Thank you to Ann Cleeves website for this review.
Detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to Fair Isle to introduce his fiancée, Fran, to his parents. It's a community where everyone knows each other, and strangers, while welcomed, are still viewed with a degree of mistrust.
When a woman's body is discovered at the renowned Fair Isle bird observatory, with feathers threaded through her hair, the islanders react with fear and anger. With no support from the mainland and only Fran to help him, Jimmy has to investigate the old-fashioned way. He soon realises that this is no crime of passion - but a murder of cold and calculated intention.
With no way off the island until the storms abate, Jimmy knows he has to work quickly. There's a killer on the island just waiting for the opportunity to strike again.
Andrew Taylor, writing in the Spectator, said: "As usual, the plotting is strong and the background fascinating. Cleeves is particularly good at assembling domestic detail that adds a cumulative poignancy and depth to her characters' lives. The narrative builds to a truly shocking climax with a grimly convincing epilogue."
Award-winning crime writer Frances Fyfield said: "This is a real, page turning thriller. It is beautifully crafted, belonging to the golden age of well-fashioned detective fiction. Clues, red herrings, isolation, birds, wings, feathers, unusual passions made understood. I simply could not put it down... a terrific, atmospheric novel."
Blue Lightning was chosen by John Lanchester as one of his (two) books of the year in the Telegraph Review (20.11.2010).
Antonia Fraser, writing in The Lady, was hooked: and having read Blue Lightning went on to read the rest of the quartet - but she recommends reading them in chronological order!
If you are looking for a well-crafted Agatha Christie-type murder mystery with a strong atmosphere, you cannot do better than turn to Ann Cleeves.
Antonia Fraser, The Lady
