The Dark Wives has Vera and her team investigating the death of a young man at a children's home for troubled children. One of the teens is also missing which ups the ante as the clock ticks away. Did she witness the crime or was she perpetrator. We meet the new member of the team Rosie who has big shoes to fill but she is confident she can contribute and be a rising star. Ann Cleeves always writes descriptively and the scenery and characters stand out. Twist and turns that include witches, the statues of The Dark Wives and a cast of suspects to choose from. The pages turn themselves as the tension mounts. I will be first in line to see where Vera and her team get up to next.

Another great read in the "Vera" series .Atmospheric and compelling there is a new ,member of the team Rosie to replace poor Holly who dies in the last book .A man has been found dead outside a Children's Home and a child from the home is missing .So the Team set off the find the child and solve the murder .Near the end of the book Vera realizes who the murderer is and why but there were no clues to tell the reader so I felt a bit confused by this but otherwise another good read .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Vera returns to investigate another case , and does so in her own unique style. A worker in a children’s home is found dead by a dog walker ,and a young girl living at the home is missing . Vera needs to find the murderer before they can strike again . Surely it can’t be the missing girl who has killed the care home worker , she seemed to have a soft spot for him didn't she? Vera is trying to get used to a new member of the team Rosie. ( Vera is trying her best but as we know Vera is quite a contrary character! ) Rosie is enthusiastic and Vera is trying hard to not repeat her past mistakes with the members of her team . Vera still feels guilty about the death of Holly and it’s making her a little more soft around the edges . Ann Cleeves writes in an atmospheric way and the pages turn themselves . We have the backdrop of Northumberland countryside and red herrings aplenty to keep the readers interest . An enjoyable and intriguing read! Thanks to NetGalley and PanMacmillan.

DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate when the body of Josh Woodburn is found on the common outside Rosebank, a care home for troubled teens. Josh has been working there part-time and Chloe Spence, one of the residents who’s formed a friendship with him, has also disappeared. Vera together with DS Joe Ashworth and the new DC Rosie Bell are concerned for Chloe safety and are determined to find her before the killer does. ‘The Dark Wives’ is an intriguing mystery with an intricately-constructed plot and nicely rounded characters. I’ve enjoyed meeting the vivacious Rosie who’s totally different to their late colleague DC Holly Clarke and look forward to seeing how she integrates with Vera and Joe. The friendly Northern way Vera talks to everyone is a joy to read especially her inner thoughts and calling everyone ‘pet’. I’ve been enthralled as they hunt for clues and the investigation gets more complicated while Vera’s brain continues to tick over leading to an unexpected conclusion. The story seemed a bit slower towards the middle but it’s still been a sound thriller that I’ve enjoyed reading.

Rosebank is a private care home for teenagers, owned by a private company but staffed and operated by the Social Services department of the local Council. There are two permanent members of staff and some part-time people, mostly volunteers. One of these is Josh Woodburn, an Art and Film university student. Not much older than the residents, he is well liked, particularly by fourteen year old Chloe Spence, who is only here because her mother is unwell and her father is not in the picture. She is a pupil at Salvation Academy, a school for high flyers with a strictly regimented approach, where she feels restricted and so rebellious. Josh has been helping her, getting her to write a diary where she can work through some of her issues. And then Josh is found dead from a hammer blow to the head, and Chloe has disappeared. Did she kill him and flee? Or see the murder and flee? Or has she been kidnapped? Or killed? Vera and her team are given the case and initially their thoughts are somewhat at odds, DCI Vera Stanhope is inclined towards the second option where DS Joe Ashworth leans a bit towards the first. Newly arrived DC Rosie Bell is excited to be on Vera’s legendary team, so is anxious to please, but tends to Joe’s position. However, they are all skilled detectives so proceed on the basis that all options are available. As various people connected to Josh and/or to Chloe are questioned the view becomes focussed on the second opinion. Chloe is ‘on the run’ and it is likely that the killer or killers will be after her. It’s a race, hampered by the fact that they don’t know whodunnit or why. Vera makes an intuitive guess about the killer and the motive but withholds this from Joe and Rosie for reasons that are unclear (and essentially remain unclear). The Vera Stanhope stories illustrate media variation – TV Vera has appeared in 54 episodes whereas this is only the 11th book. Readers who only know the former might find their image a bit challenged when they read the books. Vera’s accoutrements are the same (except for the hat) but their personalities are different, book Vera being darker, more morose, more brooding. This is a police procedural, of course, but slightly unusual in that most of the action takes place out in the Northumberland countryside because Chloe’s family are from the area and she is very familiar with the territory and is likely to have friends there. The plot is fairly straightforward. I made the same intuitive guess as Vera, but don’t feel happy about it. In retrospect it is possible to spot some minor bits of information that inform this conclusion. In some ways the story moves quite quickly as the team, separately and jointly, leap from one point to another without really getting anywhere until the scrambled ending. It all ties up quite neatly but there is something a bit disjointed about the whole thing, as a book. Perhaps it will feel more coherent on the TV? Having said all that, I’m sure fans, old and new, will relish the book. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.