Red Bones, the third instalment of Ann Cleeves' Shetland Quartet, is set in spring: a time of rebirth and celebration. And a time of death... for April is the cruelest month.
Perhaps that's why Red Bones was chosen as the basis for Shetland, a new two-part crime drama set in Scotland and starring Douglas Henshall. A special Shetland preview on November 21st was well received by the local audience, and Ann Cleeves gave it her approval too: "It's great," she said. "It's not faithful to the book but it's faithful to the atmosphere and spirit of the book. It's important that it's a good piece of TV rather than stick rigidly to the book." The transmission date has not yet been announced, but is expected to be some time in January.
When a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains, the island community is intrigued. Is it an ancient find - or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman is shot on her land in a tragic accident, and Jimmy Perez is called in by her grandson, his own colleague Sandy Wilson. He finds two feuding families whose envy, greed and bitterness has divided the surrounding community.
With Fran in London, and surrounded by people he doesn't know and a community he has no links with, Jimmy finds himself out of his depth. Then another woman dies, and as the spring weather shrouds the island in claustrophobic mists, the two deaths remain shrouded in mystery.
"Cleeves pulls out all the stops in this terrific tale."
"...this intelligent mystery..."
"Cunning character play and deception play their part in this satisfying tale, bringing about a denouement that turns everything in the plot neatly and bewilderingly on its head."
Gerald Kaufman, The Scotsman
