Now a civilian, Dan’s past is shrouded in mystery, but the arrival of Emma’s self-contained and studious brother, Christopher, who tells of his long held devoted love of Abigail makes Emma realise that perhaps she wasn’t quite so close to her friend as she believed at the time. Then, a witness comes forward and gives Jeanie an alibi supporting her claim she was in London on the day of the murder and was innocent. Overweight and shambolic, DI Vera Stanhope certainly elicits strong reactions with her attempt at a dithering and out of her depth old woman, managing to send a ripple of fear through not only the guilty party but those reticent to be drawn.

If it has substance, Vera eeks it out, from attitudes to Keith Mantel, regarded as lacking scruples in business and known for a string of glamorous young girlfriends, to his importance as a local fundraiser. The killer is still at large, and Vera Stanhope must reopen the investigation and jog villagers’ painful memories. After realizing I'd have to jump through every hoop imaginable to try and get these on audio, I decided to just watch the TV series [with the amazing Brenda Blethyn - the show is marvelous BTW]. Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope is tasked with uncovering the truth and, as her new inquiries stoke up past secrets the villagers will lie to protect, she must find out which lies will bring her to the killer. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about reading this one since I've watched the episode on TV (twice) but it was fascinating to see the differences.This meant the huge array of supporting characters started to blend together slight and it was easy to get some of the characters muddled. Again as in the first Vera Stanhope mystery, The Crow Trap, Vera is not center but is slowly coming forward to have the suspects circle her instead of the other way around. My first introduction to Vera Stanhope is the second installment of the self titled series where Vera finds herself in Northumbria investigating a case that may have sent the wrong person to jail ten years earlier. And there were elements that were different in the book than in the show [which helped with my confusion and I was totally okay with that] and when I finally *thought* I DID remember, I was close but ultimately wrong.

She has twice been short listed for a CWA Dagger Award - once for her short story The Plater, and the following year for the Dagger in the Library award. We also follow up with the original investigator and another officer on the case and we find out how their lives changed too. The ex-girlfriend of Abigail's father has been convicted but 10 years later new evidence proves her innocence. It seems a bit strange that so much time goes into exploring Emma's life and family post-murder but it's engrossing and sets up the personality of the village and of Abigail herself.

While she was cooking in the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, she met her husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist. With such a muck up of the investigation including sending an innocent to jail, DI Vera Stanhope has been assigned to re-open the murder case and find the real killer. Vera and her sergeant, Joe Ashworth, come into the picture earlier in this book than the first, which I appreciated, but I would like a clearer vision of just who Vera is.

In the autumn of 2006, Ann and Tim finally achieved their ambition of moving back to the North East. She lives in a fantasy world and has daydreams of having an affair, but stands by her husband even if she finds him less exciting. A particular joy in Telling Tales was that Vera made four big grand entrances within the first one-hundred-pages with her thick legs, shapeless Crimplene clothes, open toed sandals and blotchy skin. They were the only residents, there was no mains electricity or water and access to the mainland was at low tide across the shore. But Jeanie commits suicide in her prison cell, unable to face the people who had believed her capable of killing a child.A big thank-you to Ann Cleeves, Macmillan UK Audio, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.

Her husband, James, is very private, thoughtful and considerate, but why does Vera think he is hiding something. At one point she is referred to as looking like a bag lady but when it comes to interviewing suspects and discovering the guilty she is the best.She said: "I have never won anything before in my life, so it was a complete shock - but lovely of course. The plot was more powerful but the pacing for television better (at least for tv--who wants to wait for half the story before Vera appears? Now residents of the East Yorkshire village of Elvet are disturbed to hear of new evidence proving Jeanie's innocence. I found very few of the characters likeable, and even appreciated how one unreliable narrator was modeled after Emma Bovary (of Madame Bovary notoriety). I am afraid that even when Vera headed me in the right general direction I still picked the wrong individual as the guilty party.