It is a cold January morning and 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 Catherine Ross. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance...
The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man – loner and simpleton Magnus Tait. But when police insist on opening out the investigation a veil of suspicion and fear is thrown over the entire community. For the first time in years, Catherine's neighbours nervously lock their doors, whilst a killer lives on in their midst. Raven Black is a haunting, beautifully crafted crime story, and establishes Ann Cleeves as a rising talent in psychological crime writing...
About The Author
Ann Cleeves worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She now promotes reading for Kirklees Libraries and as Harrogate Crime-Writing Festival's reader in residence, and is also a member of Murder Squad, working with other northern writers to promote crime fiction. In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for Best Crime Novel, for Raven Black . Ann lives in North Tyneside.
Industry Reviews
'Ann's characterization is worthy of the best writers in the field ... Rarely has a sense of place been so evocatively conveyed in a crime novel' Daily Express 'A fine and sinister psychological novel in the Barbara Vine style. Cleeves is part of a new generation of superior British writers who put refreshing new spins and twist on the old forms' Globe and Mail 'Ann Cleeves won the Duncan Lawrie Gold Dagger for Raven Black and rightly so. It's in the tradition of the small community murder mystery, but done with a depth that infuses this genre with new realism. A young girl is murdered in the Shetlands and an elderly recluse stands accused, as the lives of a complex society become intertwined to a fascinating effect' Independent 'Raven Black breaks the conventional mould of British crime-writing, while retaining the traditional virtues of strong narrative and careful plotting' Independent 'If this sounds like The Wicker Man meets Psycho then that was my initial reaction, but, as the plot develops, this turns out to be an exquisitely original story in its own right. In fact, I was less able to fathom who the "killer" was than in either of the aforementioned films. This is an absolute must for crime drama fans and you'll be kept guessing right up until the last crucial moments on a beach as to who is the real villain of the piece' Radio Times (about the Radio 4 Saturday Play of Raven Black) 'Raven Black shows what a fine writer Cleeves is ... an accomplished and thoughtful book' Sunday Telegraph 'Beautifully constructed ... a lively and surprising addition to a genre that once seemed moribund' Times Literary Supplement
