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The Crow Trap: The First Vera Stanhope Mystery

by Ann Cleeves

Betrayal and suspicion in the Northumberland countryside

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Awards & Recognition

  • Author recognition

    New York Times bestselling author

    The metadata describes Ann Cleeves as a New York Times bestselling author.

AlbakiReads Editorial

Betrayal and suspicion in the Northumberland countryside

An environmental survey brings three women with separate histories and secrets together in the Northumberland countryside. The discovery of Bella Furness’s body turns their work into a mystery: Rachael doubts the apparent suicide, and a later death brings Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope into the investigation. The case is rooted in the women’s tangled relationships and contrasting reasons for joining the project, making the survey’s small group the focus of the unfolding inquiry. As the first Vera Stanhope mystery, the novel introduces the detective through a case shaped by suspicion, betrayal, and concealed truths.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers who enjoy mysteries led by a woman detective.
  • Readers interested in crime stories built around a small group with intersecting secrets.
  • Readers drawn to rural settings and environmental survey work as part of a mystery.

Themes

BetrayalSecrets and deceptionSuspicionWomen detectivesRural community

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Book overview

From Ann Cleeves--New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows--comes The Crow Trap, the first in the Vera Stanhope series.

"Ann Cleeves is one of my favorite mystery writers."--Louise Penny

Three very different women come together to complete an environmental survey on the Northumberland countryside. Three women who, in some way or another, know the meaning of betrayal....For team leader Rachael Lambert the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double-betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne Preece, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace Fulwell, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of her own secrets to hide...

When Rachael arrives at the cottage, however, she is horrified to discover the body of her friend Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide--a verdict Rachael finds impossible to accept.

Only when the next death occurs does a fourth woman enter the picture--the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, who must piece together the truth from these women's tangled lives in The Crow Trap.

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