Vera Stanhope #10 The Rising Tide

 

The Rising Tide is the 10th Vera Stanhope procedural mystery by Ann Cleeves. Released 6th Sep 2022 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 384 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.  It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a strong entry in a very strong and well written series. The characters are so well rendered and filled out that at this point they live and breathe. (Helped, no doubt, by the capable casting and direction of Brenda Blethyn and the cast and crew of the long running ITV series). This installment sees them investigating a hanging death at an isolated island retreat involving a group of friends and former schoolmates on the anniversary of their gathering there decades ago.

It's not long before Vera & co. discover entanglements and secrets. The isolation and undependable tides make the island more or less a "locked room" setting and render the investigation logistically difficult and somewhat dangerous. 

The unabridged audiobook format has a run time of  11 hours, 28 minutes and is expertly narrated by Janine Birkett. She has a well modulated and warm voice and does a perfect job with the disparate and difficult dialects and intonations of the large cast of characters. Her voice wasn't intrusive at all, which allows readers to concentrate on the intricate plot and various characters. I wasn't previously familiar with the narrator, but she did an excellent job in this instance.

Five stars. The series is superlatively well written, and this installment fits well with the others. There are 10 books in the series as it stands now, making it a good candidate for a long binge read. One of the best modern procedurals available.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.