Ann Cleeves - The Shetland Series Books 1 to 8

Raven Black

Introducing Inspector Jimmy Perez. Raven Black is the first book in Ann Cleeves' bestselling Shetland series - now a major BBC One drama starring Douglas Henshall.

A remote community with a killer in their midst . . .

On New Year's Day, Shetland lies buried beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a vivid splash of colour on the white ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbour. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance . . .

The body is found close to the home of a lonely outcast and local suspicion falls firmly on him. But when Inspector Jimmy Perez insists on broadening the search for suspects, a veil of distrust and fear is thrown over the entire community. As the case develops, Perez finds himself peering deeper into the past of the Shetland Islands than anyone wants to go.

The case files of Jimmy Perez continue in White Nights, the thrilling second Shetland novel.

White Nights

A man with no memory is found dead and suspicion clouds the community. Inspector Jimmy Perez must hunt for a calculating killer in White Nights, the second Shetland mystery from Ann Cleeves.

Now a major BBC One drama, Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall.

On Shetland, the launch of an exhibition at The Herring House art gallery is disturbed - a stranger bursts into tears, claiming not to remember who he is or where he comes from. The next day, Inspector Jimmy Perez finds his dead body in a fisherman's hut.

Initially, it seems to be a straightforward case of suicide - yet this is no desperate act. Instead, it soon becomes clear, this is the work of a cold-blooded killer. As Perez investigates, he finds himself mired in the hidden secrets of a small community. Then another body is found.

Perez knows he must find the killer before another death occurs. But it is midsummer, an unsettling time when the sun never really sets in Shetland and nothing is quite as it seems . . .

Continue the captivating crime series with Red Bones.

Red Bones

When a woman's death finds Inspector Jimmy Perez out of his depth, he must dig up long-buried secrets to uncover the truth in Red Bones, the third Shetland mystery from Ann Cleeves.

Now a major BBC One drama, Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall.

After a young archaeologist uncovers a set of human remains, the island settlers are intrigued. Is it an ancient find - or a more contemporary mystery?

Then, in the middle of the night, an elderly woman is shot dead. It appears to be a tragic accident, but Jimmy Perez is called to investigate.

The sparse landscape and the emptiness of the sea have bred a fierce and secretive people. As Jimmy looks to the islanders for answers, he finds instead two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness have lasted generations. To solve the crime - and prevent further bloodshed - Perez must ask questions that some on the island do not want to be asked . . .

Continue the atmospheric crime series with Blue Lightning.

Blue Lightning

A remote island on lockdown. A killer on the loose. There is no escape for Inspector Jimmy Perez in Blue Lightning, the fourth Shetland mystery from Ann Cleeves.

Now a major BBC One drama, Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall.

Shetland detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming, as he returns to Fair Isle to introduce his fiancée to his parents. With the autumn storms raging, the island is cut off from the rest of the world.

Then a woman's body is discovered at the renowned bird observatory, with feathers threaded through her hair. Perez has no support from the mainland and must investigate the old-fashioned way - alone. He soon realizes that this is no crime of passion, but a murder of cold and calculated intention.

There will be no way to escape the island until the storms abate. And so the killer is also trapped, just waiting for the opportunity to strike again . . .

Ann Cleeves will be donating her royalties from the sale of this edition of Blue Lightning to support the Fair Isle Bird Observatory.

Continue the thrilling crime series with Dead Water.

Dead Water

A journalist working on a story. Now his murder is a headline. Inspector Jimmy Perez is called in to investigate in Dead Water, the fifth Shetland mystery from Ann Cleeves.

Now a major BBC One drama, Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall.

When the body of a journalist is found in a traditional Shetland boat, Detective Inspector Willow Reeves is drafted in to head up the investigation.

Jimmy Perez has been out of the loop, but his local knowledge is needed and he decides to help the inquiry. Originally a Shetlander, the journalist had left the islands years before to make a name for himself in London, leaving a scandal in his wake. He had few friends in Shetland, so why was he back?

When Willow and Jimmy dig deeper, they realize that he was chasing a story that many Shetlanders didn't want to come to the surface. One that must have been significant enough to kill him for . . .

Continue the captivating crime series with Thin Air.

Thin Air

A woman disappears under ghostly circumstances, and Inspector Jimmy Perez must separate fact from fiction in Thin Air, the sixth Shetland mystery from Ann Cleeves.

Now a major BBC One drama, Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall.

A group of old university friends leave the bright lights of London, travelling to Shetland to celebrate the marriage of one of their friends to a local. But late on the night of the wedding party, one of them, Eleanor, disappears - apparently into thin air.

Detectives Jimmy Perez and Willow Reeves are dispatched to investigate. Before she went missing, Eleanor claimed to have seen the ghost of a local child who drowned in the 1920s. Jimmy and Willow are convinced that there is more to Eleanor's disappearance than they first thought. Is there a secret that lies behind the myth? One so shocking that many years later someone would kill to protect it?

Continue the thrilling mystery series with Cold Earth.

Cold Earth

A body is found in the wreckage of a destroyed home. Consumed by the investigation, Inspector Jimmy Perez struggles for the truth in Cold Earth, the seventh Shetland mystery from Ann Cleeves.

Now a major BBC One drama, Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall.

In the black days of a Shetland winter, torrential rain triggers a landslide that crosses the main road and sweeps down to the sea.

At the burial of his old friend Magnus Tait, Inspector Jimmy Perez watches the flood of peaty water and mud smash through a croft house in its path. Everyone thinks the croft is uninhabited, but in the wreckage he finds the body of a dark-haired woman wearing a red silk dress. Perez becomes obsessed with finding out her identity and what she was doing there.

Then it emerges that she was already dead when the landslide hit the house and, suddenly, Perez finds himself with a murder to solve . . .

Continue the atmospheric crime series with Wild Fire, the final Shetland novel.

Wild Fire

Wild Fire is the eighth, and final book, in Ann Cleeves' bestselling Shetland series - a major BBC One drama starring Douglas Henshall as Jimmy Perez.

Shetland: Welcoming. Wild. Remote.

Drawn in by the reputation of the islands, a new English family move to the area, eager to give their autistic son a better life. But when a young nanny's body is found hanging in the barn of their home, rumours of her affair with the husband begin to spread like wild fire.

With suspicion raining down on the family, DI Jimmy Perez is called in to investigate. For him it will mean returning to the islands of his on-off lover and boss Willow Reeves, who will run the case.

Perez is already facing the most disturbing investigation of his career, when Willow drops a bombshell that will change his life forever. Is he ready for what is to come?