Ann Cleeves' bestselling series of crime novels, featuring Detective
Jimmy Perez, and now also adapted for a major BBC television series,
draw their inspiration from the place in which they take place:
Shetland. An archipelago of more than 100 islands, it is the one of the
most remote places in the United Kingdom. Its 1500 miles of shore mean
that wherever one stands, there is a view of the sea. It has sheltered
voes and beaches and dramatically exposed cliffs, lush meadows full of
wild flowers in the summer and bleak hilltops where only the hardiest of
plants will grow. It is a place where traditions are valued and
celebrated, but new technologies and ways of working are also embraced.
In this gloriously illustrated companion to her novels, Ann Cleeves
takes readers through a year on Shetland, learning about its past,
meeting its people, celebrating its festivals and seeing how the flora
and fauna of the islands changes with the seasons. Whether it is the
drama of the Viking fire festival of Up Helly Aa in winter, or the
piercing blue and hot pink of spring flowers on the clifftops, the long,
white nights of midsummer or the fierce gales and high tides of autumn,
Shetland is vividly captured in all its bleak and special beauty.
