The Crow Trap: Ann Cleeves

An excerpt from the summary at the author's web site:

At the isolated Baikie's Cottage on the North Pennines, three very different women come together to complete an environmental survey. Three women who, in some way or another, know the meaning of betrayal...

For team leader Rachael Lambert the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double-betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne Preece, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace Fulwell, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of her own secrets to hide...

Towards the beginning of this book, there is a suicide. The reader wonders if it will, in fact, turn out to be a murder. About a third of the way into the book, there is a second death, which is clearly murder.

For the most part, this book is told from the point of view of four women. Each has a section devoted to her, and in those sections the reader is only told what that woman knows and experiences. As each woman's turn comes up, we learn facts and background that reveal more about events that were first described earlier. I enjoy books told in unusual formats. Because this one moves from one woman to the next, it is not confusing but adds layers of understanding.

The first three women are Rachel, Anne, and Grace. Rachel and Anne have known each other and worked together; Grace is new to the group, and does not fit in. Not that any of them are best friends and confidantes. The fourth woman is Vera Stanhope, the Detective Inspector who is investigating the second death.

Vera is a large, unattactive woman, unconcerned with looks or fashion. She commands respect, and she is very outspoken. In this interview, Ann Cleeves describes the type of women that Vera was modelled on:

I was born in the mid-fifties and grew up knowing some formidable spinsters – women who’d either lost men during the war, or who had become so independent that they couldn’t settle to conventional marriage. They were teachers or matrons or librarians and they didn’t feel the need to dress smartly or wear make-up to prove they were up to the job. Vera was modelled on those women.

This is a very long book: 552 pages. I was eager to read this series, but had I known the first book was such a chunkster, I would have had second thoughts. However, once I got into the book, the length did not deter me at all. I loved the way the story is told, and the development of the characters. The plot was convoluted but realistic. The setting, in Northumberland, is also well done and important to the story.

Anne Cleeves has stated that The Crow Trap was originally intended to be a stand-alone novel. Then she liked the character of Vera so much that she wanted to write more about her. Based on that, I wonder if later books in the series will have such an unusual structure, and I look forward to finding out.

The Vera Stanhope series has been made into a successful TV series in the UK, starring Brenda Blethyn as Vera. There have been four seasons and a fifth is in preparation. The first three books were adapted in the first season, and a fourth was adapted in a later season. The other episodes are original stories. I have not seen any of this TV series; I will probably give it a try after I have read a couple more of the books.

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Publisher:  Pan, 2010 (original publisher Macmillan, 1999)
Length:    552 pages
Format:   Trade Paperback
Series:    Vera Stanhope
Setting:   North Pennines, Northumberland, England
Genre:     Mystery
Source:    I purchased my copy.