The Darkest Evening (Vera Stanhope)

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As a huge fan of both the Shetland and Vera series of books, I had high expectations for Cleeves’ latest. . . . A stunning debut for Cleeves’ latest crimefighter."—David Baldacci on The Long Call I'm always interested to learn where the title of a book comes from and here the source seems to be a phrase in the Robert Frost poem, 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening', one of my personal favorites, and which has significance to the victim in the story. The darkest evening of the year of course is the winter solstice, in the bleak midwinter. But Vera has her own issues. Re the Baby, which she has no idea how to handle. “Do you think I could bring it in?” she asks a little desperately. For this evening we’re in an old country house on a snowy, long night in Northumberland. The house is in need of repair, but the parties are as glamorous as ever… Well, there’s this.’ Vera looked down and Juliet saw a sleeping child in a car seat. ‘Do you think I could bring it in? It’s freezing out here. It’s asleep at the moment.’ She looked at Juliet as if her opinion mattered.

Vera's windshield clears for a brief moment and she spots a white vehicle left to the side of the road with the door open. Vera pulls over to help. She peers inside and finds a toddler strapped in his carseat alone. With no one else in sight, Vera surmises that the adult went for help. No way was she going to leave this child abandoned in a blizzard. Carseat and child are transferred to Vera's Land Rover. The final episode of the series, The Darkest Evening, airs on Sunday, 19 February 2022 at 8PM. Vera cast – The Darkest Evening The Stanhope family is not sure how Vera should be treated, but as a member of the police she takes charge and soon is treating them the way she would treat most any suspects of a murder. The contrast between Vera, who has little concern for the opinions of others and Harriet, the matriarch of the Stanhope family who lives and dies by her reputation is well drawn. The various characters are all well developed and the reader has ample opportunity to deepen their knowledge of them as they move through the book. Juliet felt a tug in the gut. She’d wanted children ever since she could remember, but it hadn’t happened and she was approaching an age when perhaps it never would. Sometimes she couldn’t help an overwhelming feeling of jealousy when children were mentioned. If it’s not mine, I don’t care if it freezes to death. Sometimes a gentler longing, which was just as desperate. ‘Of course, bring him in. Or her. Which is it?’Vera finds herself lost and turned about while in the middle of a snowstorm, ending up outside the country home of relatives. It is there she finds a car with its door open, a baby inside. The body of a woman is found in the snow not far from the car. Thus the mystery begins, and Vera has her hands full trying to untie all the relationships one might find in a smaller community. So this was my first Vera Stanhope and Ann Cleves novel, but it will NOT be my last one. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Vera took some getting used to and her team was odd, but overall a really solid mystery tale with all the hallmarks of the classics. Strong points in this novel were the final reveals, the atmosphere, and the unfolding of secrets. A car is found on the side of a snowed-in road later one dark evening. The door is open. Inside the rapidly freezing car is a small baby boy staring out. Cons: The author has Vera, an out of shape, middle aged woman putting herself in danger by going after the killer alone. Police officers are taught to have a partner for safety reasons. All eleven previous series of TV's crime drama VERA are now available to fans in both the UK and the US. They have been widely broadcast; VERA was nominated for an Edgar Award, for Dark Road, the first episode of series 6 (an original screenplay by Martha Hillier). VERA was ranked sixth best TV series of all time in a recent poll. In February 2019 it won the Judges' Award at the Royal Television Society NE Awards in Gateshead.

Vera joins the dinner party of family and local residents being held in the house. The child is recognized as Thomas, the son of Lorna Falstone, a young woman from a neighboring village. The father of Thomas is unknown. Ann Cleeves has written a murder mystery script based on The Darkest Evening - like her previous stage-it-yourself mystery kits - but this one has been filmed, with four actors reading the parts, turning St Aidan's church Thorneyburn into a grand house. Ann is the author of the books behind ITV's VERA, now in it's third series, and the BBC's SHETLAND, which will be aired in December 2012. Ann's DI Vera Stanhope series of books is set in Northumberland and features the well loved detective along with her partner Joe Ashworth. Ann's Shetland series bring us DI Jimmy Perez, investigating in the mysterious, dark, and beautiful Shetland Islands...Many thanks to NetGalley and St.Martins Press for this compelling ARC. I had never read this series but found it worked very well as a stand-alone. I have been streaming and enjoying the TV series, Vera, and now intend to read more books by Ann Cleeves.