In this 9th book in the 'Detective Jimmy Perez' series - set in Scotland's Orkney Islands - Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez investigates the death of his best friend.
The Orkney Islands, an archipelago off the north coast of Scotland, is composed of numerous towns and hamlets. Transportation from place to place often involves ferries, boats, and small planes.
The Orkney Islands
Background: Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez was based in Shetland for years, but has now moved to the Orkney Islands with his partner Willow Reeves and their four-year-old son James. Willow is a detective inspector as well, currently on semi-maternity leave because she's almost 8-months pregnant.
Jimmy's relocation to the Orkney Islands thrills his best friend since childhood, Archie Stout, an Orcadian farmer with a wife Vaila, and teenage sons Lawrie and Iain.
*****
After visiting a relative in Aberdeen, Willow returns to the Orkney Islands by ferry and finds a note from Jimmy that reads:
Archie Stout is missing and Vaila is frantic. I've managed to get a boat to Westray. I'll phone you in the morning. So sorry. I miss you and love you.
It turns out Archie Stout has been murdered near an old archaeological dig on Westray, his head smashed with one of a pair of Neolithic artifacts called the Westray Story Stones. The large brick-shaped stones, usually exhibited in the Westray Heritage Center, have spirals carved on one side and Viking runes on the other side.
Detectives from Glasgow are slated to investigate Stout's homicide, but it's almost Christmas, and they make excuses not to come. Thus it falls on Jimmy and Willow to look into Archie's death, with assistance from Orcadian police officers Ellie Shearer and Phil Bain.
The investigators interview Archie's family, friends, and acquaintances, and Westray business owners, residents, and visitors. The detectives learn that Archie was generous, fun, and well-liked, but also had a quick temper and cheated on his wife.
The people that come to interest the police, as possible suspects or witnesses, include:
⦿ Rosalie Greeman - an English artist and jewelry-maker that Archie was wooing. This caused gossip in the community and distress in Archie's home.
⦿ Vaila Stout - Archie's wife, who's unhappy about his philandering;
⦿ Bill and Annie MacBride - owners of the Pierowall Hotel, which has rooms and a bar. Archie inherited a part-ownership in the lodge and refused to sell.
⦿ Barbara and Tony Johnson - a married couple staying at the Pierowall Hotel. Tony is a professor who wrote a book about Westray history and the famous Neolithic stones. Tony is somewhat famous for talking about his research on the telly.
⦿ Godfrey Lansdown - an elderly bird-watcher who stays at the Pierowall Hotel for a few weeks every winter, in remembrance of his deceased wife.
⦿ George Reilly - an Englishman who teaches high school in the Orkney Islands, and puts on pantomimes with singing and dancing. Reilly is writing a children's book about Westray history.
⦿ Nat Wilkinson - a troubled man who sometimes helps out on the Stout farm. As a youngster, Nat saw his abusive father accidentally drown, and he has a history of drug problems.
Much of the book has Jimmy, Willow, and their police assistants speaking to the same people again and again, trying to eke out clues about Archie's murder.
This involves a good bit of traveling back and forth by car, ferry, and small plane; having endless cups of tea; and checking numerous alibis. Oddly the detectives seem to have no interest in forensic evidence. There's no mention of DNA, fibers, fingerprints, whatever.
Orkney Islands Ferry
Two additional murders complicate the investigation, especially when the detectives can't discern obvious motives. Jimmy eventually gets a piece of information that helps him uncover the killer, but in my view, Anne Cleeves doesn't play fair with readers. The resolution seems to come out of left field, with almost no clues being scattered beforehand.
On the upside, the ambiance of the beautiful Orkney Islands is wonderfully illustrated, as is the lifestyle of the Orcadians, who are descended from Germanic people, Scandinavians, and Vikings.
Orkney Islands youngsters dressed as Vikings
I was especially intrigued by an event called The Ba', a kind of medieval football game played during the Christmas holidays.
The Ba'
I'm a longtime fan of the Jimmy Perez books and the 'Shetland' TV show that features the detective. For me though, this novel is a slight disappointment. There's too much talking and interviewing people and it got boring (for me). Still, I'd recommend the book to fans of the series.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Kenny Blyth, who does a fine job.
Thanks to Netgalley, Anne Cleeves, and Macmillan audio for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3 stars
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