How many secrets can one village take.

Author : Ann Cleeves
Title : Telling Tales
Published : 01/02/2011
Pages : 448
Format : Kindle
Publisher : Pan






     Ten years after Jeanie Long was charged with the murder of fifteen-year-old Abigail Mantel, disturbing new evidence proving her innocence emerges in the East Yorkshire village of Elvet. Abigail’s killer is still at large.For Emma Bennett, the revelation brings back haunting memories of her vibrant best friend – and of the fearful winter’s day when she had discovered her body lying cold in a ditch.Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope makes fresh inquiries, and the villagers are hauled back to a time they would rather forget. Tensions begin to mount, but are people afraid of the killer, or of their own guilty pasts?

     So I came by this book byway of a recommendation. For some reason I don't tend to read books based in my home country. I'm more prone to books set in the U.S or Europe. As some one suggeseted it I thought I would give it a go. The tale of sutured up secrets in a small village sounded like an interesting on. And coming from a small village my self I know how quickly gossip and rumors get spread.

     This was my first introduction to the world of Vera Stanhope. I had seen the adverts on the telly for the TV series but not given in much thought. The author does a great job of bring Vera to life as a no nonsense copper. trying to solve a case when every on seems to be lying to her. I would say comes of the page and you could full expect to meet her if you where to walk in to a police station any where in the country. The others we are introduce to will lure you in. They are brought to life with every new chapter. with the revealing of their sins. And as to which of them can be trusted on their accounts of what happened on that fateful day. The truth with this lot can be vey subjective. Not to mention their distrust of each other.

     Cleeves story is well put together and her writing never came across as heavy handed. The use of a fictitious village didn't bother me as it closely reassembles enough the majority of real ones that you could picture it in your mind. The plot throughout always seemed believable and at nope point seemed rush. The clues to the murder were handed out at what felt like just the right point and left you guessing the hole way thorough. There is nothing worse than getting a few chapters in and working it out. The author never seems to go for brutality or violence it struck me her story was more about the aftermath of the crime and how it effect those around it. From family members to friends and to some extent the wider community. To this end she does it with great effect. She gives us the claustrophobic world of small communities and how one tragic event can reverberate across the years.

     So in conclusion this was an a good book to have read on a rainy Septembers days. There was nothing to taxing about the plot. The subject of secrets flows through out and this is kind of a whodunit it in the old fashioned sense of it. the pages move at a brisk pace and before you know it you will have come to the end. so for an enjoyable read I'm sure most will be happy to give this one some of their time.