THE SEAGULL

From CWA Diamond Dagger winner Ann Cleeves comes The Seagull, the eighth installment in the Vera Stanhope series.

A visit to her local prison brings DI Vera Stanhope face to face with an old enemy: former detective superintendent, and now inmate, John Brace. Brace was convicted of corruption and involvement in the death of a gamekeeper – and Vera played a key part in his downfall.

Now, Brace promises Vera information about the disappearance of Robbie Marshall, a notorious wheeler-dealer who disappeared in the mid-nineties, if she will look out for his daughter and grandchildren. He tells her that Marshall is dead, and that his body is buried close to St Mary’s Island in Whitley Bay. However, when a search team investigates, officers find not one skeleton, but two.

This cold case case takes Vera back in time, and very close to home, as Brace and Marshall, along with a mysterious stranger known only as ‘the Prof’, were close friends of Hector, her father. Together, they were the 'Gang of Four’, regulars at a glamorous nightclub called The Seagull. Hector had been one of the last people to see Marshall alive. As the past begins to collide dangerously with the present, Vera confronts her prejudices and unwanted memories to dig out the truth . . .

The Seagull is a searing new novel by Sunday Times bestselling author Ann Cleeves, about corruption deep in the heart of a community, and fragile, and fracturing, family relationships.

ANN CLEEVES writes two series of traditional mysteries, both of which have been turned into hit TV series. The Vera Stanhope books have been made into the hit series "Vera" starring Brenda Blethyn and is available in the U.S. through Hulu, Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, and Acorn TV. Ann was presented the Lee Child Dead Good Readers' Award for Best Loner or Detective for Vera, and last year she was The International Guest of Honor at Left Coast Crime. Ann Cleeves lives in England.