I devoured the latest Vera novel, and as always, it was exciting, absorbing and exciting. The end came as a shock, and more to the point, I can’t wait for the next one. A huge BRAVO indeed

Still reeling a bit from the ending of this book. Ann Cleeves is a brilliant writer - you sit down to read and all of a sudden hours have passed. As a reader you want to not only know what happens next but also further understand the characters and their motivations. Eagerly awaiting the next title in the series .

Maybe it’s that I’ve had a short attention span lately, but this book was just too tedious to keep my attention. I kept reading because I love the character of Vera, but the constant recaps and Dacian pacing made this a tough one for me to read. I’ll keep reading anything that Ann Cleeves writes, though, despite this minor blip in the series.

I am familiar with the show. This is my first book in the Vera book series that I have read. I was hooked from page one. Highly recommend if you are an Anne Cleeves fan. I finished this in two days.

Vera does not disappoint...I read this book as if she were a "real" person...This author is talented and gifted at weaving a cannot put down story. Don't miss this one. Friends meet every five years for a reunion of sorts...one is found hanging in his bedroom. Suicide? Murder? Vera is on the case with her cohorts helping. The setting is dark and dreary, but the story moves quickly and more about the characters than the place. Who did it? Why? One of the reunion members? A stranger? An exwife? A friend? Who? Read this story that moves quickly, of course, and attempt to solve the ending. This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review...Enjoy.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It hooked me from the very beginning and kept me hooked the entire time!

By far my favorite vera novel. The set up for this book is a classic. A group of friends get together and one ends up dead. The ending did not disappoint.

Once again Vera and her team are drawn in to solve a murder, no make that two murders, on Holy Island in North Northumbria. And once again Ann Cleeves treats her readers to a complex mystery steeped in the bleakness and the beauty of the land and featuring characters that we have watched mature over the years. They are joined by a group of characters, many of them friends from their grammar school days, who have secrets or shame from the last that they are desperate to hide. It is not hard for readers to become absorbed in this tale and many will be as reluctant as I was to put it down before reading to the end. Not everything is wrapped up neatly at the end, but in a way that adds to the strength of this novel. Highly recommended for both devotees of the series and to readers experiencing a Vera mystery for the first time.