Blue Lightning: A Thriller

Written by Ann Cleeves

Narrated by Gordon Griffin

Blue Lightning is the fourth in a stellar suspense series from Ann Cleeves set on the Shetland Islands, the basis for the hit BBC show Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall.

Inspector Jimmy Perez takes his fiancé home to Fair Isle, the tiny island he comes from, to meet his parents. The island is a magnet for bird watchers, who congregate at the local inn and lighthouse. When a local married celebrity, who had an eye for the lads, is murdered, Perez discovers that the suspects are very close to him indeed. With a sensational ending destined to create much buzz in the mystery world, Blue Lightning will thrill suspense fans everywhere.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Mar 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781427266491

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 Blue Lightning

[auntieg0412 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh, my heart — Cleeve delivers a sucker punch. I thought Red Bones was the best of the series but that designation now goes to this one.

[coppers_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the fourth and final book in Ann Cleeves' Shetland Quartet and it has been a great series. In Blue Lightning, Det. Jimmy Perez brings his fiancee, Fran, home to remote Fair Isle to meet his parents. Soon we have stormy weather and a murder, and no way on or off the island for the residents, the birders staying at the bird observatory, the police, or the killer. These are police procedurals with a wonderful sense of place and interesting, complex characters. I'm so sorry to see the series end. And what an ending. Highly recommended!! I know, I know, another series - but there are only four!!The first book in the series is Raven Black and they should absolutely be read in order.

[Michelle Rowley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love Ann Cleeves writing . This is the first Perez book I’ve listened/read. I do not like the Scribt service, however. It only lets me listen to one book in Cleeves series per month.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This 4th installment of Ann Cleeves Shetland Island series takes place on Fair Isle home of the Perez family. I loved the smallness of the island and the dreary, rainy weather is the perfect atmosphere for murder. Cleeves plots out the murders with expertise without giving much away about who's doing the killings until the very end. The ending is so shocking, you have to go back and read it again to make sure you read it right. I love authors who take chances with their characters and do the unexpected. I'm now looking forward to reading the next book in the series just to see how this plays out in the future novels. Great job, Ann, for shocking us all!

[missizicks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Blue Lightning is a fairly standard locked room mystery, set on Fair Isle during and after a storm that cuts the island off from the nearest major city. It's the fourth book in the Shetland/Jimmy Perez series. I wonder whether I should have started with book 1, because I couldn't get a handle on who Jimmy is as a person or detective, and maybe the previous three books would have helped with that. It was okay, as crime novels go. I was expecting more. I like the tv adaptation, which included this book in the second series. The tv version has many differences, though, which also affected the way I read the book. The writing is good, the progression of the story makes sense, but there was nothing in it that really grabbed me. I might borrow another in the series from the library, see if I warm to it a bit more, I might not.

[Marilyn Burkart-Ramsey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

LOVE THE SHETLAND SERIES . THIS WAS ENJOYABLE AND SAD READ BUT WELL WORH READING

[graeme.bell3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

One small problem with these Shetland novels: Cleeves works very hard to create an atmosphere. However, like James lee Burke novels, there is way too much atmosphere. Half it and get another star. Otherwise there are better Scottish crime novels out there.

[picathartes · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was good, not great but good. The cover calls it a "thriller," but I didn’t find any parts I would call thrilling; maybe the ending, but mostly, story-wise, this is your average - if mundane - murder mystery. Not a whole lot happens throughout the book, and then at the end it is a "Mr. Mustard in the Cupboard with the Lead Pipe" type thing.The setting is Fair Isle in Northern Scotland which is a tiny island with only a few souls on it. There are only a handful of suspects, none of whom have a motive but wait... maybe they all have a motive! As I said, not much happens in the book and it is a fair assumption that by the end of the book only the killer will be left alive. Alas, no, the killer is (spoiler alert!) caught!The interesting bits were the birds and the birders. And this was a case of not so much birders per se but hardcore twitchers. (If you don't know the difference I will let you look that up.) The characters are well put together as are the descriptions of the island, the Fair Isle Bird Observatory, and, of course, the duties and responsibility of the observatory cook and staff. All in all worth reading.

[lamour_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Detective Jimmy Perez returns to Fair Isle where he grew up and where his parents still live. The purpose of the visit is to introduce his fiance, Fran, to his parents. The island is also the location of the Fair Isle field centre which carried out scientific research while also provided accommodation to visiting naturalists and in the fall the many birders who came to add bird names to their personal sighting lists.Shortly after Perez arrived, the centre's scientist, Angela, is found murdered. Solving a murder on an island isolated by a raging storm would seem to be easy. But Jimmy is worried he may not have a solution before the storm abates and the quests head back home. The murder of another female employee of the centre complicates his investigation. An already tense relationship with his father is made more difficult with the discovery that his father had a sexual relationship with Angela.

[amkitty-511462 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jimmy’s always on the job. In this case, while Jimmy and Fran are visiting his parents on Fair Isle, a famous naturalist from the local nature center turns up dead. Storms prevent the arrival of investigators from the mainland, so it is up to Jimmy to find out who the murderer is. The mystery deepens when a second woman is found dead. She’s an employee of the nature center. Jimmy must unravel the mysterious past of one murdered victim to figure out who would want her dead. The arrival of Sandy, the forensics team, and the Fiscal both help and don’t. Along the way, Jimmy’s relationship with his father changes when he learns a damning secret, a key character is removed from the stage, and a surprise ending make this both my most favorite and my least favorite of the series, so far.

[rajivc_18 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book, the action moved to Fair Isle, Jimmy's childhood home. After their engagement party, a famous birder - Angela - is murdered, and now Jimmy is called in to investigate. The action moves slowly, and you see more of Jimmy's mind - thinking of the case, of Fran - and his family on the island. You also get a peek into Fran's brain, as she contemplates life with Jimmy. As in all her books, the action proceeds slowly, with a final intuitive leap. I felt that the ending was a shame, and I wish she had never gone that way.

[hobbitprincess · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

These Shetland books just keep getting better and better. I like getting to know the main characters better through each novel. This is the 4th in the series.

[baochuan-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is one of my favor series of "Shetland" Jimmy Perez and has the usual twist and turn as I expected from the series. I am usually not the fan of killing the love interest of the main character, however, this one is well done.

[pennykaplan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another intense horrifying case for empathetic Jimmy Perez. He’s brought his fiancé ho e to Fair Isle to meet the family., but they get involved with murders involving the birding community. All does not end well.

[edwardsgt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant, moving story, clearly based on the author's experience as a cook in a Shetland bird reserve and using her local knowledge and that of obsessive birders to create a complex plot. Jimmy Perez has taken his fiancée Fran to Fair Isle to stay with his parents for a few days break when he finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation as the only local policeman when the weather prevents reinforcements arriving.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

How to evaluate a mystery novel. Presentation of place, Shetland islands specifically the Fair isle, good. Plot good, the person who did it isn't obvious and the resolution is satisfying. The believability fair, I thought most birdwatchers were benign perhaps a little eccentric not the prickly bunch portrayed in the book. A good book nevertheless.

[robert3167 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant thriller. Few suspects all trapped in this windswept isolated island. Secrets gradually become exposed, suspects come and go. The ending, shocking and powerful. Left me bruised.

[sheiladeeth_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Shetland quartet comes to a close in Anne Cleeves’ Blue Lightning, and it’s end is a satisfying blend of tragic mystery and hope, perfectly suited to that ever-present character in these novels—the gray winds, clouds and seas of the Shetland Isles. (Of course, there are further books now, but Blue Lightning is the last of the original set—and yes, I shall be looking out for more.)Characters have been built up over the sequence of novels. Now there are plans for the future in the air, families to meet, obligations, relationships, hopes. And, of course, there’s mystery. But Jimmy Perez is at his childhood home on Fair Isle in this tale, with limited technology and communication. He really wanted to spend more time with his fiancee, who is fast becoming friends with his family.But fractured relationships, splintering trust and frayed tempers combine with mystery and intrigue to keep them apart.As usual, readers and protagonists come slowly to the truth of things, while a murderer seems almost to get away… Blue Lightning is probably best read in sequence with the other novels, not because it doesn’t stand alone (it does, beautifully), but because it gives away too much, tying books to the later TV series, and because it’s dénouement is so beautifully and hauntingly drawn on the past. I love this quartet.Disclosure: Now I want to buy more

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Blue Lightning Jimmy Perez, now engaged to Fran, the woman he met in Cleeves's first book Raven Black, takes her home to meet his parents. He's not looking forward to the trip because he doesn't get along with his father and home is a smidgen of an island called Fair Isle. When Jimmy was younger he couldn't wait to move away and escape the trappings of parental expectations. True to form, murder follows Jimmy & Fran (she found the murder victims in Raven Black). Thanks to terrible storms prohibiting people from coming to or leaving the island they are forced, along with Jimmy's partner, Sandy, to solve the crime without help from the mainland. Things go from bad to worse when there is a second murder, and shockingly, a third. This time the murder centers around birds as the killer has woven bird feathers though the first victim's hair & strewn feathers over the second victim's body.For the most part I enjoyed this fourth book in the Jimmy Perez series. It isn't necessary to read the other three to understand or enjoy Blue Lightning. My only complaint? After the second death I knew when the third victim would die.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Shetland Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez and his fiancee, Fran, are spending a few days on the remote island of Fair Isle. Before their marriage, Fran needs to meet his family and friends and see where Jimmy was raised. Even though he no longer lives on Fair Isle, it's still a part of him. The morning after their engagement party at the island's bird observatory, Jimmy receives a call from the observatory. There's been a murder. As the only police officer present on the island, and with stormy weather cutting the island off from outside access, Perez must investigate this one on his own. The suspects are limited to the small observatory staff and the few guests at the facility. He's unable to solve the case quickly enough to prevent another murder.This is a locked room mystery on a couple of levels. The first murder takes place inside a locked building, and this limits the number of suspects. The murderer is also trapped on the island, as neither boats nor the small plane that services the island can get in or out until the storm passes. If this sounds like an Agatha Christie novel to readers, it felt like one to the characters, as at least one acknowledged! The crime plot isn't executed as well as the plots of the previous books in the series. Perez's parents and fiancee distract him from giving his full attention to crime solving, and the consequences are disastrous. The vivid Shetland Island setting is still the most appealing feature of this series, and I'll continue to read it just for that experience.

[olivermagnus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Blue Lightning is the fourth book in Ann Cleeves' series of crime novels set in the Shetland Islands. Detective Jimmy Perez arrives on Fair Isle, where he was born, to introduce Fran Hunter, his English fiancee, to his parents. After their engagement party at a local bird observatory, Angela Moore is found murdered, with feathers entwined in her hair. The victim was at the center of a tangle of lust and jealousy among a small group staying there for the bird migration season. Suspects include an angry teenage step-daughter, a jilted lover, and a cook whose has just been fired from her job. Soon there is another murder.

Meanwhile, Jimmy is discovering his parents' past and Fran, wanting to become involved in the community for Jimmy's sake, becomes deeply involved. Jimmy starts to wonder if Angela's sexual game- playing is the motive for her murder. If so, why was the second person killed? Jimmy Perez is a much deeper character than the usual detective, struggling with the puritanism of his upbringing as he also tries to work out the logistics of murder without any police back-up, and seems tormented by doubts.

This is the darkest of Ann Cleeves' absorbing and atmospheric series. Cleeves is excellent, not just on the mystery, but on the atmosphere of Fair Isle. She does provide a couple of brutal twists that will have deep emotional impact and leave the reader surprised she had the nerve to perform them. I can't wait to see what the author has for us in Dead Water, the fifth book of the series.

[tonstant.weader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This ends the four mysteries that make up Ann Cleves Shetland Isles Quartet. I have to salute Cleves for taking a rare step for mystery writers, one that will make sequels difficult, though not impossible.

There are several reasons to like her books. They have a strong sense of place. The desolate isolation and storms add to the menace. The cast of characters and pool of suspects are always quite small, but masterfully, the solutions are not obvious.

This final book in the series left me stunned. I was as angry with Cleeves as I was admiring. It's rare for a mystery series writer to take such risks.

I recommend the entire series, but they must be read in order.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have been following the Shetland Series by Ann Cleeves more for the setting of the Shetland Islands than for the actual mysteries, but in Blue Lightning, the fourth book of the series, I found the murder mystery almost as compelling as the beautiful setting of Fair Isle. Fair Isle is DI Jimmy Perez’s home island and while he and his fiancée Fran are there visiting his parents a murder occurs at the Bird Observatory. As the island is cut off from the world due to the weather, Jimmy must abandon his holiday and take on the investigation. With no forensic backup he must rely strictly on his interviews and his observations of the likely suspects. When a second murder occurs he knows that this case is going to be anything but straight forward.Towards the end of the book, there is a twist that is both unexpected and disconcerting. This twist didn’t help advance the plot at all so I was left wondering if this was the author’s way of handling an increasingly unsuitable character. At this point there are at least two more books in the series so I shall be interested in reading on and seeing what develops from this incident.

[diana.hauser · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

BLUE LIGHTNING by Ann Cleeves is the 4th title in her SHETLAND series.Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez is visiting his home island of Fair Isle with his finance, Fran Hunter. When a murder occurs at the Field Center after Jimmy and Fran’s engagement party, Jimmy must take charge of the investigation. Fair Isle seems to be a mecca for twitchers (bird-watchers) and the Field Center is where collecting, banding and identifying different bird species takes place. The Field Center also offers some accommodations for twitchers and the Center staff. Bird-watchers ‘flock’ here in the hopes of observing bird species and discovering a new species to add to their ‘lifelist’.Two women from the Field Center wind up being murdered and Fran wants to help Jimmy with the investigation - with dire consequences.Adjectives describing BLUE LIGHTNING include: atmospheric; subtle; intensely suspenseful; incredible domestic detail and many-layered characters.I want to keep reading and dissecting the characters layer by layer in order to see the secrets being peeled away.One of the more interesting details of the book was Jimmy confronting his father, James, about a suspected infidelity and how this tied in with one of the murders.The plot, the writing, the mystery - superb. I had trouble taking a break from reading.The human characters, however, are almost incidental to the Shetland Islands and the birds that live and visit there.This is an extremely interesting and detailed book on all levels.

[clstern-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was the fourth of the Shetland Island mysteries for me and by far my least favorite. Perhaps due to the subject matter -- I discovered I don't really care anything about birders. Not sure I'll read her next installment.

[lexieconyngham · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Anyone who's read my reviews of the last three won't need to read this one - loved it again. Dark, a 'country house' limited range of suspects plot, claustrophobic, with a shocking ending. I now have to resist the next one till it's out in paperback. It's going to be hard.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jimmy Perez brings home his fiancee to meet his parents but soon finds himself investigating the death of the bird center's most well-known scientist. She's found with a knife in her back. With bad weather which prevents bringing in additional help from Inverness, his fiancee assists him in photographing the crime scene although he tries to keep her as far removed from the investigation as possible. The murderer had to be one of the persons staying at the center. Which one was it?Fair Isle is the setting for this fourth installment of the Shetland Island series. It's well plotted with small clues that may bypass some readers throughout the novel. In fact, I found myself trying to remember which character was the one to do a certain thing as I got later in the novel. There are plenty of suspects with various motives. Perez even has to investigate members of his own family in the course of the case. There are some events that took place in the course of this novel that this reader would have preferred not have taken place, but they didn't mar my enjoyment of it. In fact, they were necessary to the plot. Although this was supposed to be a quartet, the ending leaves one wondering if the author may have left it open for additional installments in the future. I, for one, would definitely pick up a fifth in the series.

[julie10reads · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Shetland Detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to the Fair Isles to introduce his fiancée, Fran, to his parents. When a woman's body is discovered at the renowned Fair Isles bird observatory, Jimmy must investigate the old-fashioned way. Summary BPLI'm not sure where this belongs in the Shetland Island Quartet; obviously you don't need to read the others to enjoy this story. Blue Lightning has a lighthouse, birdwatchers, north-north Scotland scenery and an unsolved crime: sound good? Ruling out the option of forensic technology makes for a different, more human inquiry.7.5 out of 10. For the usual suspects: fans of crime fiction, rural lifestyles, Scotland....

[nocto_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

** spoiler alert ** From the beginning I was pleased that this was a quartet of novels rather than a series. Although I've managed to read plenty of other series with an excessive number of murders for their location, four on on the Shetland Islands is really stretching credulity! I don't doubt I would have carried on reading if there were more though. I have the impression that this set of books was conceived within it's limited structure and I was rather expecting something to happen to close the story arc that was begun in Raven Black. And although I would have liked a happy ending, I can't blame the author for choosing a Reichenbach Falls-ish ending.The ending kind of overshadows the rest of the mystery though, which was a solid closed circle of suspects case, and is well worth reading in it's own right.

[cathyskye · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

First Line: Fran sat with her eyes closed.Fair Isle is a remote location in the Shetland Islands, in many ways better known to dedicated birdwatchers than any other group of people. When the weather closes in, landing an airplane there can be a very dicey affair. Fran learns this the hard way as she comes to visit her fiance's parents before she and Jimmy are married.Her visit has barely begun when a celebrity scientist who ran the island's bird research center is murdered. Left with her soon-to-be in-laws while Jimmy Perez puts himself in Detective Inspector mode, Fran begins to look for ways she can help Jimmy with his investigation. The weather has socked in with a vengeance. No one can leave. No one can arrive. Perez has what is basically a locked room mystery to solve, and his careful interviews with the people at the research center show that the murdered scientist was very different from her television persona. There are many reasons why someone would want her dead, but can Perez choose the right reason and the right killer?One thing I do want to mention before I forget it is that Cleeves uses several birdwatching terms that may be somewhat confusing if you've never been introduced to them. They are very easy to look up if need be, but it's simple to deduce their meaning within the context of the sentences.I loved Cleeves' take on the locked room mystery. It is perfect for Perez's investigating style. He likes to take his time interviewing everyone, getting a feel for each person's mood, and listening to what they say... and what they don't say. Since communications are spotty and no one can land on the island due to the weather, Perez can actually do much of the investigation his own way without interference from his mainland superiors.The weather makes for a very claustrophobic atmosphere, and as each person at the research center is spoken to again and again, their true feelings towards the victim are revealed, and it becomes very difficult to pinpoint just one of them as the killer. The dead woman herself becomes every bit as important as the characters who are alive and breathing.With each book of the Shetland Island Quartet, my admiration for the character of Jimmy Perez grows. He's quiet and unassuming, but he has a strength that can provoke a response in anyone. His fiance, Fran, finds herself wanting to help him in any way she can, not only because she feels trapped on the tiny island, but because she wants to know more about this other area of his life that's so vital to him. Jane, the cook at the research center, watches Perez and sees his true character when most do not. Jane intuitively knows how intelligent this man is, how good he is at his job, and she decides to try to beat Jimmy at his own game. That's not always a wise thing to do. Fair Isle may be small, and there may not be many people in residence. But no one is safe. No one.If you haven't read any of the books in the Shetland Island Quartet, I urge you to do so. You just might find yourself falling in love with a remote and beautiful corner of the world, with a quiet and quite canny police inspector, and with strong mysteries that grab you at the first page and won't let you go.