is now another dead man to deal with. Who
is he and are the murders connected or not?
Written by the internationally acclaimed and award-
winning Ann Cleeves, THE MOTH CATCHER is the seventh
novel in her hugely popular Vera Stanhope mystery
series.
With some variation, it is also the third episode in
series 6 of ITV's very popular Vera television series.
Cleeves' novels have also been translated in over twenty
languages, and this latest addition is certainly going to
be another hit with her many fans around the world. Like
the other books in the series, THE MOTH CATCHER can be
read easily as a stand-alone mystery; yet, Cleeves fans
will certainly relish seeing the development and changes
this case makes on Joe and Holly, the key members of her
investigating team, as well as to Vera herself.
I have to admit I am a long time fan of all of Cleeves'
books and Vera is definitely my favorite protagonist.
She is single middle aged woman with a weight problem;
yet has one of the sharpest minds for pulling together
small little fragments of information and spinning them
into unique patterns of thought that helps her team
grapple with figuring out this highly unusual case of two
murdered men who share a passion for moths.
In THE MOTH CATCHER, Vera has moved up in the police
force from her role in earlier books and now is expected
to lead more from headquarters; yet, being in the field
is what makes her tired and older body come to life.
Murder makes her feel truly alive as she quivers with
curiosity over details while indulging in her love of
gossip and getting people to open up to her. Can she
balance her own needs to be involved while developing the
skills of others?
In addition to her wonderful skill in character
development, another of Cleeves' talents is her ability
to bring a very authentic voice and immediate sense of
time and place to this small rural community of Valley
Farm that is so near in distance to Vera's own house in
Northumberland; yet, so very far apart from it and the
poorer former mining towns nearby. Cleeves' earlier
jobs and experiences in life provides her with an
eclectic background of interesting facts and perspectives
that she can integrate them seamlessly into her stories
as part of the plotlines. I really appreciate that
talent.
THE MOTH CATCHER is definitely a very interesting
police procedural with a multi-layered plot that is both
psychological as well as investigative. I found parts of
it very gripping and others less so, but still overall
very captivating. I certainly did not figure out the
surprising conclusion. So if you are a mystery, police
procedural fan or a long time Cleeves reader, there is
definitely lots of good reading ahead for you as you
follow the elusive clues in THE MOTH CATCHER! Do check it
out for yourself.
Ann Cleeves makes a much-anticipated return with another investigation for her brilliant detective DCI Vera Stanhope, brought to life in the hit TV series Vera by Brenda Blethyn. Life seems perfect in Valley Farm, a quiet community in Northumberland. Then a shocking discovery shatters the silence. The owners of a big country house have employed a house-sitter to look after the place while they’re away. But he is found dead by the side of the lane into the valley. DI Vera Stanhope arrives on the scene with her detectives Holly and Joe. When they look round the attic of the big house, Vera finds the body of a second man. As Vera is drawn into the claustrophobic world of this increasingly strange community, she realizes that there may be deadly secrets trapped here . . . The Moth Catcher will be episode three of ITV’s Vera series 6, coming in 2016.
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