Shetland: The Books Behind the Show

Raven Black

A teenage girl is found strangled in the snow, and suspicion falls on a lonely local man. Winner of the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel.

White Nights

A stranger's apparent suicide turns out to be murder, set during Shetland's disorienting summer nights that never fully turn to dark.

Red Bones

An elderly woman's death, ruled a tragic accident, unravels into a decades-old feud between two island families.

Blue Lightning

Trapped by autumn storms on remote Fair Isle, Perez investigates a murder with no way for the killer, or anyone else, to leave.

Dead Water

A journalist's body is found in a Shetland boat, and Perez is paired with Detective Inspector Willow Reeves to investigate.

Thin Air

A wedding party on Shetland's northernmost island ends with a friend's disappearance, and a chilling local ghost story.

Cold Earth

A landslide reveals a body that was already dead before the disaster struck, sending Perez chasing her true identity.

Wild Fire

A young nanny's death exposes rumors and resentment in a family who moved to Shetland hoping for a fresh start.

The Killing Stones

Perez returns in a standalone novel that moves him and Willow Reeves to Orkney, investigating the death of a childhood friend.

Too Good to Be True

A shorter Perez story, following him back to Shetland at his ex-wife's request to look into a suspicious death.

Shetland

Ann Cleeves' own nonfiction tour of the islands themselves, through a year of festivals, wildlife, and changing seasons.

The Crow Trap

The novel that introduced Vera Stanhope, set among turbulent secrets at an isolated Northumberland cottage.

The Long Call

Detective Matthew Venn returns to the North Devon community he left behind to investigate a beach murder.