The sleeping and the dead by Ann Cleeves

A stand-alone first published in 2001 and now republished with an attractive cover, The sleeping and the dead has stood the test of time. Detective Peter Porteous is called to Cranwell Lake where the body of a young man has been uncovered due to sinking waters in a drought. Porteous is a meticulous police officer who enjoys examining files and when sorting through records of missing persons, discovers that the murdered teenager is Michael Grey, a secretive boy who disappeared twenty years previously. Meanwhile Hannah Morton is shocked to hear of the discovery of his body. Michael had been her boyfriend and she had seen him on the night he disappeared and long suppressed memories come to the surface.

Cleeves brings together connections from the past and the present, to give the reader a suspenseful psychological thriller. There are numerous red herrings and suspects and the finale was surprising. As with her Vera and Shetland books, the characters are well drawn and The sleeping and the dead could well have been the first in a series. Porteous is quiet and methodical, making sure that the correct procedures are in place. Hannah Morton is a librarian in a prison and this setting adds colour to the story. Her home life coping with her divorce and rebellious teenage daughter Rosie are easy to relate to while Rosie’s experiences are vividly described.

Ann Cleeves is a CWA Gold Dagger award-winning writer, and her early work is very readable.

Themes: Murder, Detectives.

Pat Pledger