Now they are 50 years older, all at different places in their lives, about to begin another weekend of eating, drinking, meditation, swimming, and lots of walking and talking. But plans change; one of there number won’t survive the weekend! Ann Cleeves is well known for her popular Shetland Island mystery series, featuring Detective Jimmy Perez and her Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope mystery series, set in northern England. In this 10th novel in the Vera Stanhope series, the intrepid sleuth investigates a suspicious death on Holy Island, a tourist destination off the west coast of Scotland. Holy Island has the distinction of being approachable only during certain hours, at low tide, when the causeway is accessible. Who doesn’t love “large and shabby” Vera Stanhope, the blunt detective in Ann Cleeves’s Northumberland police procedurals? She is already one of the genre immortals."— The New York Times The setting of Holy Island just felt desolate. I don't know if I would be comfortable running around a place that gets cut off due to the tides.

The Rising Tide is classic Cleeves: an atmospheric, gripping police procedural in which the environment is as deadly as the desperate murderer ... and with Vera."If you've nar read this Newcastle (the toon) / Northumberland based series, eeee, howay man, you should because it’s canny and champion. Vera is a legend! The judging panel consisted of Geoff Bradley (non-voting Chair), Lyn Brown MP (a committee member on the London Libraries service), Frances Gray (an academic who writes about and teaches courses on modern crime fiction), Heather O'Donoghue (academic, linguist, crime fiction reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, and keen reader of all crime fiction) and Barry Forshaw (reviewer and editor of Crime Time magazine). Cleeves’ books are strongly character driven, and Holly Island becomes another character in this story. As Vera rarely leaves Northumberland, this is a delightful change of scene. It also sets up a barrier and threat to the investigation. Vera is such a strong, clever character. She is not perfect, occasionally vulnerable, and sometimes has self-doubts. She’s human.

First, the false accusation of sexual assault just . . . rankles. Really, Ann Cleeves? Really? This plot line was not well developed, and certainly not handled with compassion or a solid understanding of the issue. There were awards for VERA at the North East Royal Television Society Awards, presented at a star-studded event at the Hilton Newcastle-Gateshead in February 2022. The programme, starring Brenda Blethyn as the tenacious Detective Vera Stanhope, won the prestigious Best Drama award and the actress won for Best Drama Performance. Accepting the awards, Brenda Blethyn thanked the Royal Television Society, and said: "I am absolutely thrilled to bits. This year sees us embarking on season 12 of Vera, so that means we'll have made 50 feature length Vera films."Despite my levity, I was engrossed in the story from beginning to end. I tried to slow down my reading because who knows when or if there will be another Vera book but I couldn't control myself. I had to find out "who dunnit." If you like the TV series, you're in for a treat - because the atmospheric but realistic books are even better." Northumberland by the rise and fall of tidal waters. A fabulous setting for a murder mystery, with its sudden fogs, and the dangers stemming from its rising tides. I must be getting used to Janine Birkett’s voice because it didn’t bother me as much with this book. Holly is worried she is going to be like Vera, alone and single and nothing to show for it but her job.