Punaista tomua (original 2009; edition 2011)

Red Bones by Ann Cleeves is the third book in her series set in the Shetland Islands. As each book is placed in a different area of the islands, the reader is getting a good introduction to this scenic location. Red Bones is set on the island of Whalsay, known as the “Friendly Island” a 30 minute ferry ride from the main island. Shetland detective Jimmy Perez is called to Whalsay to investigate what appears to be an accidental shooting of a local elderly woman.

When a further death occurs, Perez is left wondering if an accidental death and then a suicide in the same place and time is too much of a coincidence. Relying on the assistance of his young colleague, Sandy, the two start to sift through the evidence to see what they can uncover. It starts to look as if the answer may lie in the past, that events that have been thought to be forgotten have instead been festering and coming to the surface.

Although a rather slow moving book, the combination of the misty island atmosphere, a archaeological dig, family secrets and close knit community rivalries keeps the reader engrossed to the end. The author does her research and supplies many interesting facts about the islands while still delivering a first class mystery. I’m looking forward to Blue Lightning, the next entry in the series. ( )

Two deaths on Whalsay, one of the Shetland Islands. One appears to be an accident, the other suicide. Nothing to warrant a criminal investigation that would require calling in a team from Inverness. Yet Jimmy Perez is troubled by too many coincidences. Both bodies were found on the same croft, the site of an archaeological dig where ancient bones have recently been uncovered. Maybe the bones aren't as old as is supposed. Perez's colleague, Sandy Wilson, has a personal connection to one of the victims, and together they pick at threads to uncover the real story about what's been happening on the island.

I love the atmosphere of this series and its strong sense of place. I see the Shetland Islands as I read, and I feel the chill of the damp fog. Jimmy Perez carries the series well as a local with the air of an outside observer. He has the loner personality common in fictional detectives without their usual vices of alcoholism, womanizing, etc. I've been trying to stretch these books out since originally there were only going to be four of them. I hated the thought of not having any more new ones to look forward to. However, the author has now written a fifth book in the series, so it appears she must like writing the books as much as I enjoy reading them. ( )

The discovery of the body of an elderly woman on a mist-shrouded night is where this mystery began. Dense fog was not an uncommon event on Whalsay, one of the smaller Shetland Islands. Those misty incursions often covered the terrain so that only people very familiar with it could get around in it.

Sandy Wilson, at home for a visit on Whalsay was coming to visit his grandmother Mima in this dense haze to sober up a bit before going home to his parents house and at first he thinks that he sees a coat on the ground. He is dismayed and shocked to find it is his grandmother and when he brings her inside he realizes she has been shot. Sandy is a policeman who works for Jimmy Perez of the Shetland police and he calls his boss knowing he has already disturbed the scene of the crime.

At fist it seems that the shooter is a close friend of Sandy’s who was rabbit hunting but little details don’t add up and with in a few days there is another death. Again the facts are hazy and hard to see clearly. The victim is a young girl, Hattie on the island doing an archeological dig on the island for her PHD. She and her assistant Sophie had made some finds that might lead to greater future developments . This dig was abutting Mima’s croft and Hattie had become friends with her so the death of the old Islander affected her badly, in addition she had also been acting a little oddly herself recently.
In this mystery the mist may be a metaphor for haziness surrounding the cause of the two deaths. Murder, manslaughter, or freak accident are considered in the case of Mima, and the facts of murder or suicide in Hattie’s death are tossed back and forth and left unsettled.

Jimmy Perez in his quiet persistent way teases out the tangles and follows small wisps of information that lead him to the realization that while appearing close knit to an outsider, envy, distrust and enmity from old rivalries crept insidiously into the relationships of these Shetlanders and there were motives to murder. As the mists and fogs disperse Jimmy also finds light being shed on the crimes he is being pushed to solve.

This is a slow burning story, much like the peat fires that warm the crofts of these desolate but beautiful places places. But no matter where you find them people are not so very different and while the ending is beautifully suited to the time and place, it would have worked as well in a Greek tragedy. I liked the book very much. ( )

The third installment of Ann Cleeves’ Shetland quartet takes place on the island of Whalsey. Two young female students are conducting an archaeological dig on land belonging to one of the islands older residents, Mima Wilson, and discover some bones. These are quickly sent for dating in the hopes they will support the theory that Hattie, one of the students, has developed about the site’s past but their discovery sets off a chain of tragic events for the island.

Much of this book is told from the perspectives of two police officers who are involved in the very low-key investigation at the centre of the novel. Inspector Jimmy Perez is a master questioner, being particularly adept at allowing silences to linger until the other person has to fill them. In this book he seems much more mature than he was in the previous book, White Nights, which is probably a combination of natural aging and the fact he is leading the investigation on his own this time. I think I enjoyed him more in this outing because his girlfriend was absent for most of the book. It’s not that I have anything against her as a character but their romance is very laboured which I found quite dull in the previous book. The second person whose point of view features in the book is Sandy Wilson who is Perez’ detective sergeant and is from Whalsey. It is through his eyes that we see into the family dramas and history of the island. Both men are well-developed, introspective characters whose personal reflections on the case and wider events are compelling.

Once again Cleeves has painted an intimate picture of a small, relatively isolated community with strong links to the past and where people feel strongly about the importance of family and traditions. Even the outsiders who make a success of their entry into the society do so because of their respect for those elements. For me, a city girl through and through, such depictions are cloying and, frankly, a little scary (I love being able to be anonymous when I choose) but half the fun of reading these stories is seeing an environment totally different from my own.

As a mystery Red Bones is more accomplished than its predecessor in that it’s more logical and less melodramatic though I have to say it is, if anything, slower. There really isn’t a lot of action at all, in fact for much of the book it is uncertain whether a crime has been committed. There were a few times when I thought it could have done with a hurry along or at least an event other than another visit to one of the two main island families to sustain my curiosity. So, if you’re looking for a fast-paced or action-packed story you’d best look elsewhere but Red Bones, though slow and very gentle, does captivate and draw the reader into its world. ( )

well done and effective crime story - establishing unusual place, plausible archaeological explorations that also throw up mysteries after an elderly woman is shot - accidentally or not? community members know each other's failings and strengths all too well, and the policeman at the heart of it all feels vulnerable while his boss handles the case - delving into past secrets and present betrayals and jealousies. if there is only one failing that slowly works itself out despite all - it is that the older women in the first chapters are all awfully similar to each other - not fleshed out well enough until we get much farther in, so i kept losing track who was where and what. very satisfying in the end - an adept new writer. ( )