Written by Ann Cleeves
SUMMARY:
Published in 2022, as the tenth Vera Stanhope mystery, Minotaur Books released this 374-page hardcover in the U.S. while MacMillan released the novel’s British edition. For nearly a half-century, a small group of British ex-schoolmates have reunited at Northumberland’s Holy Island once every five years for a long mid-October weekend. A tragic car accident at the first reunion would claim the life of their vivacious friend, Isobel.
Now, in their mid-sixties, the remaining contingent of friends: vicar Philip; bombastic media personality Rick; deli owner Annie; and married couple Louisa & Ken return to the Pilgrims’ House property once more. One of them teases writing a tell-all memoir disguised as a novel. Come morning, an apparent suicide soon shatters their calm.
Pulled away from an off-duty weekend, Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope and her team must delve into this group’s long-kept dark secrets to reach the truth behind more than just one homicide. Worse yet, the culprit’s impulsive wrath may well extend to Vera’s own circle of trusted associates.
REVIEW:
Though skillfully written, The Rising Tide is very much a somber read. Ann Cleeves’ loyal fanbase won’t likely be disappointed, but a potential obstacle for others is overcoming the book’s deliberate absence of charisma. The author’s cast of characters, in that sense, is realistic for the British procedural murder-mystery genre. Yet, the issue is really more how often the plotting drags along.
The final chapters, however, are well-played, especially how Cleeves’ plot twists would be easy to visualize if The Rising Tide was ever adapted by the Vera TV series. Ultimately, that may be the preferred choice: watching this bleak storyline play out on-screen someday vs. reading it.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
The author includes her acknowledgements and a note explaining her fictionalization of Holy Island.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6 Stars
