Cold Earth

February 20, 2017
The ground shifts in more ways than one for Det. Insp. Jimmy Perez in CWA Diamond Dagger–winner Cleeves’s moody seventh Shetland mystery (after 2016’s Thin Air). At the funeral of old Magnus Tait, who was once accused of murder, the rain-soaked hillside above the mourners gives way and nearly buries them under a massive landslide. No one at the cemetery is hurt, but the body of a woman in a red dress is discovered in the ruins of a house on the hill, and no one seems to know who she is. Jimmy’s obsession with uncovering her identity only deepens when he learns that she was murdered before the landslide occurred. The Scottish oil boom brings many outlanders to the island, but Jimmy suspects the killer is someone close to home and sets about unraveling a tangled web of relationships among the locals. The stark Shetland landscape provides an atmospheric backdrop for Cleeves’s complex, relatable characters, especially Perez, a kind man dealing with his own tragic past. Agent: Sarah Menguc, Sarah Menguc Literary Agent (U.K.).

March 1, 2017
A landslide reveals a dead body and a tricky case for Shetland Islands detective Jimmy Perez (Thin Air, 2015, etc.).The miserable winter weather has done nothing to help Jimmy get over the murder of Fran, the woman he loved. Standing at the graveside of Magnus Tait, an old friend, Jimmy and the other mourners barely escape a sudden landslide that decimates a little croft house. Although the place is supposed to be uninhabited ever since the owner died and left it to a relative in America, a quick check reveals the body of a woman. As soon as the autopsy reveals that the woman was strangled, Jimmy calls in Police Scotland in the person of Chief Inspector Willow Reeves. Their first task is to identify the body. When the neighbors at the farm next door claim to know nothing, Jimmy, with the help of slow but steady assistant Sandy Wilson, expands his questioning over the entire island. The victim was seen buying champagne at a local store, having a drink at a hotel with a middle-aged man, and visiting a local counseling center. The name she gave the center was false, but it does lead them to the destroyed house's owner and the striking victim's true identity. Through it all, Jimmy, who's taking care of Fran's daughter and still feeling guilty about her death, isn't sure if he's ready for love. But he and Willow, who have a more than collegial relationship, work well together. Once they know who the mysterious stranger really is, they identify a surprising number of suspects who happen to be Jimmy's friends. The Shetland Islands provide a stunningly atmospheric setting for the complicated hero's latest procedural, a challenge he meets with determination and more than a little angst.

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March 1, 2017

During the graveside service of his friend Magnus, Insp. Jimmy Perez (last seen in Thin Air) watches as a heavy storm initiates a mudslide that damages part of the cemetery, the main road, and an empty rental cottage. Jimmy checks out the cottage and discovers the body of a woman wearing a red silk dress. He's determined to uncover her identity and solve her murder. The potential for the professional relationship between Jimmy and fellow detective Willow Reeves to become more personal will intrigue series regulars. VERDICT Plenty of suspects on a remote Scottish island mixed with the high quality of Cleeves's prose make this a solidly plotted whodunit for procedural and traditional mystery readers. The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) recently announced that Cleeves, a longtime advocate of libraries, is to receive the CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honor in British crime writing. [See Prepub Alert, 10/17/16.]--ACT

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