Vera Stanhope Reeks

Deze misdaadserie volgt een briljante, zij het onconventionele, rechercheur die complexe zaken oplost in de ruige landschappen van Noord-Engeland. Elk mysterie duikt in de donkerdere kanten van de menselijke natuur en de geheimen die verborgen liggen in hechte gemeenschappen. De verhalen kenmerken zich door hun sfeervolle setting en de meeslepende, imperfecte hoofdpersoon, wiens scherpe intellect zelfs de meest verbluffende misdaden ontrafelt.

Aanbevolen leesvolgorde

Lokvogel
Ann Cleeves
430bladzijden
16 uur lezen
Drie vrouwen werken aan een milieuproject in het noorden van Engeland. In dit onherbergzame gebied zijn ze op elkaar aangewezen, maar geen van hen speelt open kaart. Ieder heeft zo haar eigen belangen. Voor teamleidster Rachel is het project de perfecte gelegenheid om haar zelfvertrouwen terug te winnen, nadat haar baas en minnaar haar heeft vernederd. Anne, de botaniste, ziet het als een kans om haar lang gekoesterde plannen te verwezenlijken. En dan is er Grace, de zoöloge, een wereldvreemde, zonderlinge vrouw die door haar beide collega's met wantrouwen wordt bekeken. Wanneer er kort na elkaar twee doden vallen, wordt het onderzoeksteam geconfronteerd met inspecteur Vera Stanhope. Een vrouw die er wel heel onconventionele methodes op na houdt. Langzaam maar zeker lopen de onderlinge spanningen op.
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3,8
Onschuld
Ann Cleeves
332bladzijden
12 uur lezen
Abigail Mantel is vijftien jaar wanneer ze door haar beste vriendin Emma dood in een greppel wordt aangetroffen. Jeanie Long, de vriendin van Abigails vader, is niet veel ouder wanneer ze voor de moord wordt veroordeeld. Tien jaar later raakt het dorp Elvet aan de Engelse kust opnieuw in beroering. Na jarenlang te hebben volgehouden onschuldig te zijn, heeft Jeanie zich opgehangen in haar cel, bijna op hetzelfde moment dat een getuige zich meldt die haar alibi op de dag van de moord kan bevestigen. Het onderzoek wordt heropend. Ondanks haar ongebruikelijke tactieken lukt het inspecteur Vera Stanhope niet tot de gesloten gemeenschap door te dringen. En de vragen stapelen zich op. Wat hebben Emma en haar man James voor elkaar te verbergen? Welke rol speelt Emma's vader, een voorganger wiens vrouw voor hem door het stof kruipt? Is Keith Matnel, de vader van Abigail, de man die hij voorgeeft te zijn? Net als Stanhope een spoor denkt te hebben gevonden, wordt er opnieuw een moord gepleegd.
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4,0
Hidden Depths
Ann Cleeves
388bladzijden
14 uur lezen
A hot summer on the Northumberland coast, and Julie Armstrong arrives home from a night out to find her son murdered. Luke has been strangled, laid out in a bath of water, and covered with wild flowers. This stylized murder scene has Inspector Vera Stanhope and her team intrigued. But then a second bodythat of beautiful young teacher Lily Marshis discovered laid out in a rock pool, the water strewn with flowers. Now Vera must work quickly to find this dramatist, this killer who is making art out of death. Clues are slow to emerge from those who had known Luke and Lily, but Vera soon finds herself drawn towards the curious group of friends who discovered Lilys body. What unites these four men and one woman? Are they really the close-knit, trustworthy unit they claim to be? As local residents are forced to share their private lives and those of their loved ones, sinister secrets are slowly unearthed. And, all the while, the killer remains in their midst, waiting for an opportunity to prepare another beautiful, watery grave
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4,0
Vera Stanhope - 4: Silent Voices
Ann Cleeves
400bladzijden
14 uur lezen
When DI Vera Stanhope finds the body of a woman in the sauna room of her local gym, she wonders briefly if, for once in her life, she's uncovered a simple death from natural causes. But a closer inspection reveals ligature marks around the victim's throat - death is never that simple...
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4,1
Vera Stanhope - 5: The Glass Room
Ann Cleeves
374bladzijden
14 uur lezen
DI Vera Stanhope is not one to make friends easily, but her hippy neighbours keep her well-supplied in homebrew and conversation so she has more tolerance for them than most. When one of them goes missing she feels duty-bound to find out what happened. But her path leads her to more than a missing friend... It's an easy job to track the young woman down to the Writer's House, a country retreat where aspiring authors gather to workshop and work through their novels. It gets complicated when a body is discovered and Vera's neighbour is found with a knife in her hand. Calling in the team, Vera knows that she should hand the case over to someone else. She's too close to the main suspect. But the investigation is too tempting and she's never been one to follow the rules.
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4,1
Harbour Street
Ann Cleeves
382bladzijden
14 uur lezen
As the snow falls thickly on Newcastle, the shouts and laughter of Christmas revellers break the muffled silence. Detective Joe Ashworth and his daughter Jessie are swept along in the jostling crowd onto the Metro. But when the train is stopped due to the bad weather, and the other passengers fade into the swirling snow, Jessie notices that an old lady hasn't left the train: Margaret Krukowski has been fatally stabbed as she sat on the crowded train. Nobody, including the policeman himself, sees the stabbing take place. Margaret's murderer is seemingly invisible; her killing motiveless. Why would anyone want to harm this reserved, elegant lady?
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The Moth Catcher
Ann Cleeves
This is the seventh book in Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope series which is now a major ITV detective drama Vera, starring Brenda Blethyn. This case was different from anything Vera had ever worked before. Two bodies, connected but not lying together. As Vera is drawn into the claustrophobic world of this increasingly strange community, she realizes that there may be deadly secrets trapped here.
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4,0
The seagull
Ann Cleeves
The Seagull is Ann Cleeves' searing eighth novel in the bestselling Vera Stanhope series, about corruption deep in the heart of a community, and about fragile, and fracturing, family relationships.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 part in his downfall. Brace promises Vera information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall, a notorious wheeler-dealer, if she will look out for his daughter and grandchildren. He tells her that Marshall is dead, his body 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 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', and Hector had been one of the last people to see Marshall alive. Vera must confront her prejudices and unwanted memories to dig out the truth, as the past begins to collide dangerously with the present . . .
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The Darkest Evening
Ann Cleeves
Driving home during a swirling blizzard, Vera Stanhope's only thought is to get there quickly. But with the snow driving down heavily, she becomes disorientated and loses her way. Ploughing on, she sees a car slewed off the road ahead of her. With the driver's door open, Vera assumes the driver has sought shelter but when she inspects the car she is shocked to find a young toddler strapped in the back seat. Afraid they will freeze, Vera takes the child and drives on, arriving at Brockburn, a run-down stately home she immediately recognizes as the house her father Hector grew up in. Inside Brockburn a party is in full swing, with music and laughter to herald the coming Christmas. But outside in the snow, a young woman lies dead and Vera knows immediately she has a new case. Could she be the child's mother, and if it is, what happened to her?
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