An avid watcher of the Shetland series I hadn’t read any of the Shetland and Perez books. I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Perez again. The mystery is in a well-crafted and cleverly plotted. A well written story I didn’t want to put down.

What a great addition to the Perez cannon. I’ve read most in the series and settling in to this was like picking up with an ol,d friend, one who has moved to Orkney and is settled with partner Willow and a child. I love Perez as a character; he’s charismatic yet practical, intelligent and compassionate. In this outing he’s investigating the murder of an old friend, Archie, slaughtered with a Neolithic stone.
This is where Ann Cleeves excels. Despite the move from Shetland to Orkney, she captures that landscape and community so well. It’s stark, introspective, steeped in history and old traditions die hard. The murder is just before Christmas and there’s a strong sense of pre Christian worships and practices when other things were celebrated by different festivities. There’s a sense of foreboding as other deaths follow and a community is united in fear. This is Cleeves at the top of her game, still. Atmospheric, tense, twisty and an all round cracking read. Works very well as a stand alone if you haven’t followed the series.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

If there's one image that will stay with me, it's the description of a Neolithic chamber which, if the sun shines on the day of the winter Solstice, is flooded with golden light through a tiny window. The ingenuity of our ancestors took my breath away,
I haven't read all the books in the Jimmy Perez Shetland series but it didn't matter as they work as standalones.
Cleeves imbues this thriller with a strong grounding in history, cultural traditions and the sense of a close knit community. It creates an increasing feeling of tension and doom which comes to a head as the stage is set for the Ba', a brutish competition held at Christmas time for men and boys on the Orkney islands. It's very true that "nobody does unsettling undercurrents better than Ann Cleeves."

Jimmy Perez in back - now living on Orkney with his partner Willow and young son James.
Jimmy's friend, Archie Stout, is found murdered. The weapon is a neolithic stone from the local Heritage Centre.
Further murders follow as the detectives race against time to catch the killer.
Ann Cleeves excels at creating the atmosphere of a small community. It is just before Christmas and you can feel the dark, harsh winter making travel between the islands difficult. I also loved the references to local folklore, traditions and customs.
Another great read from one of our most talented authors.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

It’s lovely to read a new Perez novel, in Orkney and with his family. I like that he’s still so involved with everything, but still - just about - has time for Willow and James. I’m glad I’ve read most of these books and not just relied on the TV series for learning about his character and methods.

The story is a good one, bringing in the rugged countryside of the islands like extra characters. It also feels very real with all the logistics of getting support from the mainland & the way the outlying country areas take a back seat to the cities for backup. A very atmospheric and enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Perez is back but in a new setting, which I think has reinvigorated the character. Hopefully this is the start of a rebooted series for him, now in Orkney and in a new phase of his life. I really enjoyed this one - although the plot was as good as ever, Ann Cleeves really made it atmospheric too. Look forward to a follow up!

After the disappointment of Wild Fire, this is very much a return to form in the Jimmy Perez series. New readers will be confused by characters from the excellent TV show not being here. The television version went on a different tangent or, as they say nowadays, a different timeline.

Having been with the novels since Raven Black, I love the relocation to Orkney and it still works. It has been 46 years since I visited Orkney, as part of a Highland tour, and vividly recall the historical locations featured in the storyline, thanks to the descriptive powers of Ann Cleeves.

Perez, as usual, gets there in the end and the journey is worth it for the reader.

Hope there are more to come.

I chose to read an ARC of this work, which I voluntarily and honestly read and reviewed. All opinions are my own. My thanks to the author, publishers, and NetGalley.

I really enjoyed being back with Jimmy Perez for this new novel from Ann Cleves and it kept me gripped until the very end, although I found the denouement quite disappointing. Orkney was the star of the show for me - I felt like I was walking the streets with them and, murders aside (!), I'm so keen to visit! An enjoyable read for fans of the Jimmy Perez series. Hoping for more!

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for sending me an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

love a good police procedural and this is certainly one of those. They you sprinkle it with some interesting characters, the Orkney Islands and a master writer and you have a very absorbing and enjoyable novel.

For me what was very interesting were the characters involved. The way you followed Perez as he doggedly tracked down and went through everything pertinent to the case. I liked the way people remembered things later on which made a real difference to the case.

If you are not a fan of police procedurals you might find it rather slow at times. There were also a massive host of characters. Most of the time I could keep track.

Thank you lovely publishers for giving me the chance to read a proof copy

‘The Killing Stones’,by Ann Cleeves,is the ninth book in the highly rated ‘Shetland’ series.
As someone who has enjoyed the Shetland television series yet never read any of the the books, I was interested to read one of these novels and intrigued to find out what else might have happened in the story of Detective Jimmy Perez.
This latest case involves Jimmy and Willow,his partner and senior officer investigating the murder of his close childhood friend,Archie.There appears to be links to the crime in the ancient history of the islands, with a Neolithic stone used in the killing,thus adding to the complexity of the search for the truth.
This is an absorbing tale that reveals a real sense of living on an island,with its own particular traditions,landscape ,and relationships that are intensified in its smallness through people knowing well many of those around them,if not them all.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan ,for an Advance Readers Copy.

Very readable, but the killer was who?!
This is my first Jimmy Perez book, so perhaps I would have liked him more if I'd met him earlier in the book series. He didn't seem to be very effective, and I much preferred his partner, Willow, who is basically storming the policing whilst very heavily pregnant.
There's a good sense of place and community, and the things I enjoyed most were the bits of island life and the multitude of characters. I knew who everyone was, despite there being so many of them to try to keep track of.
The plot winds along slowly, and I felt that Perez wasn't really detecting, but more stumbling over clues accidentally. The suspense did build, and I did enjoy the book, but I felt that the reveal was a curve-ball, and that left me nudging this down from a 4 star to a 3 star. It felt like a sudden leap towards social commentary (and it's something we should all be thinking about and talking about) but for me, it came out of nowhere.
I would read another in the series, but I would be secretly hoping for Willow to take the lead!

Great to have Jimmy Perez back again.
A great story, very atmospheric. Orkney is a character in itself. Willow and Perez are a good match
An intriguing cast of characters, well written and fully drawn as always.
The story was a bit slow going with lots of detail but somehow you just wallow.
As to the ending. I didn't guess (but then I try not to as the author has taken time to write a book I should respect that and let them tell their story). I did feel, that although it made a very salient and especially today relevent point, it was a bit rabbit out the hat. I know everyone craves the wildest twists or it's not a great book but Ann does write great books. I would almost have prefered that as a sub plot and have a different killer (not saying who)
It was great to reconnect with characters again. I've read everyone and didn't think I would get this ARC but thank you to the publishers for this pleasure

Jimmy Perez's friend and cousin Archie has been murdered on Westeray and Jimmy is the first on the scene.

This tight knit community is rocked by the revelation that there is a murderer in their midst.

This close to Christmas and bad weather on the mainland means no help is coming from investigators from Glasgow So Jimmy and his team are on their own.

Enlisting the help of his partner,DCI Willow Reeves,Jimmy must investigate his friends and neighbours to find the murderer.

A great mystery from the inestimable Ann Cleeves!

I would like to thank Pan McMillan Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

The Killing Stones sees the welcome return of Jimmy Perez - now settled in Orkney with his partner Willow & their young son.
After a violent storm the body of a well-liked local farmer Archie Stout is found on the island of Westray, with the murder weapon one of a pair of inscribed Neolithic stones discovered nearby.
Archie was a good friend of Perez and the case feels more personal than most. With Christmas fast approaching and a new baby on the way Jimmy and Willow (who is the senior officer) have their work cut out following numerous leads and interviewing possible suspects while trying to identify an increasingly desperate killer.
The tensions and suspicions within the small communities are very well portrayed as are the descriptions of the islands complex history and scenery.
As the investigations take place in different locations on the Orkney islands, with Willow mainly based in Westray, the story jumped about a bit and I didn’t find it quite as engrossing as the previous books, also the ending and identity of the culprit came as a surprise with a bit of a rush at the end.
However I did enjoy the book and trying to work out who the murderer was and do hope there will be more books featuring Jimmy & Willow in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and PanMacmillan for an ARC

Great to see Perez back!! I haven’t read all the books in the series but it didn’t matter for this book. Ann Cleeves is a master of mystery, and creating a sense of place. A great book!

3* Not what I expected, a bit long and repetitive, but a decent tale.

I picked the book based on the title and author's name - the title turned out to be literal, which was my first surprise. The next was that the author's British. The rest of the book was pretty much low-key surprise after surprise.

It's long and it's repetitive with Perez's past and history with the deceased and the setting. There's a lot of places, names and island life to take in, but the writing is solid and descriptive and drew me in with the multitude of flawed,-not-bad characters. People just thinking they're doing the right thing by alibiing a 'friend'. People not being untruthful but not out-and-out lying or obstructing. People thinking of perceptions and consequences rather than working with the police to solve the first death. Maybe that's what a close-knit island community trying to survive is like?

The bad guy wasn't unfortunately believable for me, though the last-minute infodump did well to try and make him so. It felt like too little detective work and too many lucky breaks - emails seen after someone's death, someone recalling seeing someone in the vicinity of a killing location and belatedly telling the police about it, allowing 2-and-makes-4 - solved the case. Still, it was readable.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my reading pleasure.

It is Christmastime and Detective Jimmy Perez’s friend Archie is missing from his home on the Orkney Isles. He is found dead, at an archaeological dig site. Archie has been murdered, hit with an important local historical artefact; an ancient Westray story stone. Jimmy discovers its twin stone is also missing from the heritage centre.

There are atmospheric and graphic descriptions of the islands, the weather and the local people. Local customs and folklore are described. The story explores island identity and how islanders see incomers visit, see the pretty places, buy property which inflates prices. The new residents are then faced with the harsh reality of life out of season when businesses are closed and fierce weather races in. These are tight knit small communities where the locals know each other, their secrets and histories. Even a resident of thirty years is still seen by the islanders as an incomer.

Rumours and gossip about the identity of the murderer is rife, with Jimmy is under pressure to find them, but with only very few colleagues to assist him. There are the added tensions of questioning old friends and local acquaintances, while grieving for the loss of his old school friend.

There are many characters in this book, but the beauty of Ann Cleeves writing is that you remember them and can recall their relationships to others, as they have distinct personalities or memorable quirks. I loved the patchwork coat, I could visualise the wearer striding through the crowds on Christmas Day.

However, I felt there was no real impetus to the book, the detection felt meandering and rather slow. With crime mysteries I tend to find myself racing to the end to find out who did it. This is not the case with The Killing Stones and when the killer was revealed I felt it was almost a waste of all the effort to find out the interplay between all the characters and explore complicated theories about who committed the crimes. There was really nothing leading up to the arrest that could give the slightest hint of who the murderer was going to be, although admittedly topical issues and concerns are at the heart of the crimes. I found the denouement fairly unsatisfying. Generally I was not gripped by this book; I found it rather dreary, there was a missing element of suspense.

I have read many of the author’s Vera series, but only one or two of the Shetland books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

SAgreat crime mystery set in the Orknies.
Perez investigates the death of one of his closet friends that seems to be linked to two Neolithic stones with Viking graffiti on them.
With his partner Willow he has to negotiate the relationships of the suspects involved set against the scenery of Westray one of the Orkney Isles.
Kept me guessing until close to the end, though I had a suspicion.
Fans of the Shetland series and Vera will definitely enjoy this.
Be interesting to see if this makes it to the TV screens as it would be great to see this drama play out in scenery that I am not familiar with.

The landscape has always played such an important role in all Ann Cleeves' mysteries and, indeed, doing so is something at which she excels effortlessly, bringing different corners of the country to life (albeit darkly) along with whichever characters take the lead. With The Killing Stones, an old favourite may return in the form of Jimmy Perez, but he's definitely somewhere new, now based in Orkney; eight fascinating cases set in Shetland went before, and it's rather wonderful to see what happens next.

A murder on a windswept beach opens this mid winter case for Perez, and it feels very personal for the detective when it's himself who finds what is initially just a missing man. However, beside the body is found an ancient engraved stone - one of two Killing Stones - and it falls to Perez and an exceedingly small team to explore motive and means amongst a tiny island population.

Angst, claustrophobia, the shortness of the December days - all these are portrayed beautifully, it's wonderful to have a familiar character back and equally a chance to see what new directions he's given.

I am a relatively new reader of Ann Cleaves and know the characters from Shetland. This new story is set in Orkney which is so wonderfully depicted, the way in which this author can draw you into her settings and the lyrical way she writes really sets her apart from others in the genre. The story is suitably complex and the ending very clever, all interwoven into the backdrop of the Scottish islands and while developing her characters. I loved this and look forward to more! Highly recommend.