The best part of the book was the Shetland Islands setting: the cultural bits, the isolation, the Scottish slang I had to look up. The story itself was just disappointing, especially considering how much the publishers hyped the Duncan Somebody award it won for being some great mystery.

The characterization is weak, the prose is mediocre at best, and the solution to the mystery? WTF? It came so far out of left field and was so lame, lame, lame. ( )

This winner of the Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award follows Inspector Jimmy Perez as he investigates the murder of Catherine Ross. Suspicion falls on Magnus Tait, a lonely simple recluse. As we learn more about Catherine and her interactions with her classmates, teachers and neighbors, it becomes apparent that she has antagonized a variety of them. Then a little girl goes missing. The investigation begins to bring up old history, maybe impacting the present. This was an interesting mystery set in the Shetland Isles of Scotland. ( )

Not bad. ( )

Book 237. Ann Cleeves. Shetland. We are planning a trip to the Shetlands and so I read this for inspiration. She's a crime writer and the TV series Shetland is based on her books. A couple of people joked with us not to watch the series as it will put us off going! Obviously it's now added to the watch it list. 6.5/10 ( )

I was familiar with the investigator Jimmy Perez and the Shetland Islands from watching the first few seasons of the TV series.

An artist spots a splash of red against the snow and thinks how beautiful it is. Unfortunately, as she nears, it is clear it is a scarf belonging to a very dead teen age girl.

The most likely suspect is the odd recluse who lives nearby. He’s mentally a bit slow and since his mother died is very lonely. The girl and her friend have visited him a time or two on a dare. In addition, he was the prime suspect in a murder that happened twenty years ago. The police believed he knew more than he was saying and treated him badly.

The Shetland Islands are a sparsely inhabited island group where everyone knows everyone – there are a few newcomers in the mix but mostly the inhabitants know each others’ history and business.

There were lots of good twists and turns. I thought the characters were interesting and a good diverse mix. They ranged from high school kids, long time inhabitants, newcomers and a variety of professions and ages. I’ll be going on with this series. 4 stars ( )

A fine mystery, good setting, but no stand out characters. ( )

Great book. The setting is unusual and given a nice almost noir feel. The characters are interesting. Some authors overdo the psychology, but it is just right in this book. Enough to provide possible motives, explain actions. A satisfying read ( )

I first saw parts this story of this mystery either on PBS or Netflix, but I didn't know that when I first started reading this book. As for the book, its very well written. The mystery had many plausible red herrings. I also learned a bit about the Shetland Isles - like how kids who lived on remote islands were often sent to boarding school, or the Up Helly Aa Festival, and a bit of the controversies that surround it. ( )

Wikipedia: Raven Black is a 2006 novel by Ann Cleeves that won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award for the best crime novel of the year.[1] The novel is the first in a series known as the Shetland Island seriesIt is a cold January morning and Shetland lies buried beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a vivid splash of colour on the white ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbour Catherine Ross. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance ...The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man¥loner and simpleton Magnus Tait, who was the prime suspect a number of years earlier when a young girl named Catriona disappeared. But when police 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 neighbours nervously lock their doors, whilst a killer lives on in their midst.[2]Detective Jimmy Perez, who grew up on the nearby Fair Isle is called in to investigate.

(2006)First in the Shetland series, read this after seeing the complete BBC series on PBS. Very good story of the finding of the body of a young girl and the deliberate finding of clues and the ultimate solution that it was her best friend who kills her out of jealousy. Inspector Perez tries to solve the crime despite the intervention of mainland police. BooklistOn the remote island of Shetland, teacher Fran Hunter is walking home when she spots a splash of red in the deep, white snowdrifts, with black ravens flying above. What a perfect picture it makes, she thinks. But on closer inspection, she finds that the "perfect picture" is the dead body of local teenager Catherine Ross, whose red scarf has been used to strangle her. Suspicion immediately falls on recluse Magnus Tait, who was accused--but never convicted--of kidnapping another girl eight years earlier. Policeman Jimmy Perez, assigned to the case, isn't convinced of Magnus' guilt. As he investigates, he uncovers a web of sinister secrets, strange superstitions, petty rivalries, thwarted love, and illicit affairs--the dark underbelly of Shetland's tight-knit community. Cleeves offers up a dark, brutal, suspenseful page-turner that will keep even seasoned mystery buffs guessing right up to the end. Emily MeltonCopyright ? American Library Association.

This is a detective tale that makes good use of its setting, Shetland is as much a character as a location. It starts with Fran Hunter finding a girl's body. Catherine Ross lived in the same house as Catriona Bruce, who went missing some decade ago, was never found and the case never solved. The locals have their eye on Magnus Tait, an old man who lives alone and who is a little slow at times. He was questioned about Catriona and is now questioned about Catherine. There are lots of strands in here, with the relationships between some of the key protagonists reflecting the small town nature of the community, there's not a lot you an do without someone knowing about it. It's atmospheric and keeps you reading to the end.
I'd read her first novel, A Bird in the Hand, this is a lot tighter. ( )

Fine. I liked it a little better than the Vera series.

This first book in the Shetland series was better than I expected (based upon watching the TV adaptations). A tad more about Jimmie Perez's personal life than I prefer but at least it wasn't completely angst-ridden! ( )

Lovely to have a whole series to read. Well written. Interesting. Good detective ( )

This is the first in Cleeves' Shetland series, and it was terrific. More about the actors in the mystery than about the lead detective, Jimmy Perez, although he has loads of potential to be interesting. A teenaged girl is discovered dead in the snow, strangled with her own scarf, but "unmolested". The community's suspicion immediately falls upon old Magnus Tait, who was questioned years ago about the unsolved disappearance of a much younger girl, but never charged. Aha! He's done it again...won't get away with it this time, though, will he? Unless, maybe... The keenest reader won't be absolutely sure 'til all is revealed, but I had my own suspicions, and I was right in the end. That happens so rarely that it warrants a whole extra star for this one. ( )

A young woman's body is found in a field in Shetland near where a young girl went missing 8 years ago. Jimmy Perez is the local lead detective.

I realised early on who it wasn't but really didn't see the ending coming and who the real culprit was. ( )

Good solid mystery with memorable-ish characters (the detective here is no Sherlock, to be sure) and a slightly-telegraphed twist. Enjoyed it enough to immediately buy the follow up (White Nights) when I finished. ( )

I love the television series so I wanted to read the book series. It isn't as edgy. I wanted more descriptions of the people and places. I never felt like I was there inside that world. ( )

It was the day after New Year’s when Fran Hunter, walking her dog on the way home from dropping her young daughter off at school, found 18-year-old Catherine Ross’s body under a layer of snow. It was her red scarf standing out from the white snow that attracted artist Hunter. She immediately called a neighbor who called the police.

The prime suspect was hermit Magnus Tait, who had recently talked with Catherine and who lived near where her body was found. Magnus was always a little odd, but had become more so after his mother died several years earlier. Additionally, Tait was the central suspect in the disappearance of a young girl, Catriona Bruce, many years earlier. Catriona’s body was never found and there was no evidence attaching Tait to the disappearance.

Inspector Jimmy Perez of the Shetland police force was called to the scene. Having little experience in solving murders, he called in reinforcements from Inverness. Perplexing Perez was the question of why would anyone want to kill an 18-year-old girl. Catherine was new to the community, had lost her mother to cancer recently and had a father so consumed with sorrow, he basically ignored is daughter. Catherine’s only friend was Sally Henry, daughter of the school administrator. Catherine was her only friend as well.

As Perez investigates he learns that Catherine was making a video for school about Shetland and its citizens...telling it like it really is. However, no one can find the video nor the script. Could the video be that incriminating? Could that be a motive for murder?

While it is convenient that the populace thinks Magnus Tait is the murderer, Perez has his doubts. Too many problems exist for this to be the case. Luckily, the Inverness detective, Roy Taylor, also believes in justice vs. taking the easy way out. Together, they set out to solve the murder.

Cleeves has created some memorable characters. Tait’s emotions are extreme: his loneliness, his fear of the police after being brutally questioned about the Catriona Bruce disappearance, his attraction to Catherine and Sally. Perez has personal demons he must confront. Fran Hunter plays a small but pivotal role, moving back to Shetland after a time away. And of course, Catherine and Sally, inseparable friends dealing with being teenagers and being somewhat ostracized.

And Shetland itself. An archipelago of more than a hundred islands, it is one of the most remote places in the United Kingdom. Its fifteen hundred miles of shore mean that wherever one stands, there is a view of the sea. It has sheltered voes and beaches and dramatically exposed cliffs, lush meadows full of wild flowers in the summer and bleak hilltops where only the hardiest of plants will grow. Shetland is a small community. Everyone knows everyone and there is little to no privacy.

If you are looking for an solid police procedural, Raven Black and Shetland is perfect. With 8 books in the series, it won’t take long to read them all and then move on to the Vera series. ( )

As a big fan of the British mystery series "Shetland", I wanted to give Ann Cleeves' first book in the series a go. This book introduces Detective Inspector (DI) Jimmy Perez to the crime-fighting world, set against the often bleak, but starkly beautiful backdrop of the Shetland islands--the northernmost outpost of the UK and Scotland.

I found this book to be an easy page turner, partly because I was familiar with the story from the television series. Cleeves has a breezy writing style, though there is not a lot of depth to her characters. Again, this is not often why one reads cozy British crime novels, but must depth and murder mystery be mutually exclusive?

I think my love of Shetland, and my familiarity with this story helped me see this novel through. Entertaining enough, is where I land on this. I'm sure I'll grab the next edition for some beach reading. ( )

Scanning the hundred+ reviews here, it's clear that the film versions of [[Ann Cleeves]]' books won her more attention but also somewhat spoiled the books for many of those folks. Like some of these readers, I came to Jimmy Perez and Shetland after watching the film series. But I found the book illuminating, giving Cleeves the time to pause and fill in some of the backstory and character of the islands absent in a visual depiction. The set-up for Jimmy's life is slightly different here, but the seeds of what shows up in the film series are here, and I enjoyed taking the time to get to know him and these people better, letting our relationship bloom naturally. Yes, I knew how the book would end, knew the killer's identity, but that didn't matter so much.

Maybe some of those readers who found the book fell short weren't really looking to expand their experience, only recreate it. And the folks who reviewed the book as boilerplate haven't read enough mystery fiction to notice this is very different than the rest - maybe for them boilerplate is a codeword for "not what I wanted."

Highly recommended.
5 bones!!!!! ( )

Flott glæpasaga. Ung stúlka finnst myrt á Shetlandseyjum og grunur fellur á einrænan gamlingja í nágrenninu. Ólíkt mörgum svona sögum er aðalfrásögnin ekki frá sjónarhóli löggunnar. Hann er í aukahlutverki en sagan er sögð frá sjónarhóli nokkurra persóna, bæði syrgjenda og grunaðara. Kemur ágætlega út og bókin hefur hlotið virt glæpasagnaverðlaun í Bretlandi. ( )

On New Year's Day, Fran Hunter is walking home after a major snow fall. She notices something bright coloured in a field which seems to be attracting a flock of ravens. When she investigates, she discovers a local 16 year old school girl dead.

Across the road lives an elderly man who has been ostracized by the community because of his suspected involvement in a previous unsolved murder of another female child. Of course he becomes a prime suspect and Inspector Jimmy Perez has to over come his initial acceptance of the man's guilt to prove who had the most to win with the recent murder. The unsolved murder from some years earlier complicates the investigation.

Another page turner from Ann Cleaves which introduces readers to Jimmy Perez including his background in Shetland and to police work. A winner! ( )

After reading one of the other books in the Shetland series, I said I wouldn't read another - not that it wasn't a good book, more that it isn't the kind of book I normally enjoy. I've spent some time in Shetland this year and bought this book while I was there, to give them another try.

I enjoyed this a lot more than the last one I read, the locations and scenery are really well depicted and I loved wintry atmosphere. I also enjoyed getting to know the characters. I felt the reveal at the end was a bit rushed though. I'm not sure I will read the others, it's still not my kind of book, but I loved the setting. ( )

I saw a few episodes of the television series, including the premier based on this book. Luckily, I didn’t remember how the show turned out.

This novel presents a clear example of how the book is almost always better than the movie. The author artfully weaves together the lives in the little town of Lerwick on the Shetland Isles. She captures the small town atmosphere where everyone knows everyone else’s business; and she does it without creating ridiculous caricatures. The main characters are beautifully done even if some of the supporting characters fall a bit flat.

A newcomer to Lerwick is found murdered not far from her home on an icy winter morning in January. The immediate suspect is an old man best described as developmentally disabled. Everyone in this close-knit community is certain he did it, just as they are certain he killed another, younger girl some eight years earlier.

Luckily for Magnus Tait, Inspector Jimmy Perez isn’t as sure as the lifetime residents of Lerwick. Perez is only too familiar with tiny communities and being an outsider, as he grew up on Fair Isle but boarded in Lerwick for high high school years. So, Perez and Senior Inspector Taylor from the mainland keep asking questions in spite of being handed the easy answer.

As they keep probing, a bizarre story of youth and anger and betrayal unfolds to — for me, at least — a surprise ending. I will be looking for the second Perez mystery set in the Shetland Islands and ither works by this author. ( )