The Crow Trap: The First Vera Stanhope Mystery

The first Vera Stanhope mystery. Characters stories and histories form the framework for this complex and satisfying mystery. All the characters are brought together over a mining development proposal that would destroy a natural wildlife environment. Though not the classic clash between environmentalists and developers it provides a crucial background for the slowly unraveling murder mystery.The ending with it’s surprise reveal makes sense but it negates any attempt to guess the solution to the crimes from the facts known to the reader. Still it is very relevant and integral to the story as developed.

Should be easy for a few weeks- a study where three young women use their skills for an environmental study- until upon arrival a suicide is found. And even though she’s well known- no one knows anything about her past. Then a murder and another murder all linking to the past. What secrets lie in this village. As it begins to unravel the killer is found…

The character Vera Stanhope had a good introduction in the book. In the television series Vera doesn't leave near a train yard.

The first half was rather slow and hard to get into with so many characters. The second picked up steam and connections finally began to be made. Somehow key points about the killer were a bit lost in the overwhelming mass of narrative.

When I began to read this series--I backed into it--and read latter books first. They are wordy and somewhat unnecessarily lengthy but the plots are intriguing and the reason i kept reading was the way the character-Vera thinks and how she uses her team. All the plots are rather unusual--and the thinking to get to an answer is rather interesting. But after reading the books starting almost at the newest--I have discovered that the first 2 books would never have kept me going forward. The plots are all about long complicated events--and Vera comes into the story- much later--often in the middle of he book--and the team is only a small part till later books. So-you may want to read these books after about book 5.

While an interesting story, the book drags. There’s not enough development of the characters. We’re given a hint of what they’re like and detail about childhood, but no real connection to who they are today. Plowed through it to the end, where it got interesting.

Vera Stanhope, the detective who is supposed to be the main character in this series, does not appear until halfway through the book. That is why it gets only 3 stars from me.

Took to long for Vera to show up

Hat's off to the writer who saw the potential to make Vera Stanhope a national TV treasure. They must have had brilliant staying power in sticking with this lengthy book long enough to get to the half way mark when the detective made an appearance.It begins with the background stories of three main characters interwoven with a death by suicide and expands even further to the environmental studies these three are doing. I'm not sure the Vera we know and love would have reacted quite in the way she does in this book but there were certain elements of her character that drifted in and out of the dialogue. Fortunately these were sufficient to whet the appetite of the writer who based the TV series on her. I think I only counted one "pet" in the whole book but it made me smile when I read it.As my three star rating states, this book is okay but if I hadn't been keen to see how Vera came over I may have given up. For anyone not overly keen on Vera Stanhope then this book is a good read with an okay plot and could be of interest to anyone keen on the environment and the rugged Northumberland landscape.

Three women are staying at Baikie’s Cottage to carry out an environmental impact study on land which is earmarked to be turned into a quarry. Rachael is the leader of the team, and knows the area well – her friend Bella lives on the neighbouring farm. She knows Bella loves her life in this harsh landscape so when she arrives only to find Bella dead, hanged in the barn, she finds it hard to accept the official verdict of suicide. The other two women on the team are strangers to Rachael and to each other. Anne is an extrovert, and has had a string of affairs, most recently with the man who wants to turn the land into a quarry. Grace is the complete opposite – introverted, quiet, clearly unhappy. When a body is found on the land, it will be up to Inspector Vera Stanhope and her right-hand man Joe Ashworth to work out motives and opportunity, and to connect the dots between the murder and Bella’s suicide…Sometimes I feel like a stuck record, but at well over 500 pages this novel is ridiculously over-long – repetitive and padded to the point where I several times considered abandoning it. The underlying plot is good and Vera is an interesting, if unbelievable, character – another of these detectives one feels would have been quietly shuffled to a desk job long ago since she is incapable of following rules and doesn’t mind putting herself, her colleagues and even members of the public at risk in pursuit of her case. But hey-ho! That’s modern crime fiction for you, and plenty of people seem to like these damaged detectives. At least Vera is functional.The book starts off well enough, telling of Rachael’s arrival at the cottage, her finding of Bella, and then of the next few days as the three women get to know each other a little. It’s already far too drawn out at this stage, but eventually the body is discovered and we can hope the police procedural element is about to begin. Only for those hopes to be dashed! Back we go to the very beginning, this time following Anne through those same few days, learning more about her life, and seeing things from her perspective. And then… you’ve guessed, haven’t you… we do it all again, this time in the company of Grace. It’s not that any of the three women’s stories are uninteresting in their own right, but to cover the same period again and again had me feeling as if I was in Groundhog Day.Finally, about halfway through, this introductory stage is at last over, and Vera arrives on the scene. It picks up a bit after that, although there’s so much backstory about Vera’s life interspersed among the plot that the pace never gets out of second gear. Vera’s method is to set the women up to be bait in the hope the murderer will return, while sending these civilians off to ask questions of suspects and bring her back the information. Extremely odd method of policing, far more suited to the Golden Age of the amateur detective than the modern police procedural. However, it’s reasonably enjoyable, and well written.Overall, I can’t say this one thrilled me much – a crime novel requires far more plot and less repetition to hold my interest for so long. However I see that the next book is considerably shorter (though still longer than a crime novel should be) so hopefully Cleeves reined in her desire to cover every detail three times. I’d consider reading more of them, but I fear Cleeves, with two less than enthusiastic reviews out of three from me so far, is perhaps never going to make it onto my must-read list. Given her huge popularity, I don’t expect that will bother her much!

I had seen Vera on television before reading any Ann Cleeves. TV Vera has been tidied up quite a bit from the descriptions in the books [no sandals and leg sores] so there do seem to be 2 of her. Be prepared. Not Brenda B!I have read all books in the four Ann Cleeves series as well as standalone before writing this review.Some writers can produce a good story badly written. I think you can have a book with enjoyable story outdone by the actual words. I have in mind some John Irving and Harlan Coben. I enjoy Ann Cleeves for both written words and story.Vera is not a super hero[ine] and seems at times not treated sympathetically by her author but the story is well constructed. Not sure a comparison with Jimmy Perez is appropriate but this book was a vast improvement on Stephen Ramsey and Palmer-Jones series although those were more than reasonable stories in themselves compared to authors churning out books several times a year.This was an excellent start to a series that only gets better.

I’m a huge fan of the TV series; Vera so really looked forward to the first book about her, especially since this was adapted for an episode of the show. The Crow Trap was not what I expected at all. I almost gave up reading. Nothing really happens for the first 200 or so pages including the actual murder and Vera putting in an appearance. The first couple of hundred pages serve little purpose other than scene setting. Most of these pages could have been cut without the book losing much. This is why The Crow Trap took so long to read. Vera in the books is similar but very different from the one in the books. In this one anyway, but maybe she’ll become more like TV Vera as the books progress. The front cover declares the book to be a psychological thriller but it’s not, it’s a slow burning police procedural. Still, when Vera takes centre stage and the book really kicks off I started to really enjoy it. Vera is a great character and I can see why the books are popular. I definitely want to read more of Vera’s cases.

I adore Vera Stanhope - the TV version. I like her because she isn't a pretty, sexy, know-everything female lead (oh what a refreshing change!) and probably I like her because Brenda Blethyn is such a superb actress, the TV scripts are good and each episode holds your attention... alas, this novel doesn't I was expecting an engrossing murder mystery with Vera as the central character, but we don't meet her (properly) until a good way in (chapter 29?) and even then she doesn't come across as a central or even very likeable character. She comes across almost as the author's afterthought, someone for the characters to bounce their ideas off and make things official. Also, I'm afraid I didn't like the characters much either. I wanted, and was expecting, a 'murder mystery' 'who-dun-it' read, not a rather tedious lengthy exploration of the past lives of the characters - which after several chapters I skipped through.I'll try another one, perhaps well into the series, because I like Vera, but I hope I'm not as disappointed as I am with this one.Hats off to the TV series for turning a rather tedious read into something engrossing and interesting.