Telling Tales (Vera Stanhope, 2)

Product Information

Only my second Vera Stanhope book but strong writing, humanly messy characters and a sense of place are becoming the hallmarks of this series. There was more information about her in this book than the first, but I haven’t been “grabbed” by this character yet. If it has substance, Vera eeks it out, from attitudes to Keith Mantel, regarded as lacking scruples in business and known for a string of glamorous young girlfriends, to his importance as a local fundraiser.

After realizing I'd have to jump through every hoop imaginable to try and get these on audio, I decided to just watch the TV series [with the amazing Brenda Blethyn - the show is marvelous BTW]. Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope is tasked with uncovering the truth and, as her new inquiries stoke up past secrets the villagers will lie to protect, she must find out which lies will bring her to the killer. Onschuld is een boek dat redelijk traag op gang kwam en waar zeer uitgebreide beschrijvingen van de verdachten aan bod komen. He and Vera end up making an unlikely friendship I thought with him doing what he could to help her out on the case, and Vera trying to not get too irritated with him.What does a naive young wife, handsome but bland older husband, religious zealots, ex-police officers and greedy older men have in common? The plot was more powerful but the pacing for television better (at least for tv--who wants to wait for half the story before Vera appears? The much younger girlfriend of Keith, Jeanie Long, was sentenced to life imprisonment, unable to offer a corroborated alibi and given her fractious relationship with Abigail and Keith asking her to move out of the home she had spent three-months living at. Telling Tales is a magnificent novel, marked out by some clever characterisation and the added hindrance that Vera Stanhope and her sergeant, Joe Ashworth, are operating in the neighbouring district of Yorkshire and hence not welcomed with open arms by their colleagues.

The plot is one of Cleeves' strongest and, as always, I was drawn into the characters lives and relationships. This meant the huge array of supporting characters started to blend together slight and it was easy to get some of the characters muddled.

Both misfits in their own way, Emma longed for escape to the Old Chalet and Abigail’s glamorous lifestyle with her widowed and charismatic father, Keith. This second book I’m the series hooked me as the first one did not, and left me more than impressed with Cleves. A cold case behind the plot with characters well-developed and Vera Stanhope with her unique ways of dealing with suspects always keep me intrigued. Jeanie Long, convicted of the murder of a fifteen-year-old girl ten years earlier, commits suicide on the anniversary of her sentencing just when a witness comes forward to prove her innocence. She seems to have three voices, crotchety old man/woman - they sound closely alike, implausibly naive young woman and young hooligan.

But it was too late now for Jeanie, as she committed suicide in her cell before the witness could verify her story that she had been in London the day the murder took place. And what of Emma’s husband, the genial pilot James Bennett and why is Keith Mantel so keen to send Vera chasing after him? If The Crow Trap was the perfect teaser for Vera Stanhope, then Telling Tales cements her as one of Britain’s most popular modern detectives.It seems a bit strange that so much time goes into exploring Emma's life and family post-murder but it's engrossing and sets up the personality of the village and of Abigail herself.