White Nights

This is the second Shetland Islands Quartet thriller, which marketing decision was a good one...calling these thrillers instead of mysteries sets up the expectation of a whacking good read though not necessarily the play-fair-with-the-reader puzzle-solver that modern mysteries are.

Cleeves writes wonderfully clearly and carefully about flawed, real, lovable characters in bad emotional states because of violent, evil acts disrupting their very ordinary lives.

The stories she tells in this series, to date, are proof to me that she's looked deeply into human nature and seen what its outlines show to the astute...there but for the grace of God go I. Everyone in this book flees from their hurts. Their flight is, inevitably, unsuccessful. Jimmy show more Perez can't run from his flaming co-dependence. Fran Hunter can't run from her seething ambition. Bella Sinclair can't run from her self-created persona, an Iron Maiden as effective as any Inquistor's torture device. Inspector Taylor, back up from Inverness, can't escape his fear-driven energy. No one, not any one, escapes.

The white nights of the title are a phenomenon of the far north. The sun never *quite* sets enough for true, dark night to fall. It's unsettling to some, it's a biorhythm disturber of tremendous power to have the body's million-year-old clock disrupted by absence of night. It's used by vile people the world over as a form of torture to deprive a human of good rest. And yet, there are thousands whose entire lives are lived with this condition as backdrop, and they seem not to feel its downside too strongly.

But let's face it...this fact of nature is a thriller-writer's best birthday present. What better metaphor, and even a pretty subtle one, for bringing to light old wrongs, shining the pitiless lamp of the torturer on the consciences of those guilty of undiscovered crimes, than a sun that won't go down?

That's a very nice backdrop you've chosen, Mme Cleeves, and it works very, very well for your chosen story, right up to and including the resolution of the multiple crimes. It does not make up for the sense I got, throughout the book, that your focus wasn't on me, your reader.

I recommend the book, yes. I even think there are some things about it that are outstanding, including the character developments of Perez and Taylor. But as I careened from incident to incident, I didn't sense that you were laying out this tale for my delectation, but rather leading me like a museum docent from exhibit to exhibit, trying in a haphazard way to lead my somewhat dim brain to a conclusion you'd already reached and were now impatiently awaiting my "aha!" moment. I am already in possession of "Red Bones", and I am very much looking forward to seeing what you have planned for me next, but I am a little bit put out by this sense of magisterial disdain that I got from the resolution to "White Nights." I wish you'd let me get there with you, instead of running ahead and pointing and waving your arms. show less

It’s the simmer dim in Shetland: summer, when the sun barely sets. But the sun isn’t shedding any light on a perplexing case. An Englishman, new to town, who had a public breakdown at an art exhibition, is found hanging from the rafters of Kenny Thomson’s barn. Initially thought to be suicide, it is quickly discovered to be murder. But who would want to kill a stranger in Shetland? What secrets are going to be exposed to the light of perpetual day when Jimmy Perez is finished with the case?

I read this book during a very busy week and found it a reasonable companion for that time. The pacing fits life on Shetland: a little meandering, a little slow. In this regard it was easy to pick up and put down the book as my attention span show more waxed and waned. I have to say I didn’t see the solution coming, and I didn’t have the same reaction I did to the first book (“It’s an island; there are only so many suspects! Who did it?”), so overall I liked it better. I’ll likely keep reading the series. show less

This is the second of the Shetland series of murder stories, starring Jimmy Perez.
I found this one to be more satisfying than "Raven Black", because you had more of Jimmy Perez working his way through the case.

Additionally, Ann Cleeves has done a stellar job in bringing the relationships between the people of the islands to life. Her portrayal of Jimmy's and Fran's story is realistic, and you can feel them growing in their relationship.

Overall, excellent.

During a party at an art gallery, a stranger turns up and makes a scene. The man is later found dead of an apparent suicide (but of course it wasn’t). The victim was unknown to locals and left no identification. Jimmy Perez is immediately on the case, eventually identifying the man and tracing his movements. But what brought this outsider to Shetland and the art exhibition? And why would someone want him dead? Perez’s investigation uncovers a history of relationships between the islanders and links to the past that ultimately solve the crime.

The Shetland landscape and climate figure prominently in this novel. In midsummer there are 19 hours of daylight and the light lingers even after sunset. The sea and surrounding cliffs are a show more constant source of danger. And the remote nature of the islands complicate police matters, like bringing in experts or sending samples off to the lab. Against this backdrop Ann Cleeves continues to develop Jimmy Perez’s character; in this installment he becomes more confident in his abilities and by the end of the novel the senior investigator from the mainland has to acknowledge he may no longer be needed. I’m looking forward to continuing this series. show less

From Amazon:

In this second thriller of the highly acclaimed Shetland Island series featuring Inspector Jimmy Perez, the launch of an exhibition at The Herring House art gallery is disturbed by a stranger who bursts into tears, then claims not to remember who he is or where he comes from. The next day he's found dead. Set in midsummer, the book captures the unsettling nature of a landscape where the sun never quite sets and where people are not as they first seem.

My Thoughts:

The atmosphere of the book is engaging. Summer in the islands, because of the latitude, has only a few hours of dusty night each day and the constant light is said to have a crazy effect on people. Combine that with the constant presence of the sea, the treeless show more windswept hills, dotted with sheep, the fog off shore, always threatening to roll in once again, and the Shetlands themselves are almost like another character in the story. Relationships are at the heart of this book. The stories emerge from them: Relationships among the characters and relationships from the past affecting the present. If you want a novel that explores how... what is human in all of us...can sometimes produce evil, and then explores its devastating consequences, you can't do better than this. 4.5 Stars for another great read. show less

I found this second entry in the Shetland series to be better-paced and more atmospheric than the first. I was also more engaged with the mystery itself and enjoyed getting more of a glimpse into Jimmy Perez's internal world, insecuritues and all. After reading Raven Black, I wasn't sure I liked it enough to continue with the series, but I'm glad I did. I will definitely get to the third book, probably this year.

3.75 stars

I never realized how depressing long summer nights might be, having grown up with that darkening mood descending only in winter. But author Ann Cleeves creates a clear impression of endlessly oppressive days in her second Shetland novel, White Nights. The story can be read alone of course, but it follows pleasingly on from an unmissable first book in the series. Characters and relationships grow in depth and relevance, and for someone who has seen the television series, it’s satisfying to note how the past in these novels grows into the present on screen. There’s a pleasing balance between love and need, beauty and integrity, romance and harmony, and image and truth. Mysteries are hidden in the mists, and the everyday is as real as show more the crime to be solved in a story that moves with the languidly deceptive calm of secrets, art and life. Ann Cleeves' Shetland feels vividly real, and starkly lit in this haunting tale.

Disclosure: It was a birthday present. show less