Books · Ann Cleeves
Shetland: The Books Behind the Show
Ann Cleeves' eight Shetland novels, published between 2006 and 2016, gave the world DI Jimmy Perez and the tight-knit island community he investigates. The TV series has diverged from the books enough over ten series that its credits now read "inspired by" rather than "based on" — but the novels remain the place the whole world started, and where Perez's story is followed most closely. Here's the reading order, plus where Cleeves took the story next.
Prefer to watch first? See the Shetland show guide.
The Shetland Novels, In Order
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.
Get the BookWhite Nights
A stranger's apparent suicide turns out to be murder, set during Shetland's disorienting summer nights that never fully turn to dark.
Get the BookRed Bones
An elderly woman's death, ruled a tragic accident, unravels into a decades-old feud between two island families.
Get the BookBlue Lightning
Trapped by autumn storms on remote Fair Isle, Perez investigates a murder with no way for the killer, or anyone else, to leave.
Get the BookDead Water
A journalist's body is found in a Shetland boat, and Perez is paired with Detective Inspector Willow Reeves to investigate.
Get the BookThin Air
A wedding party on Shetland's northernmost island ends with a friend's disappearance, and a chilling local ghost story.
Get the BookCold Earth
A landslide reveals a body that was already dead before the disaster struck, sending Perez chasing her true identity.
Get the BookWild Fire
A young nanny's death exposes rumors and resentment in a family who moved to Shetland hoping for a fresh start.
Get the BookMore for Shetland Fans
The Killing Stones
Perez returns in a standalone novel that moves him and Willow Reeves to Orkney, investigating the death of a childhood friend.
Get the BookToo 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.
Get the BookShetland
Ann Cleeves' own nonfiction tour of the islands themselves, through a year of festivals, wildlife, and changing seasons.
Get the BookMore Ann Cleeves to Read
The Crow Trap
The novel that introduced Vera Stanhope, set among turbulent secrets at an isolated Northumberland cottage.
Get the BookThe Long Call
Detective Matthew Venn returns to the North Devon community he left behind to investigate a beach murder.
Get the BookWant the full picture across all of Ann Cleeves' series? See the complete Ann Cleeves guide.
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