by Ann Cleeves
Visit the author’s website at:
www.anncleeves.com
Also by Ann Cleeves
A Bird in the Hand
Come Death and High Water
Murder in Paradise
A Prey to Murder
A Lesson in Dying
Murder in My Backyard
A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy
Another Man’s Poison
Killjoy
The Mill on the Shore
Sea Fever
The Healers
High Island Blues
The Baby-Snatcher
The Sleeping and the Dead
Burial of Ghosts
The Vera Stanhope series
The Crow Trap
Telling Tales
Hidden Depths
The Shetland series
Raven Black
White Nights
Blue Lightning
Acknowledgements
Whalsay is a real island and one of the friendliest places I know. It doesn’t have a community called Lindby and all the people and places described there – including the camping bod where the students live – are fictitious. Symbister exists – it’s where the ferry arrives – but it doesn’t have a Pier House Hotel.
Lots of people helped with the writing of this book, but despite the collective expertise there are probably mistakes; they’re all mine. I’m grateful to Anna Williams and Helen Savage for their advice on archaeology, and to Cathy Batt and her colleagues at the University of Bradford for talking me through the Shetland excavations and showing me real red bones. Val Turner helped by reading the manuscript, putting me right on details of procedure and allowing me to use her name.
David Howarth’s excellent book The Shetland Bus provided information on the Norwegian resistance operation based in Lunna during the Second World War. While he describes the building of small boats for use in Norwegian inland waters, I can only guess that this might have taken place in Whalsay.
Once again Helen Pepper advised on crime-scene management. Sarah Clarke provided information on the possible complications of a difficult birth. Bob Gunn told me about rabbits and shotguns. Ingirid Eunson, Ann Prior and Sue Beardshall shared conversation and wine and ideas about the islands.
Thanks to our friends on Whalsay – to Angela and John Lowrie Irvine for their hospitality and sharing with me the photo of the knitting women, and to Paula and Jon Dunn for finding us a fantastic place to stay. I’m especially grateful to the Whalsay Reading Group for their honesty, their warmth and one of the most fascinating evenings of my writing career.
The Visit Shetland team and Shetland Arts officers have again provided support and assistance, and it’s always a delight to work with everyone at Shetland libraries.
Finally a huge thank you to Sara Menguc, Moses Cardona and Julie Crisp for their contribution to the book. Julie is every writer’s dream editor.
First published 2009 by Macmillan
First published in paperback 2010 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2010 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-0-230-73968-0 PDF
ISBN 978-0-230-73967-3 EPUB
Copyright © Ann Cleeves 2009
The right of Ann Cleeves to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The Macmillan Group has no responsibility for the information provided by any author websites whose address you obtain from this e-book (‘author websites’). The inclusion of the author website addresses in this e-book does not constitute an endorsement by or association with us of such sites or the content, products, advertising or other materials presented on such sites.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.
