Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant
Fantastic story totally kept me on the edge of my seat. Amazing well rounded characters, totally recommend
Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy

I love Vera Stanhope She is one of my favourite Detectives.
This investigation had me gripped from the start. i loved how things started to unravel after each twist.
This was an unputdownable read.
Thank you Ann Cleeves for another spectacular investigation from Vera and her team.

Another excellent Vera novel.
I was slightly concerned at the start of this book as the setting on Holy Island was reminding me of another title that was set in the same place. Soon, however it had raced off in a new direction.
The story moved on so quickly with new clues on almost every page I didnt get any breathing space to identify the guilty before Vera.
Fantastic heart stopping and unexpected ending. I was so wrapped up in the story I feel like I have lost soemone I knew!

It’s 50 years since a group of school friends first visited Holy Island for a bonding experience arranged by one of their teachers.
Since then every five years they’ve returned for a weekend reunion and to remember Isobel who drowned after the first reunion when she set off too close to the tide after a row with Rick.
Rick, who is planning to write a novel, is found hanged in his room. Enter DI Vera Stanhope who is not convinced it’s suicide and as usual she’s proved right.
Any new ‘Vera’ is something to look forward to, but Ann Cleeves has surpassed herself with this one.
I love the snippets about the lives of her team, it’s like meeting old friends. Loyal Joe and his home life, Holly, ambitious but lonely, Charlie with his local knowledge, and at the centre of it is Vera, determined, cantankerous,
digging away at the small details of the case that she instinctively knows will lead to the solution of the crime.
The suspects all have complex histories with each other with lots going on under the surface. As well as following the investigation and trying to work out (unsuccessfully) who was the guilty party, it was interesting to learn a little about Holy Island and I also enjoyed reading the descriptive passages about the Northumberland countryside and Vera’s and Joe’s memories of their childhoods.
Although this is the 10th novel in the series it can be read as a stand alone and for fans you’re in for a real treat.
But this is no cosy murder mystery. It’s very well written and completely enthralling with a build up of tension towards an unexpected ending that is breathtaking.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC

This is a great novel and I'm really pleased to see Vera back. The set-up is about a group of folks who have a reunion on Holy Island. One of their number has previously died in an accident, and so their reunions become a memorial for her, too. When another of the group, Rick is found dead there the backstory about his loss of job and allegations about his behaviour introduce us back to Vera. What Ann Cleeves does well is keep the narrative drive moving along at a pace, which is the case here. The forming of the characters means that their secrets and backstories make for a compelling read, the contemporary theme is well examined, and the plot is clever with surprising twists. No spoilers, but Vera works it out.

This is an excellent novel, typical of its genre, and highly recommended.

Another brilliant Vera Stanhope book! Ann Cleves is one of my favourite authors. The Rising Tide is a clever story, with great characters (as well as the usual well-loved crowd) overlaid with a sense of creepiness by being mainly set on Holy Island (Lindisfarne). I really couldn't put this book down and would thoroughly recommend it.

Another brilliant book from Ann Cleeves I love her books as she grips you from start to finish and the characters go so well with the story and you feel for them.Excellent 5*

Such a good read, compelling with well developed characters that pracyically jump off of the page and are so real and relatable. I loved it.

The rising tide
Ann Cleeves

Vera and her team are called to action after a minor celeb is found hanged on Holy Isle. Though pathologist Paul Keating suspects suicide, Vera thinks otherwise. Questioning begins of the other visitors to Pilgrim’s House, who happen to be part of the victim’s fifty-year school reunion. A meticulous forensic examination of the sixty-somethings unravels old mischief and messy lives in true whodunit fashion. Soon another body turns up dead and the police effort steps up.

This latest outing of Vera and her crew really packs a punch. While it begins with very little to go on, they rootle through the details like landmine-sniffing rats. Ann Cleeves holds back the details and creates a cast of tight-lipped unreliable witnesses that create an uphill climb for the team. The author has more surprises in store for them – not all happy – so keep a hanky close by.

Reading another Vera is like slipping into very comfortable house slippers. There is the familiar band of players, the glorious and grim Northumberland setting, the drip drip drip of forensic detail. Ms Cleeves ekes out new background details for Vera and her squad to answer any questions of motivation and desire and regret. If you’ve seen the TV series, it’s impossible not to see those faces as you read, but in a good way.

The books are laid out as police procedurals, “who was where when”, and this one doesn’t disappoint. The author lays traps and false leads, too, as well as a good deal of foreshadowing. Even if you work out the killer’s identity early on, there is plenty to puzzle through. I saw Ann Cleeves talk at our local Bookshop on a promo for her Matthew Venn series. I asked her what she was reading and she put me on to Mick Herron (who I now adore!), it was good he gets a cameo in the book (and perhaps a prescient one).

If you are a fan of Agatha Christie’s ‘Miss Marple’ series, if you like Scandi noir from Henning Mankell, Camilla Läckberg or can’t live without Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti, go for Ann Cleeves and her troupe of detectives: Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn. I love Vera so much I created a playlist on Spotify to listen to while I read. (Try the Unthanks for some true Northumberland magic.)

Thanks to NetGalley UK and Pan Macmillan for the eARC. *****

4+

DI Vera Stanhope #10

Fifty years ago a group of teenagers go to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) for a bonding experience that is so successful some of them have returned every five years since then. They always reflect on Isabel Hall, a friend who they tragically lost on their first reunion. In the present day, one of their number, a well-known journalist Rick Kelsall is found hanging from a vaulted ceiling. Despite it being her weekend off Vera is called in, she’s suspicious from the start and as per usual her hunch proves right as Richard has been murdered. DS Joe Ashcroft uncovers information about Rick including allegations of harassment but this proves to be just the tip of the iceberg in this increasingly troublesome investigation.

Absolute kudos goes to Ann Cleeves who after so many years of writing still manages to produce something that feels fresh and is immersive and compelling for readers to get their teeth into. Like many others I love Vera (brilliantly portrayed on television by Brenda Blethyn) and her larger-than-life personality shines through the pages and she is undoubtedly the centre and star of her own show. She’s brilliantly intuitive, instinctive, a little bit manipulative of her team (in a good way) and her affection for her team especially DS Joe Ashcroft is almost transparent. Got to love Joe too! It’s a well written novel with a plot that goes at a brisk pace and which is extremely well thought out, it thickens and deepens taking us on a twisty journey backwards and forwards across the causeway to Holy Island. This is a superb setting especially as the tide rises and rolls in adding an extra dimension of atmosphere especially as concealed secrets find their way to the surface, bubbling up like the waves. The finale is surprising and very dramatic, there is danger and tragedy which strikes real blow.

If you've nar read this Newcastle (the toon) / Northumberland based series, eeee, howay man, you should because it’s canny and champion. Vera is a legend!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Pan MacMillan for that much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

The 10th mystery for Vera Stanhope to solve has the action taking place on the island of Lindisfarne. The location plays a major role in the novel, providing atmosphere and serving as a place to isolate the suspects. The plot revolves around a group of former school pupils who, now in their sixties, have continued to meet here every five years. When one of the group is found hanged Vera has to delve into their backgrounds and unearth secrets which may also be linked to another death many years ago,
As always, Ann Cleeves delivers a great “who-dunnit “ to keep you guessing till the end.

This latest offering in her Vera Stanhope series is one of her best from this prolific author. Set on Lindisfarne, which becomes an inaccessible island at high tide, a group of school friends meet for their 50th reunion. There was a death of one of their number at an earlier reunion which perhaps is significant when a death occurs this time. This is particularly well plotted and the denouement came as a real surprise!

Book number 10 in the Vera series is well-written, fast paced and engrossing with a solid plot.

As we have come to expect from Cleeves, all the characters are brilliantly written, with Vera in particular being a joy to read.

Gripping, fast paced and compelling - this is Ann Cleeves on top form. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Pan MacMillan for the ARC.

I have read all the Vera series by Ann Cleeves and have enjoyed them all. This one did not disappoint. Set on Holy Island where 50 years ago a group of teenagers spent a weekend forging bonds which lasted. They revisit the island every 5 years but when one of them is found hanged, Vera is brought in to head the investigation. She determines that the murder has resulted from events of 50 years ago but finds it hard to unlock the secrets. A further murder and the disappearance of one of her team focuses the investigation.

I enjoyed the workings of the team, the unpicking of the past and the final shocking ending which took me by surprise.

An excellent read - to be recommended.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of The Rising Tide, the tenth novel to feature DI Vera Stanhope of Northumberland Police.

A group of friends have been meeting on Holy Island every five years for fifty years to celebrate a friendship they forged on a teenage retreat and to commemorate Isobel, a friend who died in an accident on the causeway during their first reunion. This year one of them, Rick Kelsall, has been found hanging in his room. When Vera finds out he lost his job over sexual misconduct allegations she is determined to discover all his secrets and those of his friends.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Rising Tide, which is an absorbing read, full of secrets and half truths, with a shocking ending that really jolts the reader.

Firstly I will say that it is a bit of a novelty to have a cast of characters in their mid sixties who are perfectly able bodied and capable of leading a full life. No, it’s not unusual in real life, but seems to be in fiction. I like it as the characters are fully formed with a rich life experience and a deep knowledge of each other and and their secrets and that offers the author so many possibilities to mine for twists and scenarios. I’m not so sure I liked them all that much, but I certainly liked the way their secrets unravel.

The plot is well done with a well concealed perpetrator and motive. Vera is stumped for answers for much of the novel and spends most of it trying to winkle out the secrets the group are keeping with varying degrees of success. To be honest I’m still not quite sure how she stumbled on the truth, but no matter, because the denouement is full of drama and surprises. There is heartbreak and guilt at the end of the novel and it took me by complete surprise. The author never fails in her audacity and ability to surprise.

The Rising Tide is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Friendships can be something that last a lifetime and for a group heading to Holy Island, their union has lasted five decades. Fifty years previously, a group of teens spent an unforgettable weekend, forging a bond that lasted through relationships, marriages, scandals and even a change of career to religious life. They return to the historic place every five years to catch up with their lives, and to remember the friend they lost that fateful first reunion. However, when one of the group is found in less than salubrious circumstances – and Vera Stanhope discovers the victim had been fired for misconduct allegations – the team is working at full speed to figure out what is going on. Vera knows someone is hiding something, and a group of friends seemingly as tight as they are, it’s going to be difficult to sort out fact from fiction. But it’s not just the friends who are in danger, Vera soon realises there’s a lot more to sort through. Gripping (really) and it’ll fill you when the full gamut of emotions.

Although I have watched all of the Vera TV series I'm ashamed to say that this is the first book that I have read.. It is number ten in the series but can quite easily be read as a standalone. It was everything that I expected and more, with well-developed characters, and a different intriguing storyline that kept me guessing right to the end. I will definitely be reading more.

I don’t know how Ann does it after all these years and so many books but she still gets better with each one! Vera is such a great character and it has been an absolute pleasure to follow her development throughout the series as well as the regulars around her.

I am not going to give anything away, but grab your favourite drink and settle in for a real page-turner and loads of red herrings along with more than the usual unexpected twist.

Excellent!

With an Ann Cleeves novel, crime lovers know what to expect. This last instalment in the Vera Stanhope series does not disappoint. It makes for a couple of hours of good reading, in the company of well known characters solving a mystery with strong ties to the past. The plot is solid, secrets gradually come out of the woodwork and everyone remains a suspect until almost the very end. We get to know Vera a little better with each novel which is part of the book's charm. If you are a fan, you will read this anyway, if not you may be better off starting at the beginning of the series, but the story can stand on its own as well.

Oh, the joy of a new Vera novel.

I've read lots of Ann Cleeves' books, but the Vera series is by far the best of all her work. The Rising Tide is a novel about secrets of the past coming to life in the present with tragic consequences.

The plot - a group of friends meet on Holy Island for their five yearly reunion, waking the next morning to find one of their group dead, an apparent suicide. Vera, canny lass that she is, isn't sure and it's soon clear that it's a murder dressed up as suicide. What's harder, is finding out what happened in the past and why it's led to murder now, so many years later. Lots of surprises along the way - people's hidden connections with each other start to appear, creating that apparent tangle that only Vera can unravel.

Great book - tight plot, strong characters, sharp writing - and what's best, is those short insights into people's minds and thinking that make it so real and give the characters true depth

Plot spoiler - there's more than one murder, so be prepared for a genuine tragedy.

Final verdict - if you're a Vera fan, you won't be disappointed, you'll be delighted. If you just want a good novel, I think you'll be equally deligfhted.