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Raven Black: Book One of the Shetland Island Mysteries Audiobook
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Publisher Description
The basis for the hit series "Shetland" now airing on PBS. Winner of Britain's coveted Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award, Ann Cleeves's Raven Black introduces a dazzling suspense series to U.S. mystery readers. It is a cold January morning and Shetland lies beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a splash of color on the frozen ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbor, Catherine Ross. The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man--loner and simpleton Magnus Tait. But when detective Jimmy Perez and his colleagues from the mainland insist on opening out the investigation, a veil of suspicion and fear is thrown over the entire community. For the first time in years, Catherine's neighbors nervously lock their doors, while a killer lives on in their midst.
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A teenaged girl—a relative newcomer and outsider in a Shetland village—is found dead, with the village pariah the presumptive murderer. But he’s most certainly not the only suspicious character narrator Gordon Griffin tackles. This village is teeming with half-told histories and implied proclivities—almost too many. Griffin does justice to the full array: suspects, mourners, potential next victims, and some unnecessary bit players. If the plot plods a bit as it wades through them all, it’s not Griffin’s fault. His portrait of the elderly Magnus, vulnerable yet disturbing, keeps the story engaging. The moments when Magnus interacts with Inspector Jimmy Perez, a man preoccupied by his sense of personal failure, are the most absorbing.
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“Chilling…enough to freeze the blood.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Beautifully constructed…Brings alive the tensions in a place where everyone knows everyone else and nothing can be forgotten. Raven Black is lively and surprising.”
— Times Literary Supplement (London) -
“A fine and sinister psychological novel in the Barbara Vine style. Cleeves is part of a new generation of superior British writers.”
— Globe and Mail (Toronto) -
“Ann’s characterization is worthy of the best writers in the field…Rarely has the sense of place been so evocatively conveyed in a crime novel.”
— Daily Express (London) -
“Don’t miss this standout.”
— Rocky Mountain News -
“Cleeves’s taut, atmospheric thriller, the first in a new series, will keep readers guessing until the last page…When the shocking identity of the murderer is revealed, readers will be as chilled as the harsh winds that batter the isolated islands.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“Cleeves offers up a dark, brutal, suspenseful page-turner that will keep even seasoned mystery buffs guessing right up to the end.”
— Booklist -
“A teenaged girl—a relative newcomer and outsider in a Shetland village—is found dead, with the village pariah the presumptive murderer. But he’s most certainly not the only suspicious character narrator Gordon Griffin tackles. This village is teeming with half-told histories and implied proclivities…Griffin does justice to the full array… The moments when Magnus interacts with Inspector Jimmy Perez, a man preoccupied by his sense of personal failure, are the most absorbing.”
— AudioFile
Awards
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Winner of the 2006 CWA Gold Dagger
Raven Black Listener Reviews
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jet gerfen, 5/26/2015
About Ann Cleeves
Ann Cleeves is the author of five series of mysteries, two of which have been turned into hit television series. Her first Shetland novel, Raven Black, won the Crime Writers’ Association’s Gold Dagger Award for best crime novel. In 2016, she won the CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honor in British crime writing. Cold Earth was a finalist for the McIlvanney Prize, and The Long Call was shortlisted for the 2020 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. In 2022, she was awarded an OBE for services to reading and libraries.
About Gordon Griffin
Gordon Griffin is one of the most prolific and sought-after voice artists in the UK. As well as narrating over 250 audiobooks and earning four AudioFile Earphones Awards, he can be heard on countless television and radio advertisements, corporate videos, training films, and documentaries. In addition to his voice work, he is also a respected dialogue coach and has worked on television productions as diverse as Byker Grove and Kavanagh QC. He is also casting director with the English Theatre of Hamburg.