Cold Earth

Written by Ann Cleeves

Narrated by Kenny Blyth

In the dark days of a Shetland winter, torrential rain triggers a landslide that crosses the main Lerwick-Sumburgh road and sweeps down to the sea. At the burial of his old friend, Magnus Tait, Jimmy Perez watches the flood of mud and peaty water smash through a croft house in its path. Everyone thinks the croft is uninhabited, but in the wreckage he finds the body of a dark-haired woman wearing a red silk dress. In his mind she shares his Mediterranean ancestry, and soon he becomes obsessed with tracing her identity. Then it emerges that she was already dead before the landslide hit the house. Perez knows he must find out who she was and how she died.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Isis Publishing Ltd Audio
• Release date: Jan 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781445045153

Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves is the author of more than thirty-five critically acclaimed novels, and in 2017 was awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger. She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn, who can be found on television in ITV’s Vera, BBC One’s Shetland and ITV's The Long Call respectively. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide. Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. Ann also spends her time advocating for reading to improve health and wellbeing and supporting access to books. In 2021 her Reading for Wellbeing project launched with local authorities across the North East. She lives in North Tyneside where the Vera books are set.

Reviews for Cold Earth

[Karin Kvist · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As always I truly enjoyed the slow, picture painting stories, telling a tale. The narrator brings the people alive as well as bringing me to the isles.

The storie windles and twists in such a comforting pace - teas and scones, traditions, culture, hard work on the land and beauty around. Then gives you, just as easily, a look into the darkness of human minds and souls.

All along the life of J Perez and his colleagues is being spun into a storie in itself