Telling Tales (Vera Stanhope, 2)

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Vera was brought in from Northumberland to take a second look at the Abigail Mantel murder. It hadn’t taken the police long to settle on Jeanie Long as the killer ten years earlier. She had been living with Abigail’s father, but Abigail hated her, and urged him to break off the relationship. At least, that’s the story the community heard. But, Vera hears different versions of Abigail’s tale as she questions former police officers, Jeanie’s boss at the local pub, and Abigail’s father. A small community can harbor secrets and lies and untold tales. We also follow up with the original investigator and another officer on the case and we find out how their lives changed too. Jeanie Long was convicted of the murder of fifteen-year old Abigail Mantel. Sent to prison, she commits suicide ten years later. Abigail’s young friend Emma Bennett found the body and has been traumatized ever since. Abigail’s father, Michael, is haunted by the event.

Ten-years-ago when Emma Winter moved to the village of Elvet, East Yorkshire and her early days were filled by her sole friendship, with the vibrant and ethereal beauty of best friend, fifteen-year-old Abigail Mantel. Both misfits in their own way, Emma longed for escape to the Old Chalet and Abigail’s glamorous lifestyle with her widowed and charismatic father, Keith. Within six-months of moving to Elvet, Emma’s life was blighted by the discovery of her friends body, strangled to death. The much younger girlfriend of Keith, Jeanie Long, was sentenced to life imprisonment, unable to offer a corroborated alibi and given her fractious relationship with Abigail and Keith asking her to move out of the home she had spent three-months living at. However, ten years later and turned down for parole, Jeanie Long’s suicide prior to a new witness coming forward sees DI Vera Stanhope casting fresh eyes over an investigation that the neighbouring force of Yorkshire originally presided over. It doesn’t take Vera too long to unsettle villagers and enthuse Elvet with her mischievous energy and get to grips with the very ferocity of human emotions and the lengths that it can drive people to.In July 2022, Cleeves was awarded an honorary D.Litt. from Newcastle University for services to reading and libraries. [11] Bibliography [ edit ] Palmer-Jones [ edit ]

The woman was in a shapeless Crimplene dress covered with small purple flowers and a fluffy purple cardigan. Despite the cold, on her feet she wore flat leather sandals. Only my second Vera Stanhope book but strong writing, humanly messy characters and a sense of place are becoming the hallmarks of this series. I’m so glad it’s a long-lived series because I look forward to being drawn in, again and again. a b c Lobb, Adrian (19 March 2013). "Ann Cleeves interview for Shetland". The Telegraph . Retrieved 24 May 2016. The police are looking into Abigail’s murder once more. For evidence has been found that perhaps Jeanie didn’t commit the murder. DI Vera Stanhope is in charge of the new investigation.Not too much to say about this one. It was fine. I was bored though for the first 1/3 until we get Vera interacting with characters. Any time Cleeves is away from her I found myself bored. The ending was very good though and a surprise. I liked how it was wrapped up. Then, Emma notices a large woman in the church, a stranger, and wonders who she is. By the description, we readers know immediately. It was unfortunate, a terrible coincidence. Dan says a new witness has come forward. The case has been reopened. Jeanie might have been released.’ That’s one of Ann Cleeves’ strengths. Like Christie, she sets a scene, in a small village or a large country house, and allows the characters to reveal their own secrets, the stories they tell themselves about their past and their lives. Vera listens. At times she doubts herself, but she’s finally able to see the truth, the nugget buried somewhere in all of the tales people tell. The reader might be there for all of the accounts Vera hears, but, time and again, Vera discovers a truth that the reader misses. Because a new witness had just come forward. It seems Jeanie Long couldn’t have murdered that lass.’ He paused. Emma watched him rub his forehead with his broad, stubby fingers. It was as if he was trying to rub away the exhaustion. She wondered why he cared so deeply about a ten-year-old murder case. She could tell that he did care, that he had lain awake worrying about it. But he hadn’t even been living in the village then. He dropped his hands from his face. No traces of clay were left on his skin. He must have washed his hands before leaving the forge. ‘Shame no one bothered to tell Jeanie, huh?’ he said. ‘Or she might still be alive.’

For the National Year of Reading, Ann was made reader-in-residence for three library authorities. It came as a revelation that it was possible to get paid for talking to readers about books! She went on to set up reading groups in prisons as part of the Inside Books project, became Cheltenham Literature Festival's first reader-in-residence and still enjoys working with libraries. As this was Vera’s first full appearance, I found myself mainly focusing on her traits and mannerisms. From Ann Cleeves— New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows—comes Telling Tales. Ann Cleeves is one of my favorite writers. I have read several of her Shetland Island series and now have started the Vera Stanhope series. I wish the Vera series was shown on the PBS in my area. She is a layered writer where as each chapter progresses, the reader know more about the characters. A young teenage girl was murdered 10 years ago and someone was imprisoned for the crime. Now it is proven that the girl who went to jail was innocent but it is too late for that girl. Vera is sent to reopen the case and solve the murder from the past. On hearing the news, Emma Bennett is haunted once more by memories of her vibrant best friend, Abigail, and by the thought that her killer is still at large.The MacMillan audio edition of Telling Tales, read by Julia Franklin, was shortlisted for an 'Audie' Award for best Mystery. Demonstrating singular adeptness with mood and pacing, narrator Julia Franklin shines in this character-rich mystery set in northern England... Franklin's performance is direct and punchy, matching the speed and shrewdness of Vera's first-rate mind." He sat on the bed. He was bare chested, his body coated with fine blond hair. Although he was fifteen years older than her, you’d never have guessed, he was so fit. The setting perfectly captures the essence of the book, a 15 year old girl murdered in a village of lies and deceit. Ann is the author of the books behind ITV's VERA, now in it's third series, and the BBC's SHETLAND, which will be aired in December 2012. Ann's DI Vera Stanhope series of books is set in Northumberland and features the well loved detective along with her partner Joe Ashworth. Ann's Shetland series bring us DI Jimmy Perez, investigating in the mysterious, dark, and beautiful Shetland Islands...

I'm obviously in the minority, but about 2/3 through this episode I realized that I absolutely did not like a single character, most especially Vera. I finished the episode just to have some closure but was then in a terrible mood for the rest of the night. This series is just not for me. Telling Tales by Ann Cleeves is the second book in the Vera Stanhope series, where a ten-year-old murder case is reopened, leading to an investigation into a small town full of big secrets (available August 22, 2017). This book is well written and plotted. I didn’t like it as much as I like Ms. Cleeves’ Shetland series, but this is the first Vera novel I have read, so I’ll suspend judgment on it. I liked Vera. She strikes me as a good investigator and although she has her doubts about herself, she is both tenacious and stubborn in her search for the killer. My introduction to Deputy Chief Inspector (DCI) Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria Police came by way of my local public television station, which for the past several years has hosted Vera, the television series based on the edge-of-your-seat novels written by Ann Cleeves. As soon as I saw the first couple of episodes, I immediately went in search of the books. Some were harder to find than others.Vera’s presence is felt throughout the book, her no nonsense direct approach really fits with the Northern setting.