As I have blogged about many times, I love crime fiction but had never read Ann Cleeves or watched her Vera series on TV. I therefore thought I’d give her a try on audiobook over Christmas. I started at the beginning with The Crow Trap and then enjoyed Telling Tales and Hidden Depths. I will definitely be continuing with the series.

The audiobooks are beautifully read by Janine Birkett and their setting in Northumberland, the county I am writing about and where my family is from, is depicted in all its bleak and beautiful glory. Inspector Vera Stanhope is everything I like in a crime protagonist – a strong woman, fiercely intelligent, doesn’t suffer fools, is like a dog with a bone, and, as all of the best detectives are, she is of course damaged and single, living through her work solving cases.

Spending so many hours in her company, the landscapes and people of the north-east has been such a pleasure and has whiled away many long car journeys, Christmas jigsaw puzzles and cooking sessions. If anyone who is a fan of crime fiction hasn’t yet had the pleasure of this series, I would highly recommend it.