Review: The Darkest Evening (Vera Stanhope, #9)
Gaby Meares
‘On the doorstop was a woman. This woman was large and shabby. She wore wellingtons and a knitted hat. She reminded Juliet of the homeless people she encountered occasionally outside Newcastle Central Station, wrapped in threadbare blankets, begging’. Oh, how looks can be deceiving! Anyone who has read Cleeves’ previous Vera books (or watched the exceptional TV show starring Brenda Blethyn) knows that Vera is as sharp as, and is nobody’s fool!
This is a cracker of a murder mystery, incorporating some traditional crime tropes: inclement British weather and an isolated crumbling country house to name a couple. The house in question has special significance for Vera, as it is the Stanhope ancestral home.
The relationship between Vera and her ever-reliable and put-upon offsider Joe Ashworth is given depth as he realises that ‘he would never [leave] while Vera Stanhope was in charge of his team. Because she did appreciate him…and anyway, she needed him; she’d go ape without him to talk sense to her.’ And Vera’s sense of being alone is deeply felt as this case raises issues about her family and her choices regarding relationships. As she thinks when discussing never marrying, ‘…it might have been nice to be asked, just once.’
Cleeves has written a real page-turner, with the added bonus of characters with depth and nuance. Highly recommended.