• Red Bones

  • A Thriller
  • By: Ann Cleeves
  • Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
  • Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,457 ratings)

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Red Bones  By  cover art

Red Bones

By: Ann Cleeves
Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
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Publisher's summary

Red Bones marks the third in a stellar suspense series set on the Shetland Islands from bestselling author Ann Cleeves--the basis for the hit BBC show Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall.

When a young archaeologist discovers a set of human remains, the locals are intrigued. Is it an ancient find—or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman is fatally shot and Ann Cleeves's popular series detective Jimmy Perez is called in. As claustrophobic mists swirl around the island, Inspector Perez finds himself totally in the dark.

©2009 Ann Cleeves (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Excellent...As in the best traditional English village whodunits, the killer lurks among the townspeople, but his or her identity still comes as a shock.” —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Cleeves is expert at depicting hardscrabble island life, parental expectations and disappointments and emotionally charged silences. Thoughtful readers should give Perez a try.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Cleeves' latest mystery is travel and entertainment rolled into one.... a suspenseful read.” —RT Book Reviews

What listeners say about Red Bones

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Satisfying

As I read the author's descriptions of the Shetlands I feel as though I am there. The fictional characters seem like real people living real lives. I look forward to every book of this series, and so far I have not been disappointed.

I would not describe this book as "fast paced". It goes into detail about the history of the characters, and the location. I don't do anything else when I listen to this series. It demands my full attention. I consider the hours of listening time well spent.

Narrator Gordon Griffin is excellent. His character voices are subtly different. HIs narration adds to the story. His performance adds to the story.

On the cover, this book is described as a "thriller". I'm not quite sure why that is. I don't usually read books categorized as thrillers. I imagine them to be fast paced, nerve wracking, and often too violent for my taste. This book is none of those things.

If you've enjoyed other books in the "Shetland" series, I believe you will enjoy this one. If you are looking for a story with lots of "action", you may be disappointed.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good book, but not Cleeves' best work

I love anything Ann Cleeves writes (especially including her other series, "Vera"). This book takes place in the Shetland Islands, and that is one of the nicest parts of the story. Jimmy Perez is the lead detective, but aided by His constable Sandy, who has been the one to find the dead body of his grandmother. I liked the weaving in and out of the family story. And to some degree, the mystery of what has occurred over the years in the family is as interesting as discovering who the current murderer is. This book has a lot of atmosphere. I love hearing the story of how the islanders live, in such a remote place. The narration is quite good. However, even though Ann Cleeves' style is generally to move slowly and methodically, and develop the ambience as much as the characters in her works, this one seemed just a tiny bit stretched out. I rarely want a Cleeves book to end, but was ready to finish this one. I recommend, but there is a difference between a long, developed story and a page turner. I don't expect page turners from Cleeves (indeed I like that about her work) but this moved a little too slowly I thought. Love her background and character development, but this was a bit too much drawn out. Still a very good book.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

I Feel Like I have Been to the Shetland Island

Ann Cleeves is a master story-teller. I found her description of Jimmy Perez to be perfectly written -- “It always amazed Sandy how much Perez could pack into a small space of time. If you met him you’d think the inspector was kind of slow. It was his way of thinking before he spoke so you knew that when the words came out they were just the ones he’d intended. But Perez wasn’t slow at all. There was a sort of magic in his asking the right questions the first time, picking up the clues in a situation, knowing when it was time to move on.”

That is how the story proceeds. Slow, meandering and then it all links up with old and new stories and people on an archaeology dig site. The murders look like an accident and suicide, but come to a satisfying conclusion because the motive made sense. I was surprised by the twisty ending, but all the clues had been there for me to figure out myself. Listening to this audiobook was a step back to a slower pace and was a pure listening pleasure for me.

By the way, I have been watching the "Shetland" series based on Cleeves' books on PBS. It is a fantastic TV series. The atmosphere and scenery increase the enjoyment.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

After a long sleuth at long last a another mystery series worth listening to

Plausible enough, yet a calm and wonderful page turner as one wondered who. I quite like those , as this, that are a mild history lesson, along with geography. Well paced. Believable characters. And the reader became the characters, easy on the ear and mind. This is an author whose work I will look forward to hearing and when I have read her last, for I will read them all at least twice, I will with a sigh, feel a sense of loss

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

another atmospheric Shetland mystery

This was one of the best of the Shetland series, in which the characters of Jimmy and Sandy grow richer and more nuanced

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Lame

The book started out interesting- at an archeological dig, but the more I listened, the less I liked it. The characters were poorly developed and mostly unlikable. The one character with an interesting story and a likable personality ended up a murder victim. Two of the main characters were brand new parents but neither expressed a single word of love towards the baby or towards each other. The mom griped about changing diapers, the baby crying and being stuck in the house. This mom showed more interest in her knitting than in her new child. The grandparents expressed no interest or love towards the baby either. Even the main detective was hard to get excited about and his own relationship left me feeling, "so what?" In the end the murder was solved and a wild background story was given which was so hard to believe I was just glad to have it over. I loved the first book in this series, but the second & third in the series fell flat. I will not be giving this series any more tries. The narrator did the best he could with the material he had.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

love this series and great characters

I love all the little details and hearing about the Shetland islands. the mystery help me to the end would lots of twisting turns

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Do not waste your credit

Oh my gosh. First book by this author and never again. Stayed with it for a full boring three hours and gave up. Really boring book and performsnce

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

outstanding as usual. Masterly enacted.

Sometimes I was impatient and eager to hurry the plot along
Great plot, acting excellent.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Th dullest Ann Cleeves I’ve read

I thing I disliked the most was the narrator. H was simply terrible in every way except diction. It was very badly narrated.
But, it’s a dull and lackluster book from all angles. Nothing holds together, not the character development, not the plot, not the psychology.
I was extremely disappointed

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2 people found this helpful