Dead Water by Ann Cleeves: A review

Continuing with my reading of Ann Cleeves' Shetland series, this is the fifth entry. Those who have read the series or have at least read the fourth book will remember that Inspector Jimmy Perez suffered a personal tragedy in that one. The action of this book takes place just a few months later and Perez is still in deep mourning and on leave from his job. It could be read as a standalone, as Cleeves provides enough background information so that such a reader would not be lost.

The Procurator Fiscal (prosecutor) Rhona Laing, a resident of Shetland, discovers a body on the boat that she regularly takes out. The murdered man is Jerry Markham, a former resident of Shetland who had recently returned for a visit and to investigate a story he was considering writing about. Markham was a journalist who was apparently looking into an island group that is promoting green energy through ocean tides. There seems to be some controversy around the issue with some groups supporting and some opposing it and emotions do run hot on the island, especially when money is involved.

Detective Inspector Willow Reeves is assigned to investigate the crime and she initially works with the sergeant, Sandy Wilson, in Inspector Perez's absence. Reeves intuits almost immediately that Rhona Laing is withholding information and she suspects that she may have had something to do with the murder, but Wilson defends Laing and is quite sure that she couldn't be involved. But we know that she's not telling everything she knows.

The murder victim, it turns out, may have had plenty of enemies on the island. Years earlier he had run out on his pregnant girlfriend there. That, needless to say, did not go down well with her family and they have long memories. The girlfriend, after a miscarriage, got on with her life and now seems settled and happy. But resentments against the man who wronged her linger. To complicate things even further, soon another murder occurs and the police have their hands full investigating.

And soon Jimmy Perez is drawn into the investigation to provide local information to the investigator. His understanding of the locals and their interrelationships is key to solving the crimes. At the same time, we get a view of Perez's personal life as he tries to adjust to his new situation and his role of caretaker to a small child, a precocious and sweet little girl, the daughter of his former friend, Duncan Hunter, who is much too busy to take responsibility for his child.

The murder investigations proceed in a logical manner and there are plenty of clues as well as red herrings along the way. And we know that, in the end, it will be Jimmy Perez who comes up with the solution, even if he is not officially involved.

As in all her books, Cleeves describes her characters so well that we feel as if they are standing in front of us. This includes the detectives as well as all the suspects involved. In this one, particularly, we get a real feel for the relationships between the detectives as they work. And her descriptions of the physical aspects of the island and its culture provide a vivid setting for the action. My only real complaint about the book is that it seemed to go on too long. The solution, the ending, was a bit drawn out. Those are fairly minor quibbles. This was another strong entry in an interesting series.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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