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DiskuteraBook Discussion : Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves
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1Andrew-theQM
What are you hoping for from this book?
Where did we last leave Vera (if you have read the other books in the series)?
Where did we last leave Vera (if you have read the other books in the series)?
2Carol420
The Crow Trap Book #1
This is how we were introduced to Vera Stanhop in the first book.
"She was a large woman-- big bones amply covered, a bulbous nose, man-sized feet. Her legs were bare and she wore leather sandals. Her square toes were covered in mud. Her face was blotched and pitted so Rachael thought she must suffer from some skin complaint or allergy. Over her clothes she wore a transparent mac and she stood there, the rain dripping from it onto the floor, grey hair sleeked dark to her forehead, like a middle-aged tripper caught in a sudden storm on Blackpool prom."
The story is set in the North Pennines on Black Law Farm is an isolated cottage, Baikie's Cottage.
Businessmen want to open a quarry nearby, and three young women are using Baikie's as a base for the environmental study they must conduct.for this to happen.
When Rachael, the team leader, arrives at Baikie's, she discovers the body of her friend, Bella Furness., who owns the farm.
From all appearances Bella has committed suicide...but Rachael finds that impossible to accept.
Soon two other young women arrive s a part of the and another death occurs,
This brings Vera Stanhope into the story line. We waited a VERY long time for Vera to ever make an appearance. Finally she shows up on page 230.
We were all in agreement that the one of the best parts of the book was the back stories for each of the young women.
There were 6 participants in the discussion with 2 - 5 star; 2-4.5 star and 2 -4 star ratings
____________________________________________________________________________
Telling Tales Book # 2
It's been ten long years since Jeanie Long has been locked up for the murder of her friend, Abigail Mantel. Evidence has now come forward that proves Jeanie's innocence. The villagers of Elvet on the East Yorkshire coast know this means Abigail's killer is still at large, and the Yorkshire police believe it best to bring in an investigative team from outside to re-open the case.
Northumbria's Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope and her young Sergeant Joe find themselves the investigators sent to sift through all the witnesses' stories to piece together the truth. And what an entrance Vera makes. Emma and her husband are in church with their young child when Inspector Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria police appears in the story. It's right at the close of the first hymn when the back door closes with a bang and our Vera has arrived:
Vera and Joe find many inconsistencies in the reports. Seemingly the instigation was shoddy at best. Two of the leads on the original case left the force and are now living in the area. Both of them had seemed content with Jeanie Long's conviction...even anxious to get it over with.
The murdered girl's father is a businessman and no better than he has to be. Even the victim's best friend spends most of her time in La La Land when she's not drooling over the village blacksmith...and is unsure of what really went on ten years ago.
The ending was not what we were expecting but made sense and was believable,
There were 7 participants in the discussion with 1 /5 star rating; 3/ 4.5 star ratings and 3 /4 star ratings
____________________________________________________________________________
Hidden Depths – Book# 3
The Book takes place on the Northumberland coast:
Luke Armstrong is a troubled boy who may be slightly autistic.
His only friend, Thomas, drowned several months ago despite Luke's best efforts to save him.
Luke's mother, Julie Armstrong, returns home from a night out to discover her daughter asleep and her son dead in the bathtub.
She first thinks suicide….but there are flowers strewn in the bath, floating on the water.
The police quickly establish that he was murdered.
Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope is assigned the case. Because Vera is plain, overweight, middle-aged, and drinks to a little too much, so it's very easy for people to underestimate her. Just because people dismiss her as a plodding lump, it doesn't mean that she doesn't have a very sharp mind.
The case takes on a new urgency when another body, that of Lily Marsh, a young student teacher, is found floating in a rock pool at the beach, her body posed in the same way as Luke's.
Lily leads a life that is anything but what you expect a teacher to lead…she is obsessive about the men she becomes involved with and Vera believes that she is currently having an affair that may have lead to her death.
Vera's attention turns to the group who found Lily, four men, Peter, Samuel, Gary and Clive….who share an interest in bird-watching.
All deny even knowing Lily and the other victim, Luke.
Vera becomes convinced that the solution lies somewhere in their lives…either past or present.
What if any is the connection between the two victims? Is there one…or have they been chosen at random?
When Luke’s sister, Laura, goes missing Vera’s team must hurry or take the very real chance of finding a third posed body.
There were 6 participants –Carol, Andrew, Sergei, Lynda, Eadie, & Lynsey
Ratings: 3/5 star; 1- 4.5 star; 1-4.25 star and 1 – 4.33 stars
___________________________________________________________________
Silent Voices – Book #4
This one reintroduces us to Vera Stanhope who feels a bit guilty that a good murder case always lifts her spirits.
A stab at getting fit puts Vera right in a crime scene this time, at the very fitness center where Vera has been hopelessly doing laps on the advice of her doctor.
As Vera sits in the steam room feeling as usual…very bulky and out of place, envying the woman with the long lean legs who seems so relaxed next to her—a little too relaxed she decides. Well, no wonder… woman is dead.
We see more of the point of view of a woman who is both vain and can’t-be-bothered but is always completely aware of her own shambling appearance and of what may lie beneath other people’s polished appearances.
The analysis and interviewing soon branches out from the fitness center and includes a number of potential suspects.
This is a “locked-room mystery”, at least to begin with as far as the murdered woman’s family and acquaintances are concerned….and soon Vera and are team begin to connect events and people.
The victim has been visiting a woman prisoner with a wretched history and trying to uncover her childhood memories.
Soon, Vera is unraveling a complex plot that leads back to the death of a child whom social workers were supposed to protect.
The larger question soon becomes who was responsible for the death, and what are the long-term repercussions that threaten more lives?
The child died by drowning, and water is the theme that runs through the book – how brief are the few short minutes that it takes for a toddler to get into danger. When floods engulf the district, the dangers intensify.
Inspector Joe Ashworth, a member of Vera’s team and one of the few people she feels close to….understands his boss, and much to his wife’s displeasure… disturbs his family life to work long hours on the investigation as he seems that Vera is energized by murder and soon brings the culprit to justice.
There were 6 participants in the discussion…Andrew, Sergei, Lynda, Eadie , Carol & Lynsey
We all said of the 4 previous books we liked this one a bit more.
Ratings were: 2-4; 2- 4.5; 2-5
___________________________________________________________________________
The Glass Room Book #5
Vera Stanhope answers the request of a frantic neighbor who’s wife seemingly is missing.
Joanna, the missing wife, is at a writers conference so Vera goes to the Writers’ Retreat, where publishing-establishment figures and literary hopefuls are gathered to see what each can learn or steal from the others.
Vera hopes to talk sense into the errant wife; she isn’t expecting to find a corpse…
Joanna… her neighbor, immediately becomes the prime suspect or so someone wants the police to believe that is so.
The writer characters in the story are anything but appealing. Their characteristics range from shallow to self-absorbing and egotistical…more than willing to stab one another in the back…literally as well as figuratively. All are greedy for fame and recognition.
The assortment of tutors and students are diverse, all with some connection to the victim who was a powerful critic thus making it all the more difficult to sort out the killer.
To investigate the killing, Vera begins to pick apart the backgrounds of both the writers and students, in addition to the strange mother and son who run the retreat. The cat is a good guy:)
What she finds leads to more questions than answers.
As a group the 7 participants in the group read….Andrew, Carol, Eadie, Lynda, Sushi, Sergei and Lynsey... only gave this book an overall rating of 3.75 The lowest score given any of the books in the Vera Stanhope series.
Comments were varied. Overall impression was that this was not out favorite book in the series...and some of the actions of the characters didn't really come across as realistic under the circumstances.
Comments:
"I like the fact that Vera delegated in this book. But, I think Ann did that because this book was written for TV and the characters had to look like they were all part of solving the mystery."
"It got off to a good start with an interesting and engaging plot line."
"An interesting premise and venue"
"I didn't really like any of the characters at the Writer's Workshop. The story moved very slowly in some sections"
This is how we were introduced to Vera Stanhop in the first book.
"She was a large woman-- big bones amply covered, a bulbous nose, man-sized feet. Her legs were bare and she wore leather sandals. Her square toes were covered in mud. Her face was blotched and pitted so Rachael thought she must suffer from some skin complaint or allergy. Over her clothes she wore a transparent mac and she stood there, the rain dripping from it onto the floor, grey hair sleeked dark to her forehead, like a middle-aged tripper caught in a sudden storm on Blackpool prom."
The story is set in the North Pennines on Black Law Farm is an isolated cottage, Baikie's Cottage.
Businessmen want to open a quarry nearby, and three young women are using Baikie's as a base for the environmental study they must conduct.for this to happen.
When Rachael, the team leader, arrives at Baikie's, she discovers the body of her friend, Bella Furness., who owns the farm.
From all appearances Bella has committed suicide...but Rachael finds that impossible to accept.
Soon two other young women arrive s a part of the and another death occurs,
This brings Vera Stanhope into the story line. We waited a VERY long time for Vera to ever make an appearance. Finally she shows up on page 230.
We were all in agreement that the one of the best parts of the book was the back stories for each of the young women.
There were 6 participants in the discussion with 2 - 5 star; 2-4.5 star and 2 -4 star ratings
____________________________________________________________________________
Telling Tales Book # 2
It's been ten long years since Jeanie Long has been locked up for the murder of her friend, Abigail Mantel. Evidence has now come forward that proves Jeanie's innocence. The villagers of Elvet on the East Yorkshire coast know this means Abigail's killer is still at large, and the Yorkshire police believe it best to bring in an investigative team from outside to re-open the case.
Northumbria's Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope and her young Sergeant Joe find themselves the investigators sent to sift through all the witnesses' stories to piece together the truth. And what an entrance Vera makes. Emma and her husband are in church with their young child when Inspector Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria police appears in the story. It's right at the close of the first hymn when the back door closes with a bang and our Vera has arrived:
Vera and Joe find many inconsistencies in the reports. Seemingly the instigation was shoddy at best. Two of the leads on the original case left the force and are now living in the area. Both of them had seemed content with Jeanie Long's conviction...even anxious to get it over with.
The murdered girl's father is a businessman and no better than he has to be. Even the victim's best friend spends most of her time in La La Land when she's not drooling over the village blacksmith...and is unsure of what really went on ten years ago.
The ending was not what we were expecting but made sense and was believable,
There were 7 participants in the discussion with 1 /5 star rating; 3/ 4.5 star ratings and 3 /4 star ratings
____________________________________________________________________________
Hidden Depths – Book# 3
The Book takes place on the Northumberland coast:
Luke Armstrong is a troubled boy who may be slightly autistic.
His only friend, Thomas, drowned several months ago despite Luke's best efforts to save him.
Luke's mother, Julie Armstrong, returns home from a night out to discover her daughter asleep and her son dead in the bathtub.
She first thinks suicide….but there are flowers strewn in the bath, floating on the water.
The police quickly establish that he was murdered.
Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope is assigned the case. Because Vera is plain, overweight, middle-aged, and drinks to a little too much, so it's very easy for people to underestimate her. Just because people dismiss her as a plodding lump, it doesn't mean that she doesn't have a very sharp mind.
The case takes on a new urgency when another body, that of Lily Marsh, a young student teacher, is found floating in a rock pool at the beach, her body posed in the same way as Luke's.
Lily leads a life that is anything but what you expect a teacher to lead…she is obsessive about the men she becomes involved with and Vera believes that she is currently having an affair that may have lead to her death.
Vera's attention turns to the group who found Lily, four men, Peter, Samuel, Gary and Clive….who share an interest in bird-watching.
All deny even knowing Lily and the other victim, Luke.
Vera becomes convinced that the solution lies somewhere in their lives…either past or present.
What if any is the connection between the two victims? Is there one…or have they been chosen at random?
When Luke’s sister, Laura, goes missing Vera’s team must hurry or take the very real chance of finding a third posed body.
There were 6 participants –Carol, Andrew, Sergei, Lynda, Eadie, & Lynsey
Ratings: 3/5 star; 1- 4.5 star; 1-4.25 star and 1 – 4.33 stars
___________________________________________________________________
Silent Voices – Book #4
This one reintroduces us to Vera Stanhope who feels a bit guilty that a good murder case always lifts her spirits.
A stab at getting fit puts Vera right in a crime scene this time, at the very fitness center where Vera has been hopelessly doing laps on the advice of her doctor.
As Vera sits in the steam room feeling as usual…very bulky and out of place, envying the woman with the long lean legs who seems so relaxed next to her—a little too relaxed she decides. Well, no wonder… woman is dead.
We see more of the point of view of a woman who is both vain and can’t-be-bothered but is always completely aware of her own shambling appearance and of what may lie beneath other people’s polished appearances.
The analysis and interviewing soon branches out from the fitness center and includes a number of potential suspects.
This is a “locked-room mystery”, at least to begin with as far as the murdered woman’s family and acquaintances are concerned….and soon Vera and are team begin to connect events and people.
The victim has been visiting a woman prisoner with a wretched history and trying to uncover her childhood memories.
Soon, Vera is unraveling a complex plot that leads back to the death of a child whom social workers were supposed to protect.
The larger question soon becomes who was responsible for the death, and what are the long-term repercussions that threaten more lives?
The child died by drowning, and water is the theme that runs through the book – how brief are the few short minutes that it takes for a toddler to get into danger. When floods engulf the district, the dangers intensify.
Inspector Joe Ashworth, a member of Vera’s team and one of the few people she feels close to….understands his boss, and much to his wife’s displeasure… disturbs his family life to work long hours on the investigation as he seems that Vera is energized by murder and soon brings the culprit to justice.
There were 6 participants in the discussion…Andrew, Sergei, Lynda, Eadie , Carol & Lynsey
We all said of the 4 previous books we liked this one a bit more.
Ratings were: 2-4; 2- 4.5; 2-5
___________________________________________________________________________
The Glass Room Book #5
Vera Stanhope answers the request of a frantic neighbor who’s wife seemingly is missing.
Joanna, the missing wife, is at a writers conference so Vera goes to the Writers’ Retreat, where publishing-establishment figures and literary hopefuls are gathered to see what each can learn or steal from the others.
Vera hopes to talk sense into the errant wife; she isn’t expecting to find a corpse…
Joanna… her neighbor, immediately becomes the prime suspect or so someone wants the police to believe that is so.
The writer characters in the story are anything but appealing. Their characteristics range from shallow to self-absorbing and egotistical…more than willing to stab one another in the back…literally as well as figuratively. All are greedy for fame and recognition.
The assortment of tutors and students are diverse, all with some connection to the victim who was a powerful critic thus making it all the more difficult to sort out the killer.
To investigate the killing, Vera begins to pick apart the backgrounds of both the writers and students, in addition to the strange mother and son who run the retreat. The cat is a good guy:)
What she finds leads to more questions than answers.
As a group the 7 participants in the group read….Andrew, Carol, Eadie, Lynda, Sushi, Sergei and Lynsey... only gave this book an overall rating of 3.75 The lowest score given any of the books in the Vera Stanhope series.
Comments were varied. Overall impression was that this was not out favorite book in the series...and some of the actions of the characters didn't really come across as realistic under the circumstances.
Comments:
"I like the fact that Vera delegated in this book. But, I think Ann did that because this book was written for TV and the characters had to look like they were all part of solving the mystery."
"It got off to a good start with an interesting and engaging plot line."
"An interesting premise and venue"
"I didn't really like any of the characters at the Writer's Workshop. The story moved very slowly in some sections"
3Carol420
Just happy to be revisiting Vera and her group. Hope that things have changed for Vera but I don't believe Ann Cleeves ever intends for that to happen. Vera is what she is going to be take her or leave her.
4Olivermagnus
>3 Carol420: - I definitely agree. Glad to be able to join you all for this one.
I have so much travel this month. Just got back from Dallas with my sister where we did the tourist thing. We stayed in a downtown Dallas high rise that belongs to my brother. He lives in Florida so has decided to sell it so we wanted to take advantage of the free place while he still had it.
I'm leaving Sunday to move back to Arizona for the winter. Then Thursday I'm heading to Disneyland to root for my daughter in the Disney Superheroes Half Marathon and staying for five days. Then at the end of the month I'm headed to Florida to go to a Barbra Streisand concert with my brother's partner who is big fan. Not so much my brother so he's paying my way there so he doesn't have to go. He must really hate Babs.
Thanks for the great synopsis Carol.
I have so much travel this month. Just got back from Dallas with my sister where we did the tourist thing. We stayed in a downtown Dallas high rise that belongs to my brother. He lives in Florida so has decided to sell it so we wanted to take advantage of the free place while he still had it.
I'm leaving Sunday to move back to Arizona for the winter. Then Thursday I'm heading to Disneyland to root for my daughter in the Disney Superheroes Half Marathon and staying for five days. Then at the end of the month I'm headed to Florida to go to a Barbra Streisand concert with my brother's partner who is big fan. Not so much my brother so he's paying my way there so he doesn't have to go. He must really hate Babs.
Thanks for the great synopsis Carol.
5Carol420
>4 Olivermagnus: Thank you. Welcome home for the short time you're going to be here. Oliver isn't going to remember what you look like:) It does sound like you are going to have a lot fun in all your places.
6Sergeirocks
>2 Carol420: Thanks, Carol, sterling job, as usual, :)
I'm simply looking forward to racking my brains, trying to make sense of what's going on... ;).
Visiting with Vera and Joe will be like meeting up with old friends or partaking of a great big plate of comfort food - bring it on!
I'm simply looking forward to racking my brains, trying to make sense of what's going on... ;).
Visiting with Vera and Joe will be like meeting up with old friends or partaking of a great big plate of comfort food - bring it on!
7Carol420
>6 Sergeirocks: Well put little meerkat. Like a big plate of juicy snakes:)
8Andrew-theQM
>2 Carol420: Thanks for the great synopsis of each book Carol.
>4 Olivermagnus: You will need a holiday to get over all that galavanting! Nice to see you.
It is good to be back with Vera.
>4 Olivermagnus: You will need a holiday to get over all that galavanting! Nice to see you.
It is good to be back with Vera.
9EadieB
>2 Carol420: Thanks for the wrap-ups of the past books! Always helpful!
>4 Olivermagnus: Enjoy your trips. Sounds very busy! Give my regards to Barbara!
>6 Sergeirocks: Hopefully she won't do too much damage to our brains with this book!
>8 Andrew-theQM: I agree, always good to be back with Vera!
>4 Olivermagnus: Enjoy your trips. Sounds very busy! Give my regards to Barbara!
>6 Sergeirocks: Hopefully she won't do too much damage to our brains with this book!
>8 Andrew-theQM: I agree, always good to be back with Vera!
10Sergeirocks
>7 Carol420: I was actually thinking more along the lines of pizza or cheesecake than snakes, Carol!
11Andrew-theQM
>10 Sergeirocks: Snake cheesecake anyone!
12Carol420
>10 Sergeirocks: LOL! Andrew has come up with a perfect solution where you can have your cheesecake and pizza like a proper meerkat:)) Pizza topped with snake and snake cheesecake...YUM YUM. Best of all you can have the entire thing all to your little furry self.
>11 Andrew-theQM: Give mine to the meerkat. He'll appreciate it so much more.
>11 Andrew-theQM: Give mine to the meerkat. He'll appreciate it so much more.
