(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

A visit to her local prison brings DI Vera Stanhope face to face with an old enemy: former detective superintendent, and now inmate, John Brace. Brace was convicted of corruption and involvement in the death of a gamekeeper – and Vera played a key part in his downfall.
Now, Brace promises Vera information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall, a notorious wheeler-dealer who disappeared in the mid-nineties, if she will look out for his daughter and grandchildren. He tells her that Marshall is dead, and that his body is buried close to St Mary’s Island in Whitley Bay. However, when a search team investigates, officers find not one skeleton, but two.
This cold case case takes Vera back in time, and very close to home, as Brace and Marshall, along with a mysterious stranger known only as ‘the Prof’, were close friends of Hector, her father. Together, they were the 'Gang of Four’, regulars at a glamorous nightclub called The Seagull. Hector had been one of the last people to see Marshall alive. As the past begins to collide dangerously with the present, Vera confronts her prejudices and unwanted memories to dig out the truth...

This is the 8th book in the Vera Stanhope series. I have read a few of them and found this one to be the weakest of them all. Not that "weakest" means that it is bad - just that it isn't as good as the earlier ones.

The good news: we get another Vera story. British crime novels seem to have gone through a bit of a slump of late, all tending to read the same as the last. But we don't get that with this series. Every story feels fresh and new, the character development continues and we feel like Ann Cleeves hasn't dug around in the trash on her hard drive looking for something to publish...

However, while this is still a good book, the biggest letdowns for me were the pacing (Oh my, it was slow!) and the dreadful ending. Both could have been FAR better, in my opinion.

Definitely worthy of the series. But hoping for better next time out.


Paul
ARH

"A visit to her local prison brings DI Vera Stanhope face to face with an old enemy: former detective superintendent, and now inmate, John Brace. Brace was convicted of corruption and involvement in the death of a gamekeeper – and Vera played a key part in his downfall.

Now, Brace promises Vera information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall, a notorious wheeler-dealer who disappeared in the mid-nineties, if she will look out for his daughter and grandchildren. He tells her that Marshall is dead, and that his body is buried close to St Mary’s Island in Whitley Bay. However, when a search team investigates, officers find not one skeleton, but two.

This cold case case takes Vera back in time, and very close to home, as Brace and Marshall, along with a mysterious stranger known only as ‘the Prof’, were close friends of Hector, her father. Together, they were the 'Gang of Four’, regulars at a glamorous nightclub called The Seagull. Hector had been one of the last people to see Marshall alive. As the past begins to collide dangerously with the present, Vera confronts her prejudices and unwanted memories to dig out the truth...

The Seagull is a searing new novel by Sunday Times bestselling author Ann Cleeves, about corruption deep in the heart of a community, and fragile, and fracturing, family relationships."

A Vera, I've missed ya!

It's been a quiet summer for Vera Stanhope's team, so when she is contacted by a disgraced policeman now in jail with a bargain to give her the location of a body of a missing person in exchange for her looking out for his daughter and grandchildren, nothing stands in the way of her taking John Brace up on the deal. It turns out that the missing man was a compatriot of Vera's father, and the resulting complicated investigation veers very close to Vera's past. For those who have been following the series (of which this is the 8th), a great deal of Vera's background is filled in. For those new to the series, that same background is set in the context of the cold case and will not seem extraneous. While Brace was not a part of Vera's dad's "Gang of Four," his information leads Vera and her team to a much clearer understanding of what those four were involved in and ends up shedding light on both Brace's family and Vera's upbringing. In the meantime, Cleeves' usual deep characterization and description of the setting do not suffer.

Cleaves has written another winner in this long running series. Finely tuned character development an complex plotting make the Seagull a perfect week end companion!

I've been watching the series Vera on PBS for a while and enjoying Brenda Blethyn's performance as the title character, so I am pleased to have had the opportunity to read a book from the series (my first) through NetGalley. I notice some subtle changes between the two mediums but otherwise an excellent carryover of the essence and integrity of characters and stories. This latest of stories has not yet been televised in the U.S. but comes just after the most current televised outing. It involves former detective superintendent John Brace, now a prison inmate due to a conviction for corruption. Now he and Vera are to become entangled again.

First off, I was struck as I read by the depth of Cleeves' writing. All of her characters are drawn as complete and complex beings; even those who may only have one appearance in the book are allowed to be "real" people. At times, there are definite differences from the TV adaptation, in tone and sometimes in substance, but these only add to my wish to read all of Cleeves' books. For I find that I enjoy Vera in both mediums. She is wonderful in the televised expression where she is presented as an everyday hard-working copper who gives all for her guys and the victims and expects the same in return. She's brash but she cares. In print, she seems a bit edgier but she still cares about victims and about those who work with her. And any plot differences on TV don't bother me at all--I imagine they were done to improve the ease of filming and continuity.

So definitely recommended!

4.5* rounded to 5

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review

I have read and loved this author's Shetland series for years. Only recently, with her book before this one, have I read her Vera series. Only took one book to hook me with this series, and these characters.

This mystery, has Vera investigating and old crime, but it soon has new implications. Ties to someone very close to Vera, this outing hits close to home. Just love Vera herself, described as large, a little ungainly and very determined. She thinks herself irreplaceable, and it convinced her team can't handle things without her. She is unassuming, just a regular kind of person, and people just want to talk to her, and she takes full advantage of this natural talent. The other three members of her team are also interesting, varied in age and talents. This is a well written procedural, with another enticing location, Whiteby Bay.

I know this is a series on TV, but I think my imagination does s better job, and I am always hesitant to watch something that may change the way I view either the characters or the series. If you enjoy police procedurals you should definitely try this series.

ARC from Netgalley.

The Seagull is a Vera Stanhope mystery, a novel in one of Ann Cleeves' two series, both of which are excellent. (The other books are the Shetland novels.) Both are also TV dramas available in the U.S. and originally from Britain.
I especially enjoyed this book because of the back story. The reader learns more about Vera's parents and her childhood. I also enjoyed spending time with favorite characters, including Holly and Joe.
This novel is about an historical crime with implications for the present. The story is well told and the pages kept turning. Highly recommended.

The Seagull is a well written mystery. I enjoyed the plot and the setting. I have not read other books in this series but hope to in the future. The PI is an interesting character. I recommend this to readers who enjoy a good mystery.

Vera Stanhope is not your typical detective. She's overweight and not particularly fashionable in her frumpy coat and comfortable shoes. But she's smart and determined and has hand-picked a hard-working team to help her crack her case. And she'll need that for her latest case, a decades old murder that involved her father and his cronies. 

After a visit to speak at a prison, one of the prisoners, former detective superintendent, John Brace, comes up to Vera. He wants to make a trade. He has information that one of his friends from back in his days on the force was murdered, and Brace wants something for that. His daughter has been struggling since her husband left. She has three kids, and she just doesn't have enough help to combat her depression and make sure the children are taken care of. If Vera figures out a way to help, Brace will give up his information. Vera, ever the curious detective, makes the deal. 

Vera's father had been on the force as well, and there was a time when he and Brace, along with Robbie Marshall and a mysterious figure known only as "The Prof," were the "Gang of 4." They were friends and business partners, and because not all of their ventures were purely legal, Vera had a hand in bringing them to justice. Robbie Marshall, however, went missing back in the '90s, long before her father had a stroke or before Brace went to prison. At the time, it was assumed he'd left on his own, but according to Brace, he was murdered and buried close to St. Mary's Bay. But a trip to find the remains turns up two bodies, and it's up to Vera to dig through her own family history to find the answers she's looking for to find the killer. 

The Seagull is the nightclub where the "Gang of 4" hung out, and it's also the title of the 8th book in Ann Cleeve's Vera Stanhope series. The series is also a well known and beloved BBC television series starring the fabulous Brenda Blethyn. It's definitely worth watching if you can find it on your favorite streaming service. 

Okay, now that all that's out of the way, I need to talk to you about this book and about Vera in general. The Seagull is, quite frankly, one of the best mysteries I've ever read. British mystery writer Ann Cleeves is a revelation, and I would happily read any book, story, article, or cereal box she wrote. Any book with her name on it is a must-read, and that goes for all lovers of good fiction. Vera is my favorite female detective and probably the person I most want to be when (if) I grow up. She is a complex, fascinating character, and I hope there are dozens more books starring her and her investigative team. I will be there for all of them, trying to get everyone else to fall in love with her too. Honestly, I don't think it will take more than a chapter or two. 

tl;dr takeaway: Read The Seagull! Right now! Unless you're one of those "I have to read it from the beginning" people. Then read the first book in this series, The Crow Trap. Right now! What are you waiting for? 



Galleys for The Seagull were provided by Minotaur Books through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC copy of The Seagull by Ann Cleaves.

Another winner from Ann Cleaves. Vera Stanhope series is just wonderful. If you haven't read this series then you are missing out. The setting of this series is a character itself. Vera is out to solve a murder again, but this time she has strong ties to the case in which makes her question the relationship she had with her father. I always am afraid with a series that one day I will read one and the books will start to loose their luster for me. NOT this one! It seeps under your skin and draws you into the story. I recommend this book and the others in this series! All I can say is Vera is an amazing character and I can't wait to see what Ann Cleaves comes up with next.

I really enjoy watching the Vera series on TV, so I was very pleased to have the chance to review the latest book. I live just north of Whitley Bay and have visited St Mary's Island, one of the settings in the book, many times, so this enhanced the pleasure I got from reading this novel.
Vera goes to see an ex policeman in jail, John Brace, who was a friend of her father. She has previous history with him as she helped put him into jail.He asks her to help protect his daughter and granddaughter and in exchange he will reveal the burial location of a man missing in a cold case.After digging at St Mary's Island, they find two bodies and so begins an involved investigation which takes Vera back to meeting other people known by her Father, and mention of the The Seagull, named in the book title, a once glamorous nightclub owned by one of this group, and a place in which the "gang of four" including Hector (Vera's father), used to visit.
I liked learning more about the relationship between Vera and Hector, especially glimpses of the younger Vera, sometimes remembered by John Brace, when he is sitting in prison going over the past. She comes across as an awkward, possibly belligerent character at times in those younger days. Also interesting to learn that Hector stole birds eggs, helps to flesh out the details of Vera's home life with her father. The relationship between Vera and the team she is in charge of is also explored, even down to the fact that one of them is repelled by the sight of her dirty feet in Sandals!
So as well as a gripping story, this book has given me more background detail about Vera, so will add to my enjoyment of any further episodes I see on TV.
Many thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press/Minotaur for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once again Anne Cleeves has given readers and her heroine Vera exactly what they want - a challenge.  When an inmate, a former superintendent and colleague of her father, offers Vera the whereabouts of the body of a long missing man in exchange for checking in on his troubled daughter, she has doubts.  Instead, not one body but two are discovered- the second an unidentified female.  Who was the woman? What were her links with Vera’s father and his Gang of Four?  But confronting the past has its costs as Brace’s son in law is murdered.  Is Brace playing a game? Or is someone else determined to hide a murder? What are the links to the glamorous and notorious club The Seagull?

The Seagull is a fantastic mystery that allows Vera’s qualities to shine.  Her energetic approach to investigating, her boundless curiosity and need to find information no matter how unrelated and her ability to connect with people all serve her well.  Vera may not be a social butterfly but she is wonderful at seeing into people and getting them to open up.  The affect she has on Brace’s daughter is amazing.  

Some authors falter when they have written a longer series, relying on the memory of readers. Cleeves doesn't fall in this trap.  Her vibrant depictions of Vera and her team breathe life into her novels.  When you add in her unique and well developed plots it is no wonder that Vera continues to be one of the most popular characters in Britain today.  The Seagull is a wonderful addition to the series.

5 / 5

I received a copy of The Seagull from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

-- Crittermom

There are relatively few authors whose work I know I will be seeking out no matter what. Ann Cleeves is one of a handful on my list. I especially love her Vera Stanhope books (as well as the wonderful TV series based on the characters). I had pretty high expectations going into this book but never expected to be blown away.

What a great reading experience! There's an almost nostalgic vibe as the plot reveals events and crimes from the late 1990s surrounding an expensive nightclub called the Seagull. In addition to the extremely well written narrative, there are murders (multiple) and cover-ups and corrupt police and organized crime.

The book also fills out Vera's back-story with more information about her father, Hector, and his bird-watching and poaching associates. I really love the development of Vera and the people on her team. From the first book (The Crow Trap), Vera and crew were well fleshed out and believable, and the plots have been solid and well crafted. This book is so well written and clearly Ms. Cleeves has hit her (masterful) stride. In my opinion, it's the best and most intricate one yet in the series.

There are plot twists and reveals right up to the very end and a really shocking denouement. I sat in my reading chair with my mouth (literally) hanging open.

Beautifully well written and completely compelling. Seriously.. five stars doesn't come close to being enough.

Please see my review of this book: https://wordpress.com/post/lovebooksreadbooks.wordpress.com/181
I recommend The Seagull. It is an engrossing and well written book, the eighth in the DI Vera Stanhope series and, in my opinion, the most engaging so far.

The incomparable Ann Cleeves is back with what is her best Vera Stanhope book yet. What distinguishes this from the rest is not the first-unraveling of the crimes - and it is definitely first-rate - but the insights into parts of Vera's past that help us understand her better. The little bits provided about Hector open him up to readers just a tad more, but there is still much to be explored there, not to know him but to understand our quick-witted heroine's devotion to her team and to finding the truth while continuing to ignore her own health and personal life. I await the next book in this series more eagerly than I normally do, for while most series become tiresome, Cleeves manages to keep hers fresh and challenging.

OK, I like Vera Stanhope, the overweight, middle-aged, opinionated, bossy, disheveled, irascible, and frequently insensitive protagonist in Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope series. There is also a softer side to Vera, however, that reveals her attachment to her team and that allows her to sit down with witnesses for a cuppa and persuade them to open up. A softer side that Vera, herself, doesn't really acknowledge. She isn't one for introspection.

Although I like Vera's character, Cleeves' treatment of secondary characters, meticulous plotting, and love of the Northumberland coast all combine to make this series one of my favorites.

The Seagull continues developing the characters, but also adds some backtracking as the plot involves characters and situations reaching into the past. Vera finds herself enmeshed with memories of a younger Vera, her late father Hector, and three of his friends. She isn't certain what the investigation will turn up regarding Hector, but it doesn't stop her from pursuing the truth and untangling the secrets that have had two decades to cloud the picture. With so many shady characters, it isn't easy to determine the villain responsible for crimes that occurred twenty years ago.

Joe, Holly, and Charlie always take a backseat to the boss, but each one is intriguing in his or her own right and all three show further development in The Seagull.

Cleeves also writes the Shetland Island series featuring Jimmy Perez. I've enjoyed several books from that series as well.

blog post scheduled for 8/20/17.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books

Mystery/Police Procedural. Sept. 5, 2017. Print length: 416 pages.

I got hooked on the "Vera" series when it first aired on Acorn TV and then on "Shetland." However as much as I love to read British mysteries, somehow Ann Cleeves' work eluded me, so this was actually my first. What a pleasure! If you're familiar with the television series you'll recognize the setting and some of the characters and enjoy an intricate story line to tease your puzzle-solving skills. I'm thrilled I've finally discovered this author and can't wait to go back and read some of her earlier works.

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the eARC.
It's a daunting task writing a review for an Ann Cleeves book as my admiration for her writing knows no bounds and I don't know if I can do her justice. But here goes!
Vera reluctantly visits prison to talk to a group of elderly, disabled inmates and reconnects with an ex-superintent of CID she helped put away. In return for her checking the wellbeing of his daughter, he will reveal the location of the body of a man missing for 2 decades. Upon finding the body they discover a 2nd one. Vera and her team: Joe, Holly and Charlie, are frustrated with this cold case; the many leads go nowhere and the people involved either can't remember that far back or pretend they can't. The one connecting factor is The Seagull, an upscale club that mysteriously burned down.
Vera's late father, Hector, proves to have been involved as well, stirring up many unwelcome memories of her difficult upbringing.
The brilliant portrayal of this complex character is amazing. Here the heroine is a late middle aged, overweight, sloppily dressed woman (whose favorite footwear are rubber soled, Velcro strapped sandals that show her dirty feet, lol), obsessive to a fault when it comes to her job and getting her man. And she's marvellous; you can't help loving her, how great is that? What a book series! Plus, the added treat of watching the wonderful TV series...heaven.

Please see review at
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