Plot:
Detective Joe Ashworth is on the Metro, bringing his daughter Jessie home from a school program. The train is crowded because of the holidays. Joe noticed a couple necking. A well-dressed elderly lady boards, and Joe wonders why someone with money didn’t take a taxi.
Bad weather stops the train, and the passengers exit to busses. Jessie notices the well-dressed elderly isn’t moving. Believing she may have fallen asleep, Jessie approaches her to let her know they have to leave. Unfortunately, the older woman has been stabbed to death.
No one—not even Joe—noticed who might have killed the woman.
The police identify the victim as Margaret Krukowski who lived at a guest house on Harbour Street in the small town of Mardle run by Kate Dewer. Margaret was involved in an array of charity work, including a shelter for homeless women. Who would want to kill someone like her?
DI Vera Stanhope, Joe’s boss, arrives at Mardle trying to find everything about Margaret, convinced that understanding the background of the intensely private woman will lead to her killer. This proves difficult because people around her talk little of what they do know. Then, another murder occurs.
Thoughts:
This is the sixth in the Vera Stanhope series. Vera is an overweight woman of a certain age, whose late father used to engage in questionable activities, especially those involving protected birds. She routinely scolds those working for her, though Joe is her favorite protégé.
The setting is in northeastern England, and the book uses some dialect. Children are “bairns,” for example. This should not cause confusion for American readers, however, because the meaning is obvious from context.
One enjoyable thing about the books is that each character is drawn fully. The reader can see, hear, and often understand them by the end of the book. This adds a richness to the reading experience that many murder mysteries lack.
The mystery itself was not guessable—at least not to me. As often happens with Cleeves’ books, there are layers of generational history and small-town connections to unravel before anything makes sense.
Sadness comes across in events not connected to the murders. It’s as if sadness is part of the human condition.
I liked this book. If you are a Vera Stanhope, an Ann Cleeves, or a murder mystery fan, you should find this enjoyable.
Title: Harbour Street: Vera Stanhope #6
Author: Ann Cleeves
First published: January 16, 2014
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
I liked this one too. Cleeves’ books tend to be character focused and I agree she does that well. Often I feel, the mystery is just the axis which connects all the characters whom I would happily keep reading about even without the plot.
I hadn’t thought about that, but you’re right. Her characters are interesting without all that death and revenge stuff.
I have only read one Ann Cleeves’ novel that features the detective Matthew Venn. I have also watched a couple of the shows based Cleeves’ character Venn on Brit Box. I loved the movie versions better than the book because the movies are edgier. I also loved the series Shetland with Jimmy Perez. I had a serious crush on Detective Perez!
LOL. Jimmy Perez’s (with the weird pronunciation) whole backstory about being a descendant of someone from the Spanish Armada was cute. And the actor who played him wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes, either.
They’re restarted the Sheltands with a woman as a replacement for Jimmy. We watched the first stroryline. So far so good. The books were better. But they always are.
Matthew Venn is one I’ve never heard of. Oh, dear. Don’t get me searching. 🙂
The Matthew Venn books are newer. Thanks for letting me know that Shetland is back. I love the accents too!
Ah, Newer. Okay Will have to check him out.
I found Cleeves’ work last year. I’m working through the Shetland series and haven’t started of Vera yet. I’ll have to look for those as well. This sounds a lot like those works with a lot of sadness surrounding life. Many regrets, as well.
I’ve read a couple Shetlands, too. Hard to say which ones I like better.