We learn about DI Vera Stanhope's estrangement from her extended family in "The Darkest Evening," by Ann Cleeves. Vera's late father, Hector, was an alcoholic and ne'er-do-well whose "respectable" relatives shunned him. Hector's nephew, Crispin, died years earlier, and Crispin's widow, Harriet, lives in a large estate with her daughter, Juliet, and son-in-law, Mark. The Stanhopes are desperate to avoid scandal, especially since Mark is planning to create a new center for the arts that requires substantial funding. Shockingly, a young mother named Lorna Falstone is found dead on the grounds of the Stanhopes' property. Vera begins an inquiry into Lorna's death, assisted by her hard-working colleagues, DS Joe Ashworth and DC Holly Jackson.

One question to which Vera would like an answer is the name of the man who fathered Thomas, Lorna's little boy. Vera and her team interview Lorna's parents, Robert and Jill, and also speak with Constance Browne, Lorna's former teacher and close friend. Vera has the feeling that these individuals know more than they are willing to reveal. In addition, the detectives have conversations with Harriet, Juliet, Mark, and their housekeeper, Dorothy, as well as others who knew the victim. There are numerous red herrings and a number of possible suspects. However, with little useful evidence to move the investigation forward, the novel meanders along at a sluggish pace.

On the plus side, the author nicely depicts her rural setting in northern England, a locale with freezing winters and neighbors who look out for one another. In addition, Cleeves skillfully depicts the strengths, weakness, and aspirations of her characters. Fans of this series know that Vera is an unkempt and eccentric loner. However, criminals who underestimate her do so at their peril. Detective Inspector Stanhope prides herself on her tenacity, insight into human nature, leadership, and impressive track record in solving homicides. Although "The Darkest Evening" is mildly engrossing, it lacks much excitement and suspense. Cleeves focuses on the unfortunate tendency of witnesses to lie and/or withhold key information, leaving Vera to put the puzzle pieces together herself. At last, all is revealed when a far-fetched solution brings this work of fiction to its long-awaited conclusion.

The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves is another outstanding Vera Stanhope mystery. There's plenty of introspection in this novel as the crime is committed on the property of Vera's estranged family. This is the "big" house from which her father had been banished years before and it rankled. It was a blizzard when Vera, too stubborn to listen to reason and stay in town, misses a turn and list, comes upon an abandoned car left, with its door open. Inside is a baby/toddler strapped into a car seat, no hint of an adult anywhere nearby. Vera unstraps the car seat and reinstalls it, infant and all, into her own car to continue her journey. Suddenly she knows exactly where she is: the family estate. As she arrives at the front door, it becomes obvious there is a party in progress, but she enters and is taken to the kitchen where the housekeeper supplies the baby with a new nappie, and Vera with a bowl of soup. Before long, a neighboring farmer, arriving to collect his daughters who had been waiting table, arrives to report her has seen a dead body out in the snow. Fortunately the police have already arrived, in the form of Vera. And so it begins...

Vera is a complicated character who embodies many of the emotions felt by women everywhere, making her a very sympathetic trope. She is older, alone, not particularly attractive or well-turned out. She is however, tenacious and bright. She runs on adrenaline much of the time and susses out the truth before her colleagues and even her readers. She is the epitome of a capable, but lonely, woman. She is worthy of admiration. This was a good mystery, with two people dead, and several families with the potential of being destroyed. Like a hound with a bone, Vera follows every lead, endangering herself more than once, until the killer is found. It was an extremely satisfying read. Dark and curious, challenging and emotional. I recommend it.

I was invited to read a free ARC of The Darkest Evening by Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #thedarkestevening

I am a great fan of the TV series Vera so I was thrilled to be able to read one of the books. I could just picture the TV characters as they played out their part in this police procedural. Vera's traditional calling people 'pet' just flowed right through. Great story and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The cover gives a good description of the story. If you haven't seen a Vera show, go watch one and these characters will come to life for you.
I received the book as an Advanced reader copy and was under no obligation to provide a review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Thanks to the author,publisher,and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I'm not sure how I missed the Vera Stanhope books. I'm already a Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn fan. But I decided to open it on Saturday and just kept reading through Sunday. until I finished the book on Sunday night. I can't remember when I've read a book virtually non-stop and didn't commit the crime of skipping to the end. In The Darkest Evening Vera returns to her extended family's estate and the countryside surrounding it. A young woman is found dead in the snow and as the investigation of her murder proceeds we meet most of the village and discover many not-so-well hidden secrets. We also get to see Vera's story and understand the life events that influenced her. This is my top mystery read of 2020 and I highly recommend it.

Vera faces challenges in this book like never before as age, obesity, decrepitude, and attitude need a bit of adjusting as she searches for the killer of two women and the kidnapper of a toddler. She faces her inevitable mortality with her invincible mindset. One day she may be gone but that day is still not today. The mystery here is even more subtle than those in prior books in the series. Subtle enough that for the first time in forever, I had no clue who the malevolent killer/kidnapper was. Accordingly I was happy to go with Vera on her trip toward the final denouement to see whom was guilty and how she determined who dunnit. A sad and intriguing study of families, those that work and those that don’t and the secrets that threaten them. Thoroughly enjoyable. #TheDarkestEvening #NetGalley

This book started out strong. It had great potential and was a somewhat good story. I had a few problems though. A car on the side of the road with the door open. A baby inside. A cop, Vera, getting lost??? I can't believe the cop who was headed home got lost. That was a bit out there but I could overlook that. She takes the baby and goes to a house close by where a dinner party is taking place. Also she is related to the owner. When Vera finds there is a dead woman on the property she does not tell the guests to stay put. She does not make the house a crime scene and demand that everyone present separate and not discuss things. She's supposed to be a seasoned DI and yet she does not treat this crime the way I would have expected. I didn't find that believable. There were just some things about this that didn't read right. But I was still interested and wanted to know who killed this young woman and why.

This book takes you through a lot, including two murders and a kidnapped baby. It's got some twists and the descriptions are quite vivid. Maybe a bit much at times but still good. You will feel the cold in this book. The deep snow and the pain the middle aged DI feels while trying to solve this case. I don't mean mental pain either. She's feeling the pain in her job, walking, running, falling, being attacked. I would have loved this book if it would not have read more like a Murder She Wrote episode or even a Colombo in part. Vera could get on a nerve for sure. But she did do a good job and did catch the killer. I didn't at all guess who it was. Though it may have been because I was losing interest by this point. I hate when books do this to me.

This book honestly had great potential and it may just be me in that I didn't like the slowness it took. It starts out with a bang and then kind of drags. It finally did pick back up but at almost the end. It just was not my kind of book. It was more of a mystery than a thriller which would be ok if it would have held my attention better. It was just ok for me.

Thank you #NetGalley, #AnnCleeves, #StMartin'sPress for this ARC. This is my own review.

I gave it a 3/5 stars. I say read it for yourself and decide. It was just not for me. Sorry.

Ann Cleeves is the Queen of contemporary crime fiction. In her latest novel, “The Darkest Evening” (Minotaur Books), Vera Stanhope, the somewhat unkempt but always brilliant Northumberland Detective Chief Inspector, returns for a ninth outing to investigate a murder that hits close to home.
Driving in a blinding snowstorm, Vera becomes disoriented, veers off course and discovers a car abandoned by the side of an isolated, Northumbrian country road. The car door is wide open, the driver is missing and a toddler is asleep in the backseat. Concerned for the mother and child’s safety, Vera takes the boy and drives on, eventually stumbling across a familiar landmark-- her ancestral home, Brockburn. It’s the place where her deceased father, Hector, grew up and part of a legacy long rejected by her branch of the family tree.
Read the full review at https://booktrib.com/2020/09/08/the-darkest-evening-intertwines-ds-vera-stanhopes-estranged-family-and-murder/

This is one of the best mysteries I've ever read. I have watched all of the TV series "Vera" but this is the first Vera Book I've read it is an amazing experience. The characters jump off the page and are real and believable the settings are so well described that you feel like you are actually there and can almost smell the Sitka Spruce in the forest and the coffee in the Stanhope mansion. The storyline is intriguing and filled with twists and turns and a surprise ending. One difference between Vera in a book and the one on TV is that in the book her character is more fully developed as are those of her colleagues. You learn the backstories and glimpse their thoughts so they become more rounded and more real.

Any book written by Ann Cleeves is a joy to read. Put Vera in it and it becomes even better. The Darkest Evening is book 9 in the Vera Stanhope series but works just fine as a standalone with detailed character descriptions and backstory. However, if you’ve read any of the previous books, or watched any of the TV series, that’s a bonus, because Vera is already a familiar character. Her methods, her nature, her childhood, her surroundings.

When The Darkest Evening opens it’s a dark evening indeed. Stubborn Vera has decided that yes, she can make it home just fine, thank you, even though it’s starting to snow and the weather forecast is not good. Turns out visibility isn’t so great after all, Vera misses a turn, becomes a little lost, and discovers a car parked on the side of the road that seems abandoned until she hears a small cry. Someone has left their car, door open, with a toddler strapped into the back seat. When she gets her bearings she realizes she is near the elegant country home, Brockburn, where her father grew up. Where she has family. But no warm and fuzzy memories.

She takes the child to the estate. As the weather worsens, the body of a young woman is discovered in the snow. And we’re off. Anyone who thinks they can match wits against rumpled, disheveled, abrupt Vera and come out ahead is in for a surprise. There are a lot of secrets and therefore a lot of possible suspects, including family and people from the nearby town that Vera knows from her childhood. Vera is nothing if not determined. Her methods may not always seem to fall within some accepted norm, but she has a strong moral core that drives her to do what is right and seek justice for those who have been harmed. So with Vera digging in, secrets won’t remain secret for long.

As is the case with everything author Cleeves writes, The Darkest Evening is cleverly and smoothly plotted, with twists and turns and surprises that increase the suspense page by page. Her team is back as well, and watching them take this case apart is so satisfying.

Ann Cleeves has done it again. A terrific story that will keep you engaged until the very end and leave you wanting to read the next book at once. And amazingly, as with her series Shetland, the characters in the books and on the TV screen are one and the same. As I stated at the beginning, always a joy. Thanks to the author and St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of The Darkest Evening via NetGalley. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it without hesitation. All opinions are my own.

Big fan of Ann Cleeves and both Vera and Shetland series so I was very excited about reading the latest book by the author. It did not disappoint at all. Wonderful description as always and I could not put it down.

"The Darkest Evening" by Ann Cleeves, Minotaur, 384 pages, Sept. 8, 2020.

On the first snowy night of winter, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope sets off for her home in the hills. It is only snowing lightly when she leaves work, but in the higher elevation it turns into a blizzard.

She realizes that she's missed a turn in the road. There are tire tracks in the snow ahead of her, so she follows the tracks. She comes up on the car, which has slid off the road. The driver's door is open. The driver must have walked off.

Vera starts to go back to her car when she hears a cry. A toddler is in the back seat. She takes the boy with her. She drives, hoping to find the toddler's parent, but arrives at a place she knows well, a house called Brockburn.

Brockburn is a large, formerly grand house in the wilds of Northumberland, now a little shabby and run down. It’s also where her late father, Hector, grew up. Vera was 15 the last time she was there. She is estranged from her family. Harriett, Vera's cousin, Harriett's adult daughter, Julia, and Julia's husband, Mark Bolitho, live there now. They are having a dinner party.

The car is registered to Constance Browne, an older woman, who allows a neighbor, Lorna Falstone, to borrow it. Lorna has a young son, Thomas. The father of the two girls who waited on the dinner party table comes to pick them up, but asks to use the phone. He almost ran over the body of a woman.

This is the ninth in the series. The plotting is intricate and the characters are complex. Vera Stanhope is not a typical detective and that is one of the things that make this excellent series so good. There is also a British television series, "Vera," based on the books. This is one of my favorite series.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for a review.

I am familiar with Vera Stanhope from the television series starring Brenda Blethyn, whom Ann Cleeves calls “magnificent” in the Acknowledgements. As I read this ninth Vera novel, I pictured Brenda and heard her voice throughout.

Vera is on her way home in a snow storm when she comes across an abandoned car with a toddler inside. She takes the child and stops at the nearest residence which is called Brockburn, the once-grand ancestral home of the Stanhopes where Vera’s father Hector grew up. Since Hector was the black sheep of the family, Vera has only distant memories of visiting Brockburn. This visit proves to be eventful and one of many because the body of the child’s mother is found on the grounds. As Vera and her team try to find the murderer, they also uncover some Stanhope family secrets.

There are a number of suspects who have possible motives to kill the young woman, so the reader is kept guessing. Though there are several characters who could be guilty, the author does a great job in helping the reader not get confused. Of course, the culprit is identified at the end, but I think few readers will guess correctly. Though there are clues, there are also red herrings, so the ending is not predictable.

I have always loved Vera, perhaps because I identify with her. She’s a frumpy older woman who is physically out of shape. She can be socially awkward. Many people underestimate her intelligence; for example, one man describes Vera as looking like a bag lady and asks, “’Do they really think she’s competent to run the investigation?’” She is a flawed person; one of her team thinks that Vera has difficulty understanding “the difference between her own morality and the constraints of the law.”

Because the book gives us more of Vera’s inner dialogue, Vera is further developed. There is quite a contrast between her gruff, no-nonsense exterior and her sensitive interior. For instance, we learn that “food had always been her comfort, her means of escape. Her own private addiction.” She has never married and doesn’t want to give up her independence, “Though it might have been nice to be asked, she thought. Just once.” Vera is secretly thrilled to be appointed “an honorary auntie” though she doesn’t want to babysit: “She wouldn’t go that far. She was so cack-handed she couldn’t contemplate changing a nappy.”

This novel develops the working relationship between DC Holly Jackman and Vera. At the beginning Holly feels “taken for granted within the team . . . hard done by” and Vera thinks of Holly as “a cold fish.” Though she doesn’t open admit it, Vera’s opinion matters to Holly and she tries hard to win her boss’s approval. When Vera praises Holly’s work, “Holly wished that didn’t mean so much to her, that she didn’t feel as she had when she’d just been given a gold star at school as a five-year-old.” Holly and Vera spend more time together during the investigation, and they end up developing more respect for each other.

This is a solid police procedural with interesting characters, a delightful whodunit that does not disappoint. Those familiar with Vera will certainly want to pick up this book; those who have not met her are in for a treat and will undoubtedly want to check out the previous books and watch the television adaptations if possible.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Vera Stanhope, a police detective, is driving home in a snowstorm, soon realizing that she should have stayed where she was until the storm passed. The snow is getting deeper and she is disoriented. When she comes upon a car stopped on the side of the road, she notices the door open and a child strapped on the back seat. With no parent in sight, she leaves a note plus her card and takes the child with her. Down the road, Vera realizes she is at Brockburn, home of the Stanhope family.

The Stanhope family is in the middle of a weekend party for some friends. As they need money to keep the house going, they have decided to turn part of it into a theater and thus have asked guests to contribute to it.

Vera is a relative of the Stanhope family but her father is a black sheep. The family doesn’t look kindly on her either. However, they bring her and the child inside. The child is a little boy and is the son of Lorna Falstone, a young woman who has suffered for many years from an eating disorder. The family knows her but they don’t know who the father is. When a body is found outside the house, it turns out to be Lorna and she has been bludgeoned to death. Now, Vera brings in her slew of police to investigate the death.

When another woman is found murdered, members of the town get really nervous wondering who the killer could be and why are they killing women? Vera relies on her police cohorts to help her. They work very long and dangerous hours out in the dark looking for the killer.

This is the first of the Vera Stanhope police series I have read. I admit that I had a difficult time getting into the story and it seemed to drag in spots. The personality of Vera is compelling and the descriptions of the area and the COLD weather kept me reading. The more I read, the more I realized how thankful I am that I live in Florida! I believe this is the Northumbria area book I have read too. Vera is one tough old bird!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

One night, as detective Vera Stanhope makes her way home through a blizzard in Northumberland, she misses a turn. To make matters worse, she discovers a car that has skidded off the road, with its door open. After investigating, Vera assumes the driver has left to find help and is about to leave herself, when she hears a noise coming from the backseat of the car. A toddler, apparently unharmed, is strapped in a car seat.

This is the beginning of the ninth book in the Vera Stanhope mystery series by Ann Cleeves. As the story progresses, Vera is reintroduced to family members that she hasn’t seen or even thought of for years. Many of her memories are unpleasant but, regardless, she is determined to bring justice for a murder victim. The Darkest Evening is a tight police procedural. But, in addition, it also offers insight into some of Vera’s background and family, as well as the other detectives’ personalities and strengths.

I have not read this series in order of publication but, nevertheless, I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve read by this author. The Darkest Evening is no exception. Once again, Ann Cleeves has written a story that is not only a good mystery, but also it presents an interesting array of characters – some who have hidden agendas and others who have surprising depth and fortitude - including Vera herself.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This was my first encounter with Vera Stanhope, and I was not disappointed.

Vera Stanhope, detective inspector, is heading home through a snowy mess when she makes a startling discovery on the side of the road. What follows is an investigation where all characters seem both guilty and not guilty at the same time. This was a quick read and the ending was a bit of a surprise.

I liked that the main character in this story was not typical, that she was hard and rough around the edges, and that she did what she wanted to do. I enjoyed this book and would like to read others, as I feel like I would understand the other characters a little better..

Driving home during a snow storm, DCI Vera Stanhope comes across an abandoned car with a toddler inside. Taking the child she drives to the nearest house which happens to belong to her relations where a dinner party is in progress. Not long after at the back of the house a body is discovered.
But what could the possible motive be, Stanhope and her team investigate.
An entertaining well-written modern crime story with its interesting cast of characters. A fine addition to the series.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great read. I so enjoyed this book. Lots of plot twists and turns. It was a great police procedural that doesn't overwhelm the reader being too technical . I didn't figure it out till the reveal.

A dark and wintery murder mystery.

When Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope of the Northumberland & City police takes a wrong turn on a dark blizzardy night, she ends just missing running into an abandoned car with its door wide open and a baby in the back.
This mystery has her returning to the grand home of Brockburn, where her father Hector (the black sheep of the family) grew up. A place of memories from her childhood, a place of secrets and as it unfolds, a place of murder.
I had lightly cast my thoughts towards the murderer but thought Nah!
So we have an 'empathetic environment' that adds to the tension, not only the dour aspects of Northumberland but now we have a wintery pall.
At Brockburn Vera finds herself forced to confront relatives she's not that keen to engage with. Family secrets is disclosed as Vera, the blunt Northumberland woman, stomps right in not at all disposed to be gentle the grand lady of the manor attitude of her cousin Harriet, much to Harriet's daughter Julia's secret admiration.
Of course Vera's very capable team are out in full force, marching to Vera's tune--her Detective Sergeant Joe Ashworth, her Detective Constable Holly and others of the cohort. Reading their inner thoughts arounds their interactions and understandings about Vera and her demands is informative.
This story provides us with some interesting facts about Vera's background. Certainly her father Hector has always been a source of frustration, fascination and fixation. The musings of Vera in her head are moments you can't include in the TV series, but in print, add a further dimension to this fascinating character.
I must admit all the time I read this, I couldn't get the voice of Brenda Blethyn out of my head. But hey! this after all is Vera!

A St. Martin's Press (Minotaur) ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Driving home from work – against the advice of her fellow detectives – DI Vera Stanhope began to think they might have been right. But she wouldn’t let the flurries of snow and icy wind deter her. Getting lost wasn’t something she could possibly do, but it was fortuitous she did, as she came across a car which had slithered into a ditch. The driver’s door was open with no driver in sight. But there was a baby in a car seat in the back. What would have taken the person away from the car, leaving a child inside in the frosty wintery weather they were having?

Vera’s arrival at the next house along the road, Brockburn, was a place she recognized. Removing the car seat and child from her car, she found she was disrupting a party of sorts. Vera remained in the kitchen where she made phone calls, getting her force to start their investigations. Vera’s father had grown up at Brockburn and now the elderly matriarch, Harriet lived there with her daughter Juliet and her husband Mark. The old house was crumbling around them; Vera remembered some of it from visiting as a child. Were there secrets residing in Brockburn?

The discovery of a body in the snow outside Brockburn was a dreadful shock – Vera’s investigations led to dark secrets. Was the killer someone who didn’t want those secrets revealed?

The Darkest Evening is the 9th in the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves and the first of the series I’ve read. I found it read easily as a standalone, and had no trouble keeping up with Vera and her team. I’ve also read the 1st in Shetland Island series, and the 1st in Two Rivers series – I do like the author’s writing. The intrigue and mystery was well done in The Darkest Evening: I didn’t pick the right person for the killer although I had a few guesses 😉 Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Maggie Rothfus of Minotaur/St Martin's Press for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first story in the Vera Stanhope Series. I think it would add a little to reading this book for some of the character dynamics, but it isn't necessary. The book starts out with Vera encountering an odd situation. This leads her to encountering a murder and a bit of a homecoming. The story had a lot of potential suspects which give us some twists and turns as the murderer is revealed. The book moved along at a good pace. I enjoyed the story and found the ending a bit of a surprise. I received a copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.