Her relationship with the archipelago began in 1975, when she took a job as assistant cook at the Fair Isle bird observatory. I chose to adapt Red Bones because I liked the fact that a crime in the present day would connect all the way back to the Second World War and the story of the Shetland Bus - which in itself is a great drama not yet made. The mystery is slowly revealed and concluded with an intelligent spin that the author has kept up her sleeve throughout the story. The challenge I faced for Shetland was much the same as any other adaptation - you have to show and not tell.

Summary and reviews of Red Bones by Ann Cleeves - BookBrowse

There is something fascinating about a world where everyone knows one another, have ties and connections going back centuries. I think one of the things I most love about her work, is that I never have any idea as to who the 'bad guy' might be. As always, The Shetland Islands are characters in themselves - full of atmosphere and beauty; isolation and possibilities. Since the death of his fiancée, Inspector Jimmy Perez has been out of the loop, but his interest in this new case is stirred and he decides to help the inquiry.Her characters twist and turn as much as the plot, navigating the tightly woven boundaries and networks of the island communities. Very disappointing, as I love the BBC "Vera" series based on her books (haven't seen their Shetland Islands series, also based on Cleeves' books).

Red Bones: A Thriller (Shetland Island Mysteries, 3) Red Bones: A Thriller (Shetland Island Mysteries, 3)

We're interested not only in the crime drama but in finding out a little more about the culture and community of the setting. Sandy, who is never taken seriously, is forced into more responsibility and really comes into his own. But it’s far more a character study of these two, especially one of them, and some of the other characters, than a procedural crime-solver. The two main cops are riddled with self-doubt and self-deprecation, but not in a cool, Harry Hole kind of way, in the "gosh, I hope I get the girl!There was so much of the detectives' internal maunderings about their life issues that it distracted from the suspense. Cleeves is expert at depicting hardscrabble island life, parental expectations and disappointments and emotionally charged silences. But when one of the students working on the dig is found dead of what appears to be suicide, Jimmy Perez must unravel a series of secrets and lies going back to WWII, when boats and operatives were ferried to Nazi occupied Norway on the "Shetland Bus. She said: "I have never won anything before in my life, so it was a complete shock - but lovely of course. Perez must separate the fact from gossip but his empathy, and that he is a local, enables people to open up.

Red Bones - Macmillan Red Bones - Macmillan

She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez who can now be found on television in ITV's Vera and BBC One's Shetland. As Jimmy looks to the islanders for answers, he finds instead two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness have lasted generations. To celebrate the books, the series and the much-loved characters, we've pulled together lots of useful information for fans of Shetland.Shock and excitement made her forget her earlier resolve not to show off, to keep her language simple so that Evelyn would understand.