The Moth Catcher

August 8, 2016
In British author Cleeves’s atmospheric and well-wrought seventh mystery featuring Det. Insp. Vera Stanhope (after 2015’s Harbour Street), 25-year-old graduate student Patrick Randle has come from London to house-sit for a grand family in the gentle Northumberland community of Valley Farm, but shortly into his stay, he’s found dead by the roadside. Vera later discovers the body of a middle-aged man in Patrick’s room; the two turn out to be connected only through enthusiasm for Lepidoptera. Suspicion falls on an unlikely group, the town’s clique of couples enjoying early retirement. Cleeves expertly draws Vere’s complex relations with her fellow detectives as well as the hidden springs of tension in the circle affected by the crime, touching on class relations, the ennui of middle age, and the deceits, frailties, and tenderness of long marriage. Though the book’s deliberate pace may lose pure thrill seekers, patient readers will be rewarded as dread builds and old secrets surface. Agent: Sarah Menguc, Sarah Menguc Literary Agent (U.K.).

A series of murders in a rural area has the neighbors on edge.When a housesitter is found dead in a ditch in the Valley Farm area, DI Vera Stanhope (Harbor Street, 2015, etc.), who lives nearby, is first on the scene. Patrick Randle had been watching the house and caring for the dogs of the Carswell family, who are visiting relatives in Australia. When the police check out Randle's attic apartment, they find another body with no identification. Vera's team of steady Joe Ashworth and ambitious Holly Clarke soon identify the second body as that of computer specialist Martin Benton. Randle was on a break from university, and Benton was just going off invalidity benefits, claiming he'd be self-employed. The only connection the team can find between the two men is that they were both interested in moths. A nearby barn and farmhouse conversion is home to three retired families: Nigel and Lorraine Lucas, whose stunningly modern place is a real status symbol; professor John O'Kane and his wife, Janet, a former social worker; and Sam and Annie Redhead, locals who owned a highly successful restaurant in nearby Kimmerston. Although they all appear to lead idyllic lives, background checks and local gossip reveal hidden secrets and problems. The Redheads' daughter is in jail, and the lover and employer she robbed forced Sam and Annie to sell him their restaurant. Lorraine is hiding the return of breast cancer from Nigel, and Janet is getting fed up with her husband's domineering ways. When a third murder follows, Vera and her team must dig deep into the past and present of all involved to find the reason three seemingly unconnected people were killed. Characteristically well plotted, with plenty of complex characters to enjoy. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2016
Nobody does eerie like Ann Cleeves in her immensely popular Vera Stanhope mysteries. Her settings in the north of England match the wild landscape and often relentless weather with secrets that only Vera can ferret out, her own loneliness somehow giving her insight into others' lives. In this ninth in the series, a seemingly idyllic community in Northumberland, made up of the well-off and recently retired, is shaken by the discovery of two bodies within a single day. The first victim, found in a ditch, is a young man who had been house-sitting at a nearby country home. Vera discovers the second victim, a conservatively dressed, middle-aged man, in the rooms of the first victim (Cleeves' description of how the body registers on Vera is a hair-raising tour de force). Facing a wall of silence from the neighboring retirees, Vera and her crew must ferret out the connection between the victims. Vera herself is always fascinating to watch, and Cleeves shows her from both outside and inside perspectives: seen from outside, Vera is an ungainly, immensely overweight woman in a greasy coat. From the inside, Vera is somewhat self-hating, but she also possesses an endearing what the hell attitude. It's a delight to watch her exceed people's expectations and to watch as the tiny details she notices add up to the big revelation. The television series based on the Stanhope mysteries, hugely popular TV in the UK, is now available through Netflix or on DVD at one's public library.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2016

The seventh in Cleeves's series starring Vera Stanhope (after Harbour Street) brings the mystery close to home for the detective inspector. Not far from the isolated Northumberland estate in which Vera lives a lonely life, a body of a young man is discovered on the side of the road. In short order, as the police search the manor where the victim was house-sitting, another corpse is found. The only tie between the two victims seems to be their fascination with moths. Vera's detectives, Holly and Joe, vie for her approbation as the search for the killer progresses. While Joe is married, both Holly and Vera are single and reflect upon the social impact of their independence. Vera's moodiness is a hallmark of the series, and here her isolation infuses the plot and most of the characters. When the murderer is identified, the motive seems plausible--if a bit from out of left field. However, the author does not provide enough background for readers to come to that conclusion without the new information provided during the denouement. VERDICT The way that Cleeves brings the rural English landscape to life will appeal to readers who appreciate the atmospheric mysteries of Ruth Rendell and Elly Griffiths. Fans of psychological mysteries or procedurals solved by introspective and curmudgeonly detectives (albeit a woman this time around) will also enjoy this series. [See Prepub Alert, 4/10/16.]--Sharon Mensing, Emerald Mountain Sch., Steamboat Springs, CO

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016

In this latest from Dagger Award winner Cleeves, DI Vera Stanhope finds herself in the peaceable Northumberland community of Valley Farm, where a house sitter at a grand country home has just been found murdered in the lane. Then there's that second body in the attic. Look for this as episode three in Series 6 of ITV's popular Vera.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2016
A series of murders in a rural area has the neighbors on edge.When a housesitter is found dead in a ditch in the Valley Farm area, DI Vera Stanhope (Harbor Street, 2015, etc.), who lives nearby, is first on the scene. Patrick Randle had been watching the house and caring for the dogs of the Carswell family, who are visiting relatives in Australia. When the police check out Randles attic apartment, they find another body with no identification. Veras team of steady Joe Ashworth and ambitious Holly Clarke soon identify the second body as that of computer specialist Martin Benton. Randle was on a break from university, and Benton was just going off invalidity benefits, claiming hed be self-employed. The only connection the team can find between the two men is that they were both interested in moths. A nearby barn and farmhouse conversion is home to three retired families: Nigel and Lorraine Lucas, whose stunningly modern place is a real status symbol; professor John OKane and his wife, Janet, a former social worker; and Sam and Annie Redhead, locals who owned a highly successful restaurant in nearby Kimmerston. Although they all appear to lead idyllic lives, background checks and local gossip reveal hidden secrets and problems. The Redheads daughter is in jail, and the lover and employer she robbed forced Sam and Annie to sell him their restaurant. Lorraine is hiding the return of breast cancer from Nigel, and Janet is getting fed up with her husbands domineering ways. When a third murder follows, Vera and her team must dig deep into the past and present of all involved to find the reason three seemingly unconnected people were killed. Characteristically well plotted, with plenty of complex characters to enjoy.

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.