Detective Vera Stanhope is driving home in an unexpected early snowstorm when she makes a wrong turn due to bad visibility and finds a car off the road with the door wide open. Vera gets out of her SUV to make sure no one is injured and finds it empty until she hears a cry in the back seat and sees a young toddler strapped into his carseat and no mother of father to be found anywhere nearby. There is no phone reception on her mobile so she looks for the nearest house so she can call the station to inform them of this incident. Within a few hours a body is found murdered on the property of relatives of Vera who are having a lively dinner party and now there seems to be plenty of suspects and many unanswered questions. What a coincidence that Vera came upon this abandoned baby but Vera doesn't believe in coincidences. Prepare yourself to see if you can figure out The
Darkest Evening mystery.

This was a tough read for me while I enjoyed the characters and the initial storyline, it just dragged on for me after the first 30 percent of the book. I really like Vera and her team but I felt the story was too wordy and repetitive in many places and It just didn't have the suspense I was looking for in a mystery. I must say though, that the story did pick up some and got better in the last quarter of the book. I would read another Vera Stanhope book since I was engaged with the series characters.

I want to thank the publisher "St. Martin's Press" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given this book 3 Sleepy but INTERESTING 🌟🌟🌟 Stars

The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves is a superb book and filled with great characters and a twisty turvy plot. I loved the setting especially. Great writing as you would expect from this author. Recommend.

The Darkest Evening is a Vera mystery. I love Ann Cleeves books, and while I am a Vera TV series addict--having watched all 11 seasons--this is actually the first Vera novel that I have read. Now I need to go back and read all of them. Cleeves creates such wonderful novels, with so many twists and turns, that I cannot really solve the mystery without Vera's help.
Cleeves' novels are a joy to read. The details, the characters, the nuances--they keep the reader interested until the last page. I appreciate the author and St Martin's Press having allowed me to read this ARC. I heartily recommend Ann Cleeves novels. Thank you! This is my honest opinion. I am a fussy mystery reader, but when I write that I loved this book, I am being completely honest. Thank you to NetGalley for making it so easy to discover another great Cleeves novel.

I really enjoyed this book. The storyline was great and the characters were well developed. I will definitely be looking for more by this author!

3.5: Great read for a cozy, wintry day — engaging plot, characters, and atmospheric rural setting in Northumberland. The story takes place at an estate during a snow blizzard where Vera Stanhope (DCI) finds a toddler in an abandoned car. I have enjoyed Vera from the show on BBC, and also enjoyed her literary portrayal. Recommended for fans of Vera, police procedurals set in Great Britain, and locked room mysteries. Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. #NetGalley #TheDarkestEvening

4 solid stars

Everything you could possibly want out of a mystery/thriller book! Wow, what a ride. I will definitely be rereading this one again. The characters and the writing are phenomenal.

The Darkest Evening Earns 5+/5 Snowy Nights…Compelling Gem!

It was snowing more than Vera thought it might knowing she’d never admit to her colleagues that traveling as she did had been unwise. Then she notices an abandon car that apparently slid off the road. She stops to investigate, sees no driver, the driver’s side door is open, and inside she finds a cranky baby. She was close to Brockburn and the Stanhope family estate (an intriguing backstory by itself), where a dinner party is underway. She starts making phone calls to her team, not many happy campers to be called out in such weather, to start an enquiry into the identity of the owner of the car, as well as the baby. It doesn’t take long to get some names, but it gets complicated when a neighbor arrives reporting a body, buried in the snow, with a head wound that indicates a vicious murder. The subsequent investigation is complex casting suspicions on Vera’s estranged family, highlighting eating disorders and treatments, uncovering more than one dysfunctional family, and causing the past to crash into the present. A missing person doesn’t end well and the widening of the suspect pool just muddies everyone’s vision. Which means when the finally blow happens, only Vera saw it coming. Compelling page-turner. Intriguing drama. Engaging writing.

The dynamic between Vera and her team, DS Joe Ashworth and DC Holly Jackman, is bittersweet. Vera is very demanding, at all hours of the day and night, exacerbating martial conflict in the Ashworth home and making Holly fear a workaholic future, but she relies on their expertise, their perspective, and the occasional coffee and bacon stottie. They, of course, grumble about the demands at the same time wishing a particular assignment was made of them than the other. Although they worry about Vera overtaxing herself or putting herself in harm’s way, they always have her back. The interactions Vera has with her family reveals more details about her father Hector and the strained connection with Stanhope family, but it’s Vera’s inner thoughts I found compelling, provide insights and maybe regret about her life choices and current life alone. If you’re a fan of the television series or a fan of the genre, you’ll love the book, the author’s original vision, and one more puzzle for Vera to solve!

Many, many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this. This was my first Ann Cleeves despite being a huge fan of the cable series, Vera.

I will read more of her work! This was a ton of fun. I really enjoy police procedurals and this a a treat. I you like the cable tv series, I believe you will relish this book - and I would guess her other works. Highly recommend this.

I love Ann Cleeves!! Everything she writes is a must read for me. Although this book is part of a series all of the Vera Stanhope books can be read as a standalone. This book is perfect to curl up on the couch, have a cup of tea, and get lost in a murder mystery with. Family secrets come to light after Vera finds an abandoned car on the side of the road with a toddler in the back seat and goes to the Stanhope estate to phone the police precinct to call in the abandoned car. We learn that secrets and connections for the Stanhope family run deep in Northumberland. You truly are guessing about who the killer is all the way to the end. I love that you get a deeper look into Vera's family tree. The writing is so descriptive that I can really visualize everything playing out in my mind as I read her books. It's not surprising that everything written by this amazing author is adapted for a tv series. Once you read one Ann Cleeves book you just can't help but pick up another one and before you know it you've read everything she's ever written.

I had selfish reasons for reading "The Darkest Evening". I am a huge "Vera" fan (on Britbox), however I have never read one of Ann Cleeves books. I was curious to see if the book would hold up to my expectations. "Boy, oh boy, did it ever! I loved it!"

D.I. Vera Stanhope, is driving in a snowstorm when she comes across a car that has slid off the road. Upon further inspection, she finds a baby strapped in a car seat. At first glance, it appears the driver has left the baby unattended. But, for what reason? Did they go looking for help? Were they injured or too rattled to care for the child?

I must confess, I was ahead of the game from having watched so many episodes of "Vera" (played by Brenda Blethyn), during the pandemic. I was aware that things are never what they first appear to be in Ann Cleeves mysteries. She always has some great twists in the story.

As I read the book, I could hear Vera's awesome accent in my head. I was not familiar with the plot in the book before reading it, but found it to be absolutely riveting! The storylines are clean and only contain very mild violence. I will be reading many more Ann Cleeves books soon. "The Darkest Evening" is available now for purchase.

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin's Press, for allowing me to get my (guilty pleasure) "Vera fix". Ann Cleeves you ROCK!

I have heard great things about Ann Cleeve and the Vera series. The Darkest Evening did not disappoint! The story flowed very nicely and kept me intrigued until the end. What a ride! I finished this book in just two sitting and could not put it down. I am looking forward to picking up the rest of this series and diving in to the Stanhope universe.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

I really like this book it was pretty good easy read definitely recommend
The book grabbed me from the the beginning to the end

This is book 9 in the Vera Stanhope Series. Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope misses a turn on her drive during a blizzard and discovers a toddler strapped into a car with no driver. As she continues to a place familiar to her, she goes on to Brockburn. There she tries to uncover where the driver went & who does the baby belong to? as she gets closer to the truth, she also learns about her family secrets.

I was a bit leary at first diving in. I kept thinking where could this book go. Then bam, the twist comes and it sure is a surprise. Just hang in there as the ride continues all the way until the end.

THE DARKEST EVENING by Ann CLEEVES
A wrong turn in the dark and snow, an abandoned car with a toddler in the car seat, a party in the nearby manor of Vera’s “distant relatives” present a messy mastery. Vera Stanhope and her able team persist, untangling clues, ferreting out secrets, standing up to the entitled . . . It’s quite a gripping puzzle, pet, good distraction from the troubling real world and a good example in never giving up. I’d love to curl up in front of a cozy fire, reading Frost poetry and nibbling on scones with Vera and friends.

I always know I can sit down with an engrossing mystery with a Vera book. I liked the winter setting and how the dark of winter and a blizzard all adds to the wonderful atmosphere for the story.

This book was awesome!!! I could not put it down! Kept me on the edge of my seat! Ann Cleeves is an amazing author. Her books never disappoint! Can not wait for the next one!

SPOOOOOKY! This will be the perfect fall read as it comes out in September. I think it will be a lot of book club's picks for October.

First Sentence: Lorna lifted Thomas from his high chair and held him for a moment on her knee.

DCI Vera Stanhope comes upon a car that has skidded off the road in a snowstorm. There is no driver to be seen, but an infant has been left secured in a child seat. Knowing she can't leave him there, Vera and the child head for a nearby house; Brockburn, where her father grew up. When a neighbor of the house finds the body of a murdered woman half-covered by the snow, Vera calls up her team to solve the crime, uncovering family secrets along the way.

Vera is one of the best creations of contemporary mystery fiction. She is older, overweight, rather shabby, completely devoid of maternal instinct, and raised in a way to make her a loner, yet not unaffected by how others view her, and not without insecurities—"She paused for a moment, Cinderella looking in: the fifteen-year-old girl again, excluded."

In addition to her descriptions of Vera, Cleeves creates a vivid sense of place—"The sight was like something from a fairy tale. Magical. The flurry of snow had passed and there was moonlight, and a sky flecked with stars."—and scene—"…pheasant, cooked slowly with red wine and shallots…And a vegetable casserole…Roast potatoes and parsnips and sprouts…A variety of puds, hot and cold."

Vera's relationship with her team is interesting. She knows their vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Although she seems to take advantage of them, in knowing what drives them, she is helping them grow and improve individually and as a unit. What makes it work is that they understand what she is doing. They know her, too, with the teammates often bolstering one other.

Cleeve's books are as much personality studies as they are mysteries. By focusing on motivation, it becomes clear how the past can influence the present and the future. One cannot help analyzing oneself in the process.

The plot is excellent. The information on anorexia is well presented and stresses the severity of the disease—which not simply an issue of vanity. There are plenty of questions and red herrings. The question as to who fathered the baby leads to effective supposition. A "ta-dah" moment gives way to real suspense and threat, and a wonderfully English ending.

"The Darkest Evening" is another example of Cleeve's excellent storytelling. The climax is well done and even touching. It's a mystery one may not figure out before the end when it all makes sense, and the use of Frost's poem in the title is perfect.

THE DARKEST EVENING (PolProc-Vera Stanhope-England-Contemp) - Ex
Cleeves, Ann – 9th in series
Minotaur Books, Sept 2020, 384 pp.