Book Summary and Reviews of The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves

Book Summary

From Ann Cleeves - New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows - comes the stunning new Vera Stanhope novel, The Darkest Evening.

On the first snowy night of winter, Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope sets off for her home in the hills. Though the road is familiar, she misses a turning and soon becomes lost and disorientated. A car has skidded off the narrow road in front of her, its door left open, and she stops to help. There is no driver to be seen, so Vera assumes that the owner has gone to find help. But a cry calls her back: a toddler is strapped in the back seat.

Vera takes the child and, driving on, she arrives at a place she knows well. Brockburn is a large, grand house in the wilds of Northumberland, now a little shabby and run down. It's also where her father, Hector, grew up. Inside, there's a party in full swing: music, Christmas lights and laughter. Outside, unbeknownst to the revelers, a woman lies dead in the snow.

As the blizzard traps the group deep in the freezing Northumberland countryside, Brockburn begins to give up its secrets, and as Vera digs deeper into her investigation, she also begins to uncover her family's complicated past.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. .The title of the novel, The Darkest Evening, is taken from the Robert Frost poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" which Holly quotes in chapter twenty-four. Why do you think the author chose this poem— and this title—to represent the novel? How do the themes of the poem and the themes of the story intersect?
2. At the end of chapter one, Vera looks through the windows of the Brockburn estate, contemplating a "different, more glamorous life which would never be hers." Does knowing Vera's family comes from money change how you feel about her? The way her team feels about her? Do you think there are aspects of a life at Brockburn that she might have wanted, given the choice?
3. Speaking of the land around ...