Book #32 The Crow Trap

The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't often do things back to front but here is one such case. I enjoyed the Vera Stanhope series on TV and when I came across 'The Moth Catcher' in Waterstones I bought a copy and thoroughly enjoyed it. This is number seven in the series. I took a step back and read number six, 'Harbour Street'. Both copies were liveried in the TV tie-in covers and when the remaining five were so issued I jumped in and bought the lot. I like book covers. So here I was, ready to read this the first in the series, first published in 1999. I was slightly daunted with the prospect as this book weighs in at 550 pages but I need not have been concerned as this is a very absorbing read - a slow burner, full of atmosphere and suspense, a well-drawn cast of characters and a satisfying plot. If I had read this without having known anything about DI Vera Stanhope I would have been rather taken aback at this portrayal of a dowdy curmudgeon, certainly nothing like the woman played by Brenda Blethyn in the TV series. (By book six Stanhope seems to have mellowed somewhat).

I won't go into the plot as other reviewers have done that and I shall look forward to reading number two in the series: 'Telling Tales'.

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