Raven Black

Ann Cleeves

2006 Winner

CWA Goldsboro Gold Dagger

18 March 2021
9781529050189
384 pages

Synopsis

Introducing Inspector Jimmy Perez. Raven Black is the first book in Ann Cleeves' bestselling Shetland series – now a major BBC One drama starring Douglas Henshall.

A remote community with a killer in their midst . . .

On New Year’s Day, Shetland lies buried beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a vivid splash of colour on the white ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbour. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance . . .

The body is found close to the home of a lonely outcast and local suspicion falls firmly on him. But when Inspector Jimmy Perez insists on broadening the search for suspects, a veil of distrust and fear is thrown over the entire community. As the case develops, Perez finds himself peering deeper into the past of the Shetland Islands than anyone wants to go.

The case files of Jimmy Perez continue in White Nights, the thrilling second Shetland novel.

Rarely has a sense of place been so evocatively conveyed in a crime novel
A very good writer