Hidden Depths

Ann Cleeves is the author of over thirty critically acclaimed novels, and in 2017 was awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger. She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez who can now be found on television in ITV’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide.Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook, and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. Ann is also a passionate champion for libraries and was a National Libraries Day Ambassador in 2016. Ann lives in North Tyneside near where the Vera books are set.

'Ann Cleeves deserves a lot more attention than she gets. Her plots are beautifully crafted; her characters are intense and deeply drawn. She's also a real mistress of setting, taking us right into the scene of the action. All of those qualities shine in Hidden Depths, one of her best ... Cleeves never lets up on the suspense in this very complex puzzle ... Hidden Depths is masterful storytelling' Globe and Mail 'Cleeves sets a good scene, this time in Northumberland during a heatwave, and she brings a large cast to life, shifting points of view between bereaved relatives, victims and suspects in a straightforward, satisfyingly traditional detective novel' Literary Review 'Physically, Vera Stanhope is more Nero Wolfe then VI Warshawski: one character, watching her get out of a chair, thanks that a crane might be in order. But although she is lonely, obsessed with her job and over-fond of a beer, Vera is one of the new fictional detectives who seems not only like a real person, but one capable of conducting a murder inquiry. Ann Cleeves brings the same skill to all her characterisations in this highly impressive story' Saturday Telegraph 'Ann Cleeves is another fine author with a strong, credible female protagonist ... Cleeves' particular skill is characterization. Her characters range from affluent students to a spoiled woman filled with diffused sexual yearning, from nurses to academics, from painfully doting parents to a group of middle-aged bird-watchers, all with their own secrets. It's a dark, interesting novel with considerable emotional force behind it' Spectator 'Hidden Depths is another classic, traditional crime novel in a contemporary setting by Ann Cleeves, winner of last year's Duncan Lawrie Dagger ... The story follows each of the main characters in turn, but it is fat, lonely Vera, awkward with her staff and unaware that they are frightened of her, who makes the biggest impression in this skilfully crafted mystery' Sunday Telegraph 'A nicely atmospheric read' Time Out 'Ann Cleeves improves with every book. Her previous novel, Raven Black, was a deserved winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger for best crime novel of 2006 ... Hidden Depths is a subtle, nuanced book and Cleeves draws her characters with care and compassion. The landscape of rural Northumberland is vividly evoked and Inspector Stanhope - overweight, fallible and driven by personal demons - is a terrific central character' Tribune 'Nobody does unsettling undercurrents better than Ann Cleeves' Val McDermid