The Dark Wives (D I Vera Stanhope) by Ann Cleeves
| The Dark Wives (D I Vera Stanhope) by Ann Cleeves | |
|
| |
| Category: Crime | |
| |
Reviewer: Sue Magee
 | |
| Summary: It's the eleventh book in the series and another absolute cracker. This time, Cleeves looks at the plight of children in care homes - and shows a great deal of respect for the unfortunate children. Highly recommended. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 384 | Date: August 2024 |
| Publisher: Macmillan | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1529077742 | |
|
Share on: | |
|
| |
A man walking his dog in the early morning discovered the body of a man in the park near Rosebank, a care home for troubled teens. The dead man was Josh - one of the care workers who was due to work a shift the night before but who had never turned up. D I Vera Stanhope is called in to investigate the murder - but her only clue is the disappearance of one of the residents, fourteen-year-old Chloe Spencer. Some people believe that Chloe was responsible for the death but Vera thinks this is unlikely as the girl's diary makes it clear that she adored Josh. She knows that she has to find Chloe to discover what happened to Josh.
When you get to the eleventh book in a police procedural series, it's not unusual to find the format tired. That's not the case with The Dark Wives. I was riveted from the first page and finished the book in less than twenty-four hours, desperate to know what happened.
Rosebank's a private care home, run by Seaview Holdings, a shadowy conglomerate where profit means a great deal more than the well-being of the residents. The children are not badly treated but resources and time are stretched. Individual workers attempt to understand some children but the cracks are wide and people fall through easily. Few if any of the residents will be better for their stay at Rosebank: it's more about getting them through to the age when they can leave the care system. In all probability, they'll then be taken over by the penal system. Lives are wasted.
DI Stanhope is carrying a weight of her own. She feels considerable guilt over the death of one of her team in a recent case. I'll give a spoiler alert here: if you haven't read The Rising Tide, the tenth book in the series, then you should read it before reading The Dark Wives. DS Joe Ashworth is still being pulled between two strong women - his boss and his wife - but is probably content not to shoulder the responsibilities that promotion would bring.
As always with Ann Cleeves, the plotting is tight. Many police procedural books are not worth buying in hardback as you know what happens and you'll almost certainly not reread the book. With Cleeves, there's the pleasure of the initial read and then the delight of rereading to discover how the plot slotted together.
As well as reading the review copy that the publishers made available, I listened to an audio download, narrated by Janine Birkett and which I purchased myself. I have listened to Birkett narrating one of the earlier books in the Vera series without problems But when I listened to The Dark Wives, I wasn't entirely convinced by some of the male voices. That is almost certainly me being very picky.
This is a superb series. If you haven't done so already, start reading at the beginning:
Ann Cleeves' D I Vera Stanhope Novels in Chronological Order
Please share on: 
Facebook, 
Twitter and
Instagram
You can read more book reviews or buy The Dark Wives (D I Vera Stanhope) by Ann Cleeves at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You could get a free audio download of The Dark Wives (D I Vera Stanhope) by Ann Cleeves with a 30-day Audible free trial at Amazon.co.uk.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Dark Wives (D I Vera Stanhope) by Ann Cleeves at Amazon.com.
Comments
Like to comment on this review?
Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.
