Telling Tales (Vera Stanhope, 2)

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Much of the book is spent getting the reader comfortable with all the players, but I still had to stop every now and then to keep them straight in my head.

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. Ten years after Jeanie Long has been convicted for the murder of 15 year old Abigail Mantel, Jeanie commits suicide after being turned down again for parole. Ann is the author of the books behind ITV's VERA, now in it's third series, and the BBC's SHETLAND, which will be aired in December 2012. However, watch closely and you will see that very should never be underestimated and is as shrewd as they come. Given that the second murder is investigated under the authority of the the Yorkshire force and Vera has a tendency to rub people up the wrong way, DS Joe Ashworth comes in handy as a foil to extract information in their tremendous double act.In 1987 Tim, Ann and their two daughters moved to Northumberland and the north east provides the inspiration for many of her subsequent titles. 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]. A new audio edition, read by Janine Birkett, was released on January 1st 2019, and is available as an Audible audio download or on CD (in a choice of format) from the Reading House.

Franklin's performance is direct and punchy, matching the speed and shrewdness of Vera's first-rate mind. After 10 years in prison, new evidence came to light that Jeanie was a victim herself and was innocent of the crime.

The new investigation brings back old bad memories to the community of Elvet, some that they would rather forget. We find out that Emma's father was a very successful architect, but one day suddenly quit his job, and moved his family to the village of Elvet where he focuses on being a probation officer as well as making religion more of a focus of their family life.

She pulls you into the story and doesn't let you go; you will want to stay up late to finish this book. 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. 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. It doesn’t take Vera too long to unsettle villagers and enthuse Elvet with her mischievous energy and get to grips with the very ferocity of human emotions and the lengths that it can drive people to. This meant the huge array of supporting characters started to blend together slight and it was easy to get some of the characters muddled.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.