The Rising Tide, the latest in Ann Cleeves Vera Stanhope series takes Vera and her team,Joe, Holly and Charlie to a small island and a death 45 years ago. This book delivers everything you've come to expect from this series; an intriguing story, complex characters, and a little more insight into Vera.

Anne Cleeves knows how to set a beautiful and haunting backdrop that is important as the story itself. Fans of Vera will pick up with her like an old favorite, and new readers will be hooked by the Detective Chief’s Inspector’s complex character , strong supporting team and her ability to outwit those who under estimate her. Nothing with the disheveled detective is ever as it seems. Following the last case that caused Vera to revisit her past, Vera and the team are thrust into another on that deals with secrets from the past as well as how today even an implication of an impropriety can have devastating effects on the lives of everyone involved.

Loneliness, loss and….jealousy?
All of this is present when a group of school friends keep the tradition off a reunion at place that brings back memories for each of them, some good, some bad, all haunting. While reconnecting with memories that have bonded them for years one member of the group is murdered, and it soon becomes clear that everyone there has something from the past that they’d like to forget and that for some, the present is not all that they pretend it to be. Did an outsider infiltrate the circle out of revenge or envy, or are some friendships not as close as they seem?

Vera and the team work to undercover the truth about the group while each confronting their own feeling of loneliness or jealousy and the need to prove themselves to each other, while relying on each other's strengths.

While a killer covers their tracks Vera and her team try to find out just how much of the past is relevant to the present. Will they be able to find the key to unlock a decade’s old mystery while dealing with suspects that are close to home, or will the killer find a way to divide a group who despite the different paths they have taken remain a group tied together by the memories of who they used to be? All this leads to a shocking ending that no one could have anticipated and is sure to leave some questions unanswered.

*Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

Vera is back! Thank you, Ann Cleeves, for another suspenseful and twisty read, peopled by rich characters and propelled by both old friendships...and new deaths. Love mysteries centered on reunions in remote places? This is the book for you. Highly recommended.

My thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for the opportunity and pleasure of an early read.

The Holy Island of Lindisfarne off the northeast coast of England is the atmospheric setting for “The Rising Tide,” the new Vera mystery by Ann Cleeves. Originally the home of monks, the tidal island is cut off from the mainland twice a day when the high tide floods the causeway. Fifty years ago, a group of students attended a weekend retreat – called “Only Connect” with their young teacher. Since then, the students continued to hold reunions every five years. During the first such reunion, one of their number, Isobel, left in a huff and was swept off the causeway to her death by the rising tide. Now, 45 years later, another classmate – Rick Kelsall, a TV presenter facing allegations of sexual harassment – turns up dead during the reunion; this time, a murder staged to look like a suicide.

This is when Vera Stanhope and her team enter (about 10% into the book). The watery tide is almost like another character and because of the isolation it creates, the novel has aspects of the “locked room” trope. Vera, Joe Ashworth, and Holly Clarke investigate the aging classmates and their families, looking for any motive one of them might have for wanting Rick dead. With the constantly changing tide, could anyone else have accessed the island during the fateful night in question?

By turn, each suspect looks culpable, only to be set aside as the investigation proceeds. The reader also gets a peek into Vera’s psyche as she gains self-awareness regarding some of her less flattering character traits. All in all, a solid addition to a favorite detective series.

In the 10th entry in the series, Vera and her team are called in to investigate a suspected suicide amongst a group of friends who meet up every five years on a remote island in the North. Vera's mind immediately turns to murder, and she's soon proven right. The past and present are deeply connected in this subtly twisty tale of love and loss. Fans of atmospheric mysteries and suspense will enjoy it.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and especially author Ann Cleeves for book #10 on the Vera Stanhope series.


"For fifty years a group of friends have been meeting regularly for reunions on Holy Island, celebrating the school trip where they met, and the friend that they lost to the rising causeway tide five years later. Now, when one of them is found hanged, Vera is called in. Learning that the dead man had recently been fired after misconduct allegations, Vera knows she must discover what the friends are hiding, and whether the events of many years before could have led to murder then, and now . . ."

More Later!!

A group of school friends bonded over 50 years ago during a school trip to Holy Island. Every five years they return to the island to vacation together.

Tragedy struck about 45 years ago during one of their trips when their friend Isla died leaving the island in a rush. Now another friend is found dead/murdered and Vera and her team are called to investigate.

Secrets will come to light and people are found to be hiding important information. Is one of the friends responsible for the murder?

This is my first book by this author and I was impressed. It’s a good mystery.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the eARC.
This 10th in the Vera Stanhope series is another winner. How I love these books; Ann Cleeves just gets better and better.
For 50 years a group of school friends has been meeting every 5 years for a weekend on Holy Island. They're very close. But this time, one of them is hanged, presumably a suicide, but when Vera gets called in, she's not so sure. When it's found the man was murdered, the team goes to Holy Island to interview everyone.. They discover that 45 years ago, one of the group was drowned as she tried to leave via the causeway when the tide was coming in and Vera has a strong feeling today's murder has a link to the past, even more so when a 2nd member of the group is murdered as well.
This is a great police procedural with such well-drawn characters, especially Vera, who you can't help but love, knowing her childhood background and forgiving her sometimes sharp tongue and her occasional vanity...she knows best. She's one of the most intriguing characters in the mystery genre; I love the times she's thought of as a bag lady or a cleaning lady. Never underestimate her sharp brain! Highly recommended!!!

Each Ann Cleeves novel is better than the previous one. The Rising Tide is a terrific police procedural starring Vera Stanhope in another stunning investigation. I hardly know where to start without giving away any important details.

Several friends reconnect on their 50-year group reunion. To add to the mystery, these close friends have been meeting every 5 years, and it soon becomes clear that this will be their last reunion. Previous reunions have been filled with secrets, sniping, and painful memories. Now one member of this small group has decided to use a very traumatic secret as the source for a book he intends to write. It is obvious that he will be the victim, but what isn’t so obvious is who murdered him and exactly why his death was necessary.

I could scarcely put this novel down. The Rising Tide was terrific, but it is the last page that is so stunning that it took my breath away. I wasn’t to thank both author and publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. The above comments are my own honest opinion. Although I have watched every single Vera show, I did not discover Ann Cleeves until I joined NetGalley. And how lucky I am to have discovered Cleeves!

I am a huge fan of the Vera Stanhope television series, so I was quite thrilled to be approved for this ARC. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for access in exchange for a review.

Vera and her team are called to Holy Island to look into what at first appears to be a suicide. But Vera's instincts tell here there's more to the story, and the medical examiner agrees. In order to solve this mystery, a group of old friends on holiday have to relive fifty years up memories--many of them they would not rather dredge up again. The closer that Vera, Joe, Holly and the others get to finding the killer, the more their lives are in danger--not just from the rising tide that shuts Holy Island off from the rest of the world, but also from the killer.

As I said before, I'm a huge fan of the television series, and yet this was my first time reading one of the novels. I enjoyed having access to the characters' inner dialogues and to learn about their fears and insecurities. Moreover, I was able to learn more about the relationship between Vera and her father.

Although this is written for an adult audience, I am certain it would do well as a crossover to the young adult crowd. I'm looking forward to reading another ARC by Cleeves and will be adding some books from this series to my library collection.

For fans of the Vera Stanhope series this book is more of what we’ve come to expect from the series… The plot is appropriately twisty, the location is comes alive on the page, and Vera is a character we both love and hope to never become.

For people new to the series this book would be a great introduction. The plot could standalone and all of the characters background is deafly weaved into the first few pages to catch us up on everything we need to know to enjoy the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Publishing Group for a copy of "The Rising Tide" in exchange for my honest review.

This is book 10 in the Vera Stanhope series of books. It starts off with a reunion on Holy Island of a group of friends who have known each other for 50 years. They all met when they were new in the lower sixth form and a retreat called Only Connect brought them together. Philip Robson went on to become a priest. Isobel Hall died during the first 5 year reunion. She was the older sister of Louisa Hampton who is married to Ken Hampton, he suffers from dementia. Annie Laidler works in a café and carries some dark secrets. Her ex-husband Daniel Rede has become very well-to-do and doesn't attend the reunions. The last member of the group is Rick Kelsall who has had accusations leveled against him for inappropriate behaviour. Something happens at this reunion and one of the group ends up dead.

Vera Stanhope and her team of Sargent Joe Ashworth and DC Holly Clarke travel to the island which is cut off from the mainland during high tide. Vera doesn't buy the suicide theory and sets off to find who killed one of this group. Before long there is another murder. Vera thinks the two are connected as well as the death of Isobel Hall so long ago. By the end of the book Vera has also lost a member of her team in a rather shocking ending.

There is once again a lot of fat shaming of the Vera character. DC Clarke refers to her as "bloated, idle, fat, with bulges." It doesn't seem right to spend so much of the book dwelling on Vera's appearance. She's a brilliant copper and that is all that should matter to the reader.

Ann Cleeves is a master of mystery! Her books keep me guessing and looking for the little clues that set the detectives on the trail of the killer. The latest Vera Stanhope keeps you scratching your head at who and why and even if the initial death was a murder or an accident.

A group of school chums get together every five years at an island retreat to catch up and remember the first field trip. During the first anniversary of that initial trip one of there members dies. Was is an accident like the police thought? The latest trip on the 50th anniversary finds another member of the group dead by hanging. He had just been let go from his job because of a scandal so it would be easy to label it a suicide. Thankfully Vera Stanhope arrives and listens to Annie Laird. Annie said if her friend had wanted to commit suicide it would not have been like that.

Vera begins asking questions and digging into the past in a way only Vera can. What she finds will crack the case but can you see the clues as you follow along?
I highly recommend Ann Cleeves to all the mystery readers who visit our library but the Vera series holds a special place in my heart.

Cleeves has done it again. Vera and her team are sent to Lindisfarne or Holy Island to investigate a possible suicide. A group of elderly friends are enjoying another weekend together - this happens every five years on the same weekend - when one of them ends up dead. The postmortem confirms Vera's suspicion that the person was murdered so the investigation is on. She starts digging into the past of all the members of the group, including a girl who died on the first weekend reunion they spent at Pilgrim House as she was trying to drive across the causeway when it was covered by the tide. As ever, Vera and her team keep digging and taking chances until the truth is uncovered. The cost may have been too great both for the murderer and Vera's team.
Cleeves' storytelling skill is superb; I couldn't leave this book for long and it kept drawing me back. The characters are well developed and the storyline is very believable. I will eagerly await the next book in the Vera series. I hope this one joins the TV series as well.

This tenth Vera novel takes her story in new directions. I think that it's a huge step forward.

I love that Vera herself continues to grow as a person, despite the fact that she's a mature woman & frequently refers to the ways her past have stamped her. What I notice, though, is that Vera finally, in her late 50s, has stopped focusing on her body size, her sense of style (or lack thereof), and the negative ways in which she thinks that people perceive her. Perhaps it's just a change in Ann Cleeves' writing, but it's powerful!

The end of The Rising Tide blew me away -- there's a huge event that will change the makeup and the future of Vera's team in future novels. And I can't wait to see what that next iteration is.

Highly recommended.

There is something comforting about English police procedurals set in rural areas where the landscape and local language patterns provide a strong sense of place for the armchair traveler. This entry in a long running series set in the northeast plays to that strength, creating a version of the manor house mystery with a limited cast of seemingly-upright suspects for the murder of a man who rubbed many of them the wrong way. In this case, the manor is a "pilgrim's house" on Holy Island, also known as Lindesfarne, where Christianity established a foothold in England long ago. It's a place accessible by car but only when the tide is out. A group of people who originally bonded during a school retreat during the 1970s return every five years to the island, but this time the most successful, but troubled member of the now-aging crew is found hanging in his room. It soon becomes clear it wasn't a suicide, but who among them could have killed him, and why? The only way to solve the case is to delve into the past, where one of the group was killed leaving the island late, her car swept into the tide and another was investigated when her infant daughter died in her crib.

I like the main character a lot, though I wish her weight wasn't mentioned so many times. We get it! Move on. It wasn't too hard to guess the villain, and Vera put herself into a femjep moment that seems uncharacteristic. The comfortable justice-is-served plotline also gets a jolt in the end that is abrupt. But overall, I enjoyed the mystery and the literary visit to a place I would love to see someday.

Vera Stanhope solves it again! She is called to a small island because there has been a suspicious death made to look like a suicide at a school reunion. This group meets every five years for the last fifty years. She and her team need to delve back to that first reunion to solve several murders. Anne Cleeves does it again! A wonderful setting, well developed characters and a can't put down mystery.

Ann Cleeves never disappoints and neither does a new Vera Stanhope novel. Despite the numerous books and many seasons of TV Vera, the characters remain fresh and interesting.

I was so excited to read the latest Vera Stanhope book! I am a huge Ann Cleeves fan - I have read all of the Shetland series (watched them too!), Matthew Venn, Vera and Inspector Ramsay series. I love disappearing into Ann's world that she has so uniquely created for all of her distinct characters.

This book was lovely to read and disappear into. Ann Cleeve's sets up the atmosphere perfectly, you can picture yourself in the story as a voyeur as events unfold all around you. This book is about a bunch of friends who reunite every 5 years at Pilgrim's island. They made a deep connection with one another back in their schooldays and this story is about them and their lives.

One of the friends dies at the reunion and secrets about their pasts begin to unfold. It was nice to see Joe and Holly working in harmony with Vera in this book without talking back too much. I did not see the ending coming - I hope this is not the end of the Vera series. I'd love to read the next one to find out how everyone deals with the aftermath.

The fatphobia and massive stereotyping in this book for the main character was appalling. You would think that an author that includes a plus sized woman as the main character and has done so for 10 books now (including a TV show, apparently) would understand the difference between fatphobia and plus sized representation. The author does not describe the skinny women as though they eat like birds or may fall through the cracks in the floorboards if they turned sideways, nor does she make much mention of the larger male character in the story’s size beyond what is necessary to convey he has put on weight as he’s aged. Yet, somehow, every mention of Vera Stanhope implies she eats like she’s never going to get another meal, or it will be taken from her so she shovels it in as fast as she can and is constantly thinking about her next meal. She is apparently so wide she fills entire hallways and blocks out the entire light in a room if she’s standing near the light source. Even other characters' POV seems to compare their meals to how Vera Stanhope eats. Every mention of food makes her sound like a gluttonous pig that does nothing but think of food. To top it off, she can’t dress either, because the first impression others have of her is how terrible her clothes are. It is obvious the author hates fat women and her main character. She’s put down the whole way through the book, with occasional mentions about how smart she is to, from what I gather, try and detract from the negative way she is described the rest of the time. This author should be ashamed of herself. She offers absolutely no kindness towards her lead character. Why bother writing a plus sized character if all you hate her (and plus sized women) so much?

As far as the story goes, nothing happened other than the insults in the first 40% of the book. The story didn't pick up until nearly 50% in and there was really nothing to uncover. There just wasn't anything to it. It wasn't very interesting and if not for the obligation I felt having been given early access on NetGalley, I wouldn't have finished the book. I won't be reading anything further from this author after being bored by the story and enraged by the cruelness directed to her main character over and over again.