Red Bones - Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves brings us to Spring with her latest volume in the Shetland Quartet, Red Bones, and it is indeed a most welcome follow-up to the award-winning series opener, Raven Black, and its successor, White Nights.
 
In this, a set of human remains is discovered at an archaeological dig on the island of Whalsay, a small island community where even the local policeman is related to the victim of an ensuing shotgun accident. Is this connected to the red bones unearthed at the dig? Old bones and new bones form a tantalising tale of intrigue.
 
People and landscape are brought vividly to life in a portrayal of a self-protecting community, where even Inspector Perez feels like an outsider when he steps off the ferry after the short crossing from the Shetland mainland.
 
Interweaving mysteries make Red Bones that most appealing of crime novels, the classic page-turner; but make no mistake as this is no 1950s ''cosy'', it is an intelligent, clever and, above all, thoroughly enjoyable novel. I am certainly waiting with anticipation for the final instalment in Ann's Shetland Quartet.