Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212134 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 340 pages

Shotsmag
'White Nights was a pleasurable read with its isolated location, host of interesting characters and intriguing plot.'

Peter Robinson
'A most satisfying mystery set in an isolated and intriguing location'

Reginald Hill
'White Nights is a pleasure to read.Interesting characters, great setting, intriguing plot, and nothing to turn the sensitive stomach'

Customer Reviews

A worthy addition to the ranks of fictional British detectives
This is an absorbing tale which, perhaps not surprisingly given its Shetland setting, brings to mind the novels of Scandinavian writers such as Karin Fossum and Henning Mankell. Which is not to say that Cleeves's style is derivative; she has her own sparse, clean way of writing which marries an ability to create a fine sense of place with a knack of knitting together engaging and credible plots.

Jimmy Perez is a worthy addition to the ranks of fictional British detectives and it's reassuring to learn that there are two more instalments to come - presumably this will be a necessarily short series to avoid wiping out too many of Shetland's small community! Perhaps a mainland posting might come Perez's way in due course, so that we can continue to enjoy his deductions and thought processes...

For me, this book succeeds in presenting a believable picture of life on a remote island. The characters are more than just participants in a story; they do seem to inhabit their own lives as well, giving the book an authentic feel (it's clear that the author has spent time among Shetlanders and has a feel for the geography of the place).

In summary, if you've enjoyed Ian Rankin's Rebus yarns and have strayed further north to Aberdeen with Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae, why not catch the (imaginary) ferry over to Shetland to get to know Jimmy Perez?

Incredibly atmospheric...a must-read.
This is a haunting novel set in a part of the country that most people have never visited. The lonely islands of Shetland are as isolated as any English country manor in Christie's novels and this imbibes the story with a sense of enclosed communities, dark secrets and the past infringing on the present. It's beautifully written with wonderfully developed characters and a plot which interweaves small personal stories with the overall investigation.

The main character, Jimmy Perez, is fascinating - an intuitive detective in the same way as Poirot (although a much nicer personality!); who listens to the unsaid and investigates characters as much as he does the scientific evidence.

Ann Cleeves takes the classic form of crime writing and adds a contemporary edge to it. It's no wonder this author has such terrific reviews from her contemporaries in the field. This is a crime novel that makes very worthwhile reading.

cold blooded murder
She's done it again ! The second in the Shetland Quartet does't disappoint. After the award winning Raven Black, Inspector Perez is once again called upon to solve a murder this time in the tiny close knit community of Biddista.

Perez is now dating Fran Hunter (from Raven Black) he attends an exhibition for her art not a great success when a stranger breaks down in tears Perez talks to him but he has amnesia and doesn't know who he is when the next morning he is found hanging in the boat shed and it wasn't suicide. Perez is left trying to solve a murder of a man no one claims to know the locals just carry out with their lives he wasn't one of them a Shetlander. But that all changes when a second body is found this time it's one of their own and Perez must work out what links the two victims

It appears that in such a small community every one knows each othes business but their are secrets here that date back years and Perez has his work cut out

I really enjoyed this book and although I had read Raven Black I don't think you have to have read that to follow White Nights it's a time of year where the it's never dark , the White nights of the title and the back drop for this eerie thriller
Credit to the author despite only a handful of characters and therefore suspects I had no idea of who had commited the murders until it was revealed in the last 10 pages of this 390 page book

This would seem tailor made for television the setting of Shetland is perfect as it eliminates the murder being commited by a random stranger as it could be in a city

The third book has just come out and I'll definately be Reading this
Highly recommended