The Dark Wives... Vera Stanhope brings the spice to a perfectly anti-cozy fall mystery (Book Review)

When a fictional character is so familiar to you that they feel like an friend you’ve known forever, the author must be doing something (or, more likely, a lot of somethings) right.

Vera Stanhope—the feisty, bull-headed, and frequently-irascible Northumberland Detective Inspector—is exactly that kind of comfortable-as-old-shoes character... and author Ann Cleeves is still doing her proud in the latest outing, The Dark Wives.

 

 

After a young man is found dead in the wee hours one morning, Vera and her team are called to investigate.

They quickly discover that the victim, Josh--found bludgeoned outside a home which houses troubled teens—was himself a worker at the home... and that one of the home’s few residents—a 14-year-old girl named Chloe—is now missing. 

 

Nearly everyone immediately assumes the girl must’ve killed Josh—especially since the other staff members and teens all seem to agree that Chloe had been sweet on the college student—but Vera isn’t so sure.

 

She insists (as only Vera can do) her team keep an open mind. After all, the poor girl could’ve witnessed the murder, then fled in a panic. Or, she might’ve been abducted (or worse), to keep her quiet.

 

Vera’s long-time team members—loyal second-in-command, Joe, and the doggedly-determined Charlie—are quite used to Vera’s brash manner... but newcomer Rosie, with her showy city looks, isn’t at all sure what to make of her dowdy but imperious new DI. 

 

None of them really have time enough to question Vera’s logic, though, because in short order, another body turns up.

 

This death was in a distant countryside town, but the connections are plentiful, because the person was known by everyone who knew Josh... and because Vera, herself, has long-ago ties to this area—particularly around the trio of ancient monolithic stones, awash with superstitious tales, known as the Three Dark Wives. 

 

The team feels the ticking of the clock—for Chloe, if she’s still alive, somewhere, and for themselves—as a famous autumnal fete celebrating the lore surrounding the Dark Wives (which brings hundreds of costumed partygoers from miles around) is about to take place. 

 

And with that sort of craziness around? Vera knows that anything can—and likely will—happen.

 

 

It’d been several years since I’d last read a Vera book, and I have to say, it was really great to be back. 

 

Cleeves has such an ease to her writing, with a lovely flow that carries the reader along. (Did I ever want to put The Dark Wives down? Absolutely not! Alas, though, I did have to sleep, and work, and such.)

 

The case was intriguing, with no shortage of interesting characters (main, side, and minor—no matter, Cleeves gave each of them space and a role to play in the story).

 

Nor did I guess precisely “whodunit”... and certainly not all of the how or why. (When an author accomplishes that—and you find yourself saying, “Aaah, that makes sense,”—well, I’d say it’s a job well done.)

 

[So, I can’t really end without mentioning the TV show, Vera, which, obviously, is based on Ann Cleeves’ books, featuring an absolutely-brilliant portrayal of the DI by award-winning actress Brenda Blethyn. The fourteenth—and final—season of Vera will air at the end of 2024... and the last episode will be none other than a scripted take on... The Dark Wives. Best to read it now, folks.]

 

My take? The Dark Wives makes the PERFECT autumnal read.

~GlamKitty

[Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are, as always, entirely my own.]