The Crow Trap by Ann CleevesI was quite surprised to find that Vera Stanhope does not appear in this book until about half-way through the story. Having been a fan of the TV series for some time it made much of the first half of the book somewhat tedious. The many characters with their various tales and points of view became quite difficult to follow, and I constantly had to turn many pages back to be sure how they figured in the overall plot.
I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the book but it was a very long read for a crime thriller and I was relieved to come to the end. The end came suddenly and I found it a little disappointing. A certain amount of logical thinking would have improved the final ‘explanation’ in view of the 500 plus pages the reader has to plod through. For a change, in my opinion, the TV version was better than the book!
The main saving grace was the brilliant characterisation of Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope. Although I have seen very many episodes from the TV series it was easy to grow to like the literary depiction of this unusual and unconventional cop. This book would make me want to read more just to find out more about garrulous Vera. So I’m about to start on another book regardless.
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