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Red Bones: A Thriller
Red Bones: A Thriller
Red Bones: A Thriller
Audiobook11 hours

Red Bones: A Thriller

Written by Ann Cleeves

Narrated by Gordon Griffin

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Red Bones marks the third in a stellar suspense series set on the Shetland Islands from bestselling author Ann Cleeves--the basis for the hit BBC show Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall.

When a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains, the locals are intrigued. Is it an ancient find—or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman is fatally shot and Ann Cleeves's popular series detective Jimmy Perez is called in. As claustrophobic mists swirl around the island, Inspector Perez finds himself totally in the dark.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 10, 2015
ISBN9781427266484
Red Bones: A Thriller
Author

Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves is the author of more than thirty-five critically acclaimed novels, and in 2017 was awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger. She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn, who can be found on television in ITV’s Vera, BBC One’s Shetland and ITV's The Long Call respectively. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide. Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. Ann also spends her time advocating for reading to improve health and wellbeing and supporting access to books. In 2021 her Reading for Wellbeing project launched with local authorities across the North East. She lives in North Tyneside where the Vera books are set.

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Reviews for Red Bones

Rating: 3.92105259197995 out of 5 stars
4/5

399 ratings36 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After an elderly woman is shot, seemingly by accident, and a visitor to Shetland dies soon after in almost exactly the same place, it is up to DI Jimmy Perez and his assistant Sandy Wilson to find out whether things are as they seem.Another excellent and highly atmospheric instalment of the Shetland crime series. The setting is vividly evoked and the characters are superbly written - and these two aspects alone make this a marvellous book. The plot is substantial enough to be gripping, and also avoids becoming overly intricate or convoluted: the whole thing is complex yet plausible, and also very entertaining.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Ann Cleeves writes an interesting mystery. Complex and interesting with a large variety of relationships. The twists and turns of the mystery kept me guessing until the very end,
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Shetland Island Quartet: Book 3 Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez....Shetland Islands.....murder investigations.....archaeological excavation site...family, small town secrets.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Book Description
    When a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains, the locals are intrigued. Is it an ancient find - or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman fatally is shot and Ann Cleeves's popular series detective Jimmy Perez is called in. In Red Bones, a claustrophobic mists swirl around the Shetland Islands, and Inspector Perez finds himself totally in the dark.

    My Review
    This is the 3rd installment of Shetland Island series. I really enjoyed the return of some of the familiar characters and also the wonderful collection of new characters and how they react and interact as families and individuals. The book is very well written however Ann Cleeves keeps most of clues very tight to her chest and therefore the mystery is very hard to solve. The plot is an intriguing one and keeps the pages turning up until the very last page. I highly recommend reading this series and look forward to the next one.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A great story - exciting, surprising and engaging! A must read!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After an elderly woman is shot, seemingly by accident, and a visitor to Shetland dies soon after in almost exactly the same place, it is up to DI Jimmy Perez and his assistant Sandy Wilson to find out whether things are as they seem.Another excellent and highly atmospheric instalment of the Shetland crime series. The setting is vividly evoked and the characters are superbly written - and these two aspects alone make this a marvellous book. The plot is substantial enough to be gripping, and also avoids becoming overly intricate or convoluted: the whole thing is complex yet plausible, and also very entertaining.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent character development of the subordinate detective, Sandy, makes this book a winner. An apparent accident and an apparent suicide are the deaths that fuel the plot. Jimmy Perez knows that something is very much amiss on a barely inhabited island way up north. Not as atmospheric as the previous two entries in the series, this is a strong mystery that makes for absorbing reading. A very nice plot twist finishes the story in fine form.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This one is all about Sandy. Jimmy is still there and taking the lead, making the connections. But Sandy’s grandmother is murdered in her own backyard. Cousin Ronald pulled the trigger. He was out spotlighting rabbits on a foggy night and accidentally hit her. Of course, Jimmy isn’t convinced it was an accident. He believes someone else did it. Before Jimmy and Sandy can sort things out, the young archaeologist digging on Grandmother Mima’s property commits suicide. All signs point to how hard Mima’s death was on her. She had a history of mental health issues. Surprising that she would kill herself, but believable. Or is it?Jimmy mentors Sandy into the lead on this investigation. In part because this island is Sandy’s home and partly because Sandy is showing remarkable signs of professional maturity. Another complex mystery that examines family relationships and how the past influences the present. Once again, the who-dunnit catches me off guard. Cleeves is my new favorite mystery writer because she keeps me guessing. In particular, I liked that Sandy is becoming a fully realized adult with traits that can make him an asset to Jimmy’s future investigations in and around the Isles.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    When this small Shetland Island sees two deaths in a very short time, one apparently accidental, and one a suicide, the police begin to wonder. Mima, an older lady who owns the land an archaeological dig is happening on, is accidentally shot and killed. And not long after, one of the people working on the dig appears to have committed suicide. There are a lot of characters and I had a hard time keeping some of them straight, especially as to how they related to each other. I did think the book picked up in the second half when the second body was found. Or, really, when it appeared the person was missing. For the first half of the book, I thought it was time to give up on the series, but with the second half, I think I’ll do one more. Just not on audio. This one wasn’t, but I’ve read one of the others on audio, and that is definitely not the way to go for me for this series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the 3rd Shetland book - full of suspense and every bit as good as the first ones.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A young archaeologist discovers human remains at a dig and a series of murders follow involving Sandy Wilson’s family and the small community.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A pleasant read that presents the ethos and history of the Shetland Islands well. The mystery is a doozie too.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jimmy Perez is back - there are bones at an archaeological and an accidental shooting - but something seems not quite right and Jimmy starts feeling his way through the history of the village and discovers an unlikely connection and a different perspective on the events. There is very little about Jimmy's personal life in this one - just his reflections on his growing relationship with Fran.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent character development of the subordinate detective, Sandy, makes this book a winner. An apparent accident and an apparent suicide are the deaths that fuel the plot. Jimmy Perez knows that something is very much amiss on a barely inhabited island way up north. Not as atmospheric as the previous two entries in the series, this is a strong mystery that makes for absorbing reading. A very nice plot twist finishes the story in fine form.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Detective Jimmy Perez has a new case. At first it is a simple open and shut accidental shooting involving his partner's grandmother and a rabbit hunt gone wrong. Sandy's grandmother has been found dead of a gunshot wound and Sandy's own cousin, Ronald Clouston, confessed to hunting rabbits by moonlight. It was just a horrible mistake. Or was it? Weird coincidences start piling up. Just days before Mina's death old pieces of a skeleton were found on her property. She had approved an archaeology dig just steps from her front door and a student, hoping to prove existence of an ancient estate on the property, discovered the bones. This same student later discovers ancient coins, proving her theory. So when she commits suicide, apparently despondent over Mina's death, everyone is shocked. What is going on? It's up to Jimmy to figure it out. While his love interest (Fran from the other Cleeves mysteries) is away in London, he has plenty of time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Third in an evocative series of mysteries set on the Shetland Isles, Red Bones combines information about archaeology and history with a vividly up-to-date mystery and enthralling family lives. Family feuds, historical complexities and personal histories wounded by need and greed combine to create very real characters, caught up in very real pain. Death or accident, random or connected crimes, family or stranger—Jimmy Perez goes through all the possibilities as he seeks an explanation and heads toward the final surprise. Red herrings are as real as the red bones here, and the Shetlands invite readers to a hauntingly beautiful place.Disclosure: It was a birthday present.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    a wonderful series...I long to visit the Shetland Isles!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Complex plot and sometimes hard to remember all the characters relationships to each other. However cleverly plotted which kept me guessing who did it and why, in part because of a clever red herring.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Third entry in the Shetland books. Complex families, stories intermingled with lies, secrets and betrayals. Pasts that rear up unexpectedly, that take over and touch the residents of the Shetland islands. Like everywhere else, really. The mystery is complex and I confess I guessed wrong about the killer, and never did guess the basic why of it.I love her ability to make the islands come alive.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The third installment of Ann Cleeves’ Shetland series takes place on the island of Whalsey. Two young female students are conducting an archaeological dig on land belonging to one of the islands older residents, Mima Wilson, when they discover some bones. These are quickly sent for dating in the hopes they will support the theory that Hattie, one of the students, has developed about the site’s past. Their discovery sets off a chain of tragic events for the island. Mima is found shot dead, presumably by a stray blast from Ronald Clouston's shotgun as he was out poaching rabbits one night. Shetland Island Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez is called to look into the matter, especially since Mima's grandson, Sandy, is Jimmy's colleague and also discovered her body. In addition, Ronald is Sandy's cousin. Before too long some ancient silver coins turn up on the dig and finally, one of the diggers herself is found, an apparent suicide, her wrists slashed, in the site trench.

    None of this sits quite well with the reflective Jimmy Perez. The Fiscal wants the cases closed, but Jimmy is uneasy and keeps them open long enough to come to a satisfactory resolution. But it is Sandy, not Jimmy, who is the main figure of interest in this book, especially since many of the series regulars are secondary characters this time around. Much of the appeal of this book lies in the wonderfully conveyed sense of place, the convincingly sympathetic portrayal of a way of life, and astute characterization. There is also a solid mystery plot that will keep readers guessing throughout the book.

    I really enjoyed the absorbing, slow burn of Red Bones and can't wait to read Blue Lighting, originally planned as the final book in the series. Cleeves has expanded this series to six books now.

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After his grandmother turns up dead, Sandy Wilson calls his boss Inspector Jimmy Perez to come out to Whalsey his family lives to investigate. A skull and some other bones had recently been excavated by the team working the university archaeological dig. Sandy's mother had actually found the skull. Sandy's grandmother Mima had reacted in an odd manner. When Sandy discovers that Mima had been shot, he had gone to encounter Ronald who claimed he had been drunk, out hunting rabbits, and nowhere near Mima's. It ends up being ruled as an accidental death by the Fiscal although Sandy and Jimmy both have doubts. When another body, an apparent suicide, turns up, Jimmy asks Sandy to stay on the island to gather information. Sandy is not very confident in his abilities, but he makes steps in the right direction during the course of the novel, and Jimmy gives him the opportunity to gain that experience. The resolution to this one caught me a little off guard, but thinking back I can see it playing out that way. I love the atmosphere of Cleeves' Shetland Island mysteries. The pacing of this one may have been a bit slow but it managed to hold my interest so that I always wanted to get back to it as soon as I had another chance to read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    RED BONES by Ann Cleeves is the 3rd title in her SHETLAND series, featuring Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez. One of Perez’s assistants, Sandy Wilson, has an expanded role in this investigation. Sandy’s family is at the center of the 2 murders on his home island of Walsay and his many personal insights into the family and knowledge of the community aids Perez in solving the ‘case’.Perez must peel away the many layers of secrets held by the closely-knit families on Walsay, just as the archeologists dig away at the layers of dirt and stone at their ‘dig’ at Mima Wilson’s croft.It is a story of secrets, family and community relationships, parental expectations and promises.It is a story of quiet and patient observation and understanding of human nature - at its best and worst.We see people stripped down to their basic humanity - kindness, love, revelry; also pride, greed, jealousy, and ultimately mistreatment of others and violence.The ending is quick and satisfying. The sense of place and character development is spectacular. I must admit that I am ‘hooked’ on this series and the Shetland Islands.I give this book and series a sincere and heartfelt recommendation.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good crime mystery with a bit of history to it, WW2 and medieval. Interesting to see Cleeves character development, looking backwards - Sandy Wilson is so lacking in confidence.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Red Bones by Ann Cleeves is the third book in her series set in the Shetland Islands. As each book is placed in a different area of the islands, the reader is getting a good introduction to this scenic location. Red Bones is set on the island of Whalsay, known as the “Friendly Island” a 30 minute ferry ride from the main island. Shetland detective Jimmy Perez is called to Whalsay to investigate what appears to be an accidental shooting of a local elderly woman. When a further death occurs, Perez is left wondering if an accidental death and then a suicide in the same place and time is too much of a coincidence. Relying on the assistance of his young colleague, Sandy, the two start to sift through the evidence to see what they can uncover. It starts to look as if the answer may lie in the past, that events that have been thought to be forgotten have instead been festering and coming to the surface. Although a rather slow moving book, the combination of the misty island atmosphere, a archaeological dig, family secrets and close knit community rivalries keeps the reader engrossed to the end. The author does her research and supplies many interesting facts about the islands while still delivering a first class mystery. I’m looking forward to Blue Lightning, the next entry in the series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Two deaths on Whalsay, one of the Shetland Islands. One appears to be an accident, the other suicide. Nothing to warrant a criminal investigation that would require calling in a team from Inverness. Yet Jimmy Perez is troubled by too many coincidences. Both bodies were found on the same croft, the site of an archaeological dig where ancient bones have recently been uncovered. Maybe the bones aren't as old as is supposed. Perez's colleague, Sandy Wilson, has a personal connection to one of the victims, and together they pick at threads to uncover the real story about what's been happening on the island.I love the atmosphere of this series and its strong sense of place. I see the Shetland Islands as I read, and I feel the chill of the damp fog. Jimmy Perez carries the series well as a local with the air of an outside observer. He has the loner personality common in fictional detectives without their usual vices of alcoholism, womanizing, etc. I've been trying to stretch these books out since originally there were only going to be four of them. I hated the thought of not having any more new ones to look forward to. However, the author has now written a fifth book in the series, so it appears she must like writing the books as much as I enjoy reading them.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The discovery of the body of an elderly woman on a mist-shrouded night is where this mystery began. Dense fog was not an uncommon event on Whalsay, one of the smaller Shetland Islands. Those misty incursions often covered the terrain so that only people very familiar with it could get around in it.

    Sandy Wilson, at home for a visit on Whalsay was coming to visit his grandmother Mima in this dense haze to sober up a bit before going home to his parents house and at first he thinks that he sees a coat on the ground. He is dismayed and shocked to find it is his grandmother and when he brings her inside he realizes she has been shot. Sandy is a policeman who works for Jimmy Perez of the Shetland police and he calls his boss knowing he has already disturbed the scene of the crime.

    At fist it seems that the shooter is a close friend of Sandy’s who was rabbit hunting but little details don’t add up and with in a few days there is another death. Again the facts are hazy and hard to see clearly. The victim is a young girl, Hattie on the island doing an archeological dig on the island for her PHD. She and her assistant Sophie had made some finds that might lead to greater future developments . This dig was abutting Mima’s croft and Hattie had become friends with her so the death of the old Islander affected her badly, in addition she had also been acting a little oddly herself recently.
    In this mystery the mist may be a metaphor for haziness surrounding the cause of the two deaths. Murder, manslaughter, or freak accident are considered in the case of Mima, and the facts of murder or suicide in Hattie’s death are tossed back and forth and left unsettled.

    Jimmy Perez in his quiet persistent way teases out the tangles and follows small wisps of information that lead him to the realization that while appearing close knit to an outsider, envy, distrust and enmity from old rivalries crept insidiously into the relationships of these Shetlanders and there were motives to murder. As the mists and fogs disperse Jimmy also finds light being shed on the crimes he is being pushed to solve.

    This is a slow burning story, much like the peat fires that warm the crofts of these desolate but beautiful places places. But no matter where you find them people are not so very different and while the ending is beautifully suited to the time and place, it would have worked as well in a Greek tragedy. I liked the book very much.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The third installment of Ann Cleeves’ Shetland quartet takes place on the island of Whalsey. Two young female students are conducting an archaeological dig on land belonging to one of the islands older residents, Mima Wilson, and discover some bones. These are quickly sent for dating in the hopes they will support the theory that Hattie, one of the students, has developed about the site’s past but their discovery sets off a chain of tragic events for the island.

    Much of this book is told from the perspectives of two police officers who are involved in the very low-key investigation at the centre of the novel. Inspector Jimmy Perez is a master questioner, being particularly adept at allowing silences to linger until the other person has to fill them. In this book he seems much more mature than he was in the previous book, White Nights, which is probably a combination of natural aging and the fact he is leading the investigation on his own this time. I think I enjoyed him more in this outing because his girlfriend was absent for most of the book. It’s not that I have anything against her as a character but their romance is very laboured which I found quite dull in the previous book. The second person whose point of view features in the book is Sandy Wilson who is Perez’ detective sergeant and is from Whalsey. It is through his eyes that we see into the family dramas and history of the island. Both men are well-developed, introspective characters whose personal reflections on the case and wider events are compelling.

    Once again Cleeves has painted an intimate picture of a small, relatively isolated community with strong links to the past and where people feel strongly about the importance of family and traditions. Even the outsiders who make a success of their entry into the society do so because of their respect for those elements. For me, a city girl through and through, such depictions are cloying and, frankly, a little scary (I love being able to be anonymous when I choose) but half the fun of reading these stories is seeing an environment totally different from my own.

    As a mystery Red Bones is more accomplished than its predecessor in that it’s more logical and less melodramatic though I have to say it is, if anything, slower. There really isn’t a lot of action at all, in fact for much of the book it is uncertain whether a crime has been committed. There were a few times when I thought it could have done with a hurry along or at least an event other than another visit to one of the two main island families to sustain my curiosity. So, if you’re looking for a fast-paced or action-packed story you’d best look elsewhere but Red Bones, though slow and very gentle, does captivate and draw the reader into its world.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    well done and effective crime story - establishing unusual place, plausible archaeological explorations that also throw up mysteries after an elderly woman is shot - accidentally or not? community members know each other's failings and strengths all too well, and the policeman at the heart of it all feels vulnerable while his boss handles the case - delving into past secrets and present betrayals and jealousies. if there is only one failing that slowly works itself out despite all - it is that the older women in the first chapters are all awfully similar to each other - not fleshed out well enough until we get much farther in, so i kept losing track who was where and what. very satisfying in the end - an adept new writer.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is my type of whodunnit: the clues are all there, interspersed with sufficient red herrings to prevent me from guessing the perpetrator and there is no gratuitous violence. I have railed before about books that try to shock: the problem being, that each 'shocking murder' has to out do the previous one. Ann Cleeves writes a simple style of detective fiction and, instead of these shocks, she concentrates on good writing.The story is set on the tiny islands at the top end of Scotland and concerns an archaeological dig where some red bones are unearthed. Red bones are simply bones that have been in the ground for some time and the question is, are these sixteenth century, or mid twentieth? Two people die but were they killed, or was it an accident and suicide? As in the best of these stories, one is sure, at various points within the plot, that each of the suspects is the guilty person - and still, at the end, one is surprised! This is how the genre should be crafted. The tale is not as one would read in a newspaper, real murders tend to be petty family feuds or sex maniacs, but the plot is feasible. This is only the second Ann Cleeves novel that I have read, but, at risk of repeating my comments upon finishing the first, I shall be looking out for more.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    After an elderly woman is shot, seemingly by accident, and a visitor to Shetland dies soon after in almost exactly the same place, it is up to DI Jimmy Perez and his assistant Sandy Wilson to find out whether things are as they seem.Another excellent and highly atmospheric instalment of the Shetland crime series. The setting is vividly evoked and the characters are superbly written - and these two aspects alone make this a marvellous book. The plot is substantial enough to be gripping, and also avoids becoming overly intricate or convoluted: the whole thing is complex yet plausible, and also very entertaining.