
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
White Nights is quite a different novel to the first book in the Shetland series, i.e. Raven Black, because the season is summer and things are not so gloomy and dark. However, the atmosphere becomes just as unsettling to Jimmy Perez and the perpetual light causes a certain amount of stress to some of the visitors.
An art exhibition, on Shetland, that is not going too well when an unknown man becomes upset, weeping and collapsing in front of everyone. The main artist is Bella Sinclair but a new artist, called Fran that is also present, looks like a woman of interest to Perez. He feels that the mystery man is overreacting but he is curious when the man claims to have completely lost his memory. When the same man is found hanging dead the next day, together with some other strange circumstances, Perez starts an investigation. Was it murder or suicide?
The subsequent case and Jimmy Perez’s romantic involvement with Fran are the main components of the plot from then on. The build-up of the story through the descriptions of the settings, the characters and the intriguing developments in the case are excellent. There is an ongoing feeling of resentment and suspicions from the locals about visitors to the islands, These feelings come through to readers and feels somehow natural and understood. It is down to the writing skill and talent of Ann Cleeves and the tension throughout the book is just what one expects from a crime thriller. Twists and turns occur in almost every chapter! Unfortunately I found the motive behind the murders a little questionable and for me this was the book’s only weakness.
It was still worth reading right to the very end and every bit as enjoyable as the first book in the series.
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