Marilyn's Mystery Reads

Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope of the Northumberland and City Police has returned to her home town.   She’s there to investigate a serious situation at Rosebank, what the Scots call a care home, a placement for adolescents with nowhere else to go.  The body of one of Rosebank’s new hires, Josh Woodburn, has been found in the woods near the home, and one of the young women who is living there, Chloe Spence, is missing.

Chloe’s father abandoned the family several years ago and now is living the expat life in Dubai, her mother is a patient in a psychiatric ward, and her paternal grandparents tried to have her live with them for a while but it didn’t work out.  At Salvation Academy, the school she’s attending, Chloe is recognized as a bright student but someone who isn’t interested in following the rules, alienating both teachers and her more obedient fellow students.  The school’s founder and sponsor, Helen Miles, is a strict believer in conformity and definitely doesn’t appreciate students who deviate from that path.

Two of the members of Vera’s team, veteran Joe Ashworth and newcomer Rosie Bell, go to Josh’s home to tell his parents of his death.  At first his father Chris is unbelieving, saying that Josh didn’t work at Rosebank, that he was a student living with friends near the university, but when he and his wife Anna are taken to identify the body, there’s no doubt that this is their son.  They can’t understand why he didn’t tell them what he was doing.

Vera visits Chloe’s grandparents, Gordon and Pam Spence, and finds Chloe’s father John there, home for a visit from abroad.  John is unapologetic about his absence from his daughter’s life, but Gordon is more emotional, obviously feeling that he and his wife let their granddaughter down.

When Vera says she was told that there is a special place that Chloe loved, Gordon knows immediately what she is referring to.  It’s a cottage that’s been in the family for several generations, and he offers to take Vera there in hopes that is where his granddaughter is hiding.

The hunt for Chloe culminates in the Witch Hunt, an event in town that has been going on for generations.  A village woman is dressed as a witch and goes up the mountain, and the children of the town must find her.  If the witch touches a child, they’re out of the game; if they see her before she sees them, they shout “witch, witch, I see you” and the game ends.  To Joe it sounds macabre and almost evil, especially when the police are looking for a missing teenager, but the powers-that-be insist that the tradition must be kept.  But it’s almost the cause of another murder.

The Dark Wives is an outstanding mystery.  Vera is, as always, a brilliant detective, not very concerned about ruffling feathers as she investigates.  Still, we can see in her interactions with Rosie that she has softened her behavior since the recent death of her young colleague Holly, feeling guilty that she didn’t do enough to protect her.  And perhaps because this case involves a missing teenager, and brings back memories of Vera’s own unhappy childhood, readers will see a gentler side of the detective inspector than was evident before.

You can read more about Ann Cleeves at this website.