The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

THE DARK WIVES by Ann Cleeves is the latest (#11) in the Vera Stanhope mystery series. These are generally best read in order, but the individual stories (see reviews for The Darkest Evening and The Rising Tide) do stand on their own. The series takes place in the Northeast of England and this time DI Stanhope and her team (loyal Joe, persistent Charlie, and newcomer Rosie) are attempting to solve the murder of a young man, Josh Woodburn, who worked as a caregiver at Rosebank, a children’s home. Cleeves not only crafts a puzzling murder mystery; she includes the disappearance of a fourteen-year-old, Chloe Spence, on the same night Josh died. Those events and the death of another Rosebank resident offer ample opportunity to weave in social commentary on child services in the UK. In fact, Cleeves dedicates THE DARK WIVES to “teens everywhere, and especially to the Dark Wives - uppity young women with minds of their own, struggling to find a place in a difficult world.” There are undercurrents about power and money in this well-written and suspenseful tale. Like many of Vera’s fans, I am already looking forward to the next in the series.

Interested readers may also want to investigate the website Reading for Wellbeing which Ann Cleeves founded a few years ago in order to promote solace through stories.