Vera Stanhope - La série

Three very different women come together to complete an environmental survey on the Northumberland countryside. Three women who, in some way or another, know the meaning of betrayal....For team leader Rachael Lambert the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double-betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne Preece, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace Fulwell, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of her own secrets to hide... When Rachael arrives at the cottage, however, she is horrified to discover the body of her friend Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide--a verdict Rachael finds impossible to accept. Only when the next death occurs does a fourth woman enter the picture--the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, who must piece together the truth from these women's tangled lives in The Crow Trap.

Qui a tué la jeune Abigail ? Vera mène l'enquête. Cela fait dix ans maintenant que Jeanie Long a été accusée du meurtre de la jeune Abigail Mantel, 15 ans. Lasse de toujours crier son innocence, elle vient de se suicider.Mais voilà que les habitants de la paisible bourgade d'Elvet, dans le nord de l'Angleterre, sont troublés d'apprendre qu'une nouvelle preuve a été exhumée, qui atteste de l'innocence de Jeanie.Le meurtrier d'Abigail serait dans la nature...Pour Emma Bennett, cette révélation ravive d'émouvants souvenirs de sa meilleure amie - et de cette effroyable journée d'hiver où elle avait découvert son corps gisant dans un fossé.Au fur et à mesure des recherches menées par l'inspectrice Vera Stanhope, et tandis que les habitants sont ramenés à une époque qu'ils auraient préféré oublier, les tensions montent. Mais ont-ils peur de l'assassin... ou de leur propre passé ? Alors que Vera Stanhope creuse dans l'histoire de cette bourgade, elle met au jour des secrets aussi effrayants que décisifs...

Deux cadavres retrouvés dans le paisible comté du Northemburland.. Tous deux entourés de pétales de fleurs. Une énigme à résoudre pour l'inspectrice Vera Stanhope, héroïne de la série à succès diffusée sur France 3. Un corps couvert de fleurs : Vera débusquera-t-elle l'assassin ? Il fait chaud, ce jour-là, sur les côtes du Northumberland. Revenue d'une virée en ville, Julie Armstrong n'aurait jamais cru faire une aussi macabre découverte : son fils étranglé dans sa baignoire, le corps couvert de fleurs sauvages...Ce meurtre d'"esthète" laisse l'inspectrice Vera Stanhope et son équipe sous le choc. Lorsqu'un second corps est découvert dans un décor similaire, Vera sait vite ce qu'elle doit faire pour débusquer le criminel.Rares sont les indices susceptibles d'aiguiller Vera, mais la voilà intriguée par le groupe d'amis qui a découvert le second corps. Qu'est-ce qui relie ces quatre hommes et cette femme ? Pendant ce temps, le tueur reste dans l'ombre, attendant l'occasion de reproduire son œuvre d'art morbide...Solitaire et grande gueule, plus portée sur le single malt que sur l'Earl Grey, le personnage d'inspectrice créé par Ann Cleeves a rejoint Poirot et Mrs Marple au panthéon des détectives de caractère !

When Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope finds the body of a woman in the steam room of her local gym, she wonders briefly if, for once, it's a death from natural causes. But closer inspection reveals bruises around the victim's throat....As she leads her team, Vera relishes the thrill she gets from running an investigation. Death has never made her feel so alive. But soon, the victim's past reveals a shocking secret at the heart of Vera's community, as she tries to stop a killer who wants deadly secrets kept silent. Singular, complex, and fiercely loyal, Vera has quickly become an iconic British detective loved by millions both on the page and on-screen, and Silent Voices showcases Ann Cleeves as a writer at the peak of her powers.

DI Vera Stanhope is not one to make friends easily, but her hippy neighbors keep her well-supplied in homebrew and conversation, and somehow bonds have formed. When one of them goes missing, Vera tracks the young woman down to the Writer's House, a country retreat where aspiring authors work on their stories. Things get complicated when a body is discovered, and Vera's neighbor is found with a knife in her hand. Calling in the team, Vera knows that she should hand the case over. She's too close to the main suspect. But the investigation is too tempting, and she's never been one to follow the rules. Somewhere there is a killer who has taken murder off the page and is making it real . . .

As the snow falls thickly on Newcastle, the shouts and laughter of Christmas revellers break the muffled silence. Detective Joe Ashworth and his daughter Jessie are swept along in the jostling crowd onto the Metro. But when the train is stopped due to the bad weather, and the other passengers fade into the swirling snow, Jessie notices that an old lady hasn t left the train: Margaret Krukowski has been fatally stabbed as she sat on the crowded train. Why would anyone want to harm this reserved, elegant lady? Arriving at the scene, DI Vera Stanhope is relieved to have an excuse to escape the holiday festivities. As she stands on the silent, snow-covered station platform, Vera feels a familiar buzz of anticipation, sensing that this will be a complex and unusual case. Soon Vera and Joe are on their way to the south Northumberland town of Mardle, where Margaret lived, to begin their inquiry. Then, just days later, a second woman is murdered. Vera knows that to find the key to this new killing she needs to understand what had been troubling Margaret so much before she died before another life is lost. Retracing Margaret s final steps, Vera finds herself searching deep into the hidden past of this seemingly innocent neighbourhood, led by clues that keep revolving around one street . . . Why are the residents of Harbour Street so reluctant to speak?

Life seems perfect in the quiet community of Valley Farm. Then a shocking discovery shatters the silence. The owners of a big country house have employed a house-sitter, a young ecologist, to look after the place while they're away. But his dead body is found by the side of the lane--a lonely place to die. When DI Vera Stanhope arrives on the scene, she finds the body of a second man. What the two victims seem to have in common is a fascination with studying moths--and with catching these beautiful, intriguing creatures. The others who live in Valley Farm have secrets too: Lorraine's calm demeanor belies a more complex personality; Annie and Sam's daughter, Lizzie, is due to be released from prison; and Nigel watches, silently, every day, from his window. As Vera is drawn into the claustrophobic world of this increasingly strange community, she realizes that there may be many deadly secrets trapped there . . .

John Brace, ancien policier détenu en prison, s'apprête à faire des révélations fracassantes qui pourraient impliquer le père de Vera Stanhope dans un crime non élucidé. L'inspectrice se lance dans une enquête qui ravive des souvenirs lointains et commence à se demander si son père est vraiment innocent.

DCI Vera Stanhope returns in The Darkest Evening, the ninth novel in Sunday Times bestseller Ann Cleeves' enduringly popular series. Driving home during a swirling blizzard, Vera Stanhope's only thought is to get there quickly. But the snow is so heavy, she becomes disoriented and loses her way. Ploughing on, she sees a car slewed off the road ahead of her. With the driver's door open, Vera assumes the driver has sought shelter but when she inspects the car she is shocked to find a young toddler strapped in the back seat. Afraid they will freeze, Vera takes the child and drives on, arriving at Brockburn, a run-down stately home she immediately recognizes as the house her father Hector grew up in. Inside Brockburn a party is in full swing, with music and laughter to herald the coming Christmas. But outside in the snow, a young woman lies dead and Vera knows immediately she has a new case. Could this woman be the child's mother, and if so, what happened to her? A classic country house mystery with a contemporary twist, Ann Cleeves returns with a brilliant Vera novel to savour.