Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria Police
no more wanted to be a guest speaker at Warkworth Prison
than the inmates want to be there; but, with a strategic
grasp of the situation, she decides to turn the tables on
Watkins and her new boss' manipulative request.
The prisoner in the wheelchair thought there was something
familiar about her and her stubborn stance and impatient
eyes quickly brought back memories of drinking whisky in
Hector's, her father, house. Noticing his stare, Vera
recognizes him immediately. It is none other than John
Brace, a former Superintendent in CID, and one of Hector's
Gang of Four when they used to collect the eggs of rare birds.
Brace knew what would capture Vera's attention and he
hooked her in when he asked her if she ever wondered what
happened to Robbie Marshall, a long-gone wheeler-dealer.
Vera wouldn't life a finger to help John, but her ears perk
up and tiredness leaves her older and over-weight body.
Nothing makes Vera come alive than solving a murder and
especially a cold case. Will she be willing to do what
Braces wants for the information he has?
Cleverly penned by the internationally famous award-winning
Ann Cleeves, THE SEAGULL is the eighth novel in her
wonderful Vera
Stanhope mystery series (both in print and as a TV
show). THE SEAGULL certainly ranks among some of her best
and finest mysteries as Vera struggles with some conflicting
loyalties in her police role. Despite her feeling the
weariness of middle age and an ongoing weight issue, Vera is
also personally affected as she realizes just how close the
crimes in Whitely Bay are connected to the Gang of Four.
Just how close to the edge was Hector, a poor and not so
honourable member of the landed gentry, involved?
Like the previous books in the series, THE SEAGULL is robust
enough to be easily read as a stand-alone police procedural
while each continues to move as Vera ages and moves up in
the police force. Cleeves' many international fans will
certainly appreciate the ongoing interactions between Vera
and her investigating team of Charlie, Joe and Holly as Vera
more fully appreciates their growing skills and knowledge.
Nevertheless, with brilliant deductions, Vera cleverly
demonstrate delightful examples of the classic old age and
treachery triumphing over youth and up and comers despite
their skills and abilities.
As I have noted in previous reviews, I am a long-time fan of
Cleeves' books and Vera is definitely my favourite
protagonist. In THE SEAGULL, Cleeves is definitely top of
class in her skill in character development of both Vera and
her secondary characters. Vera has a gift of the gab for
getting people to let loose with juicy details and she has a
brilliant mind for synthesizing these fragments of unrelated
information and formulating them into coherent patterns of
thought that help her and her investigating team decipher
what is pertinent or not as they struggle on their own to
solve the mystery of the disappearance of Robbie Marshall.
In addition to her awesome 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
both the present and the past glory days of the swanky
seaside restaurant called The Seagull. If you enjoy the
thrill of a riveting and intriguing police procedural, be
sure to experience a wonderful read of THE SEAGULL as it
will take you away on a page-turning journey that will leave
you panting and pondering the latest of Cleeves' crime
mysteries and what really happened at THE SEAGULL?
"Definitely one of the best crime novels of
2017."—Reviewing the Evidence
A
visit to her local prison brings DI Vera Stanhope face to
face with an old enemy: former detective superintendent, and
now inmate, John Brace. Brace was convicted of corruption
and involvement in the death of a gamekeeper – and Vera
played a key part in his downfall.
Now, Brace promises
Vera information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall,
a notorious wheeler-dealer who disappeared in the
mid-nineties, if she will look out for his daughter and
grandchildren. He tells her that Marshall is dead, and that
his body is buried close to St Mary’s Island in Whitley Bay.
However, when a search team investigates, officers find not
one skeleton, but two.
This cold case case takes Vera
back in time, and very close to home, as Brace and Marshall,
along with a mysterious stranger known only as ‘the Prof’,
were close friends of Hector, her father. Together, they
were the 'Gang of Four’, regulars at a glamorous nightclub
called The Seagull. Hector had been one of the last people
to see Marshall alive. As the past begins to collide
dangerously with the present, Vera confronts her prejudices
and unwanted memories to dig out the truth . .
.
The Seagull is a searing new novel by Sunday
Times bestselling author Ann Cleeves, about corruption deep
in the heart of a community, and fragile, and fracturing,
family relationships.
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