Willow and Jimmy are led to Sullum Voe, the heart of Shetland s North Sea oil and gas industry. He had few friends in Shetland, so why was he back? In his wake, he left a scandal involving a young girl, Evie Watt, who is now engaged to a seaman. Markham originally a Shetlander but who had made a name for himself in London had left the islands years before. Since the death of his fiancée, Inspector Jimmy Perez has been out of the loop, but his interest in this new case is stirred and he decides to help the inquiry. When the body of journalist Jerry Markham is found in a traditional Shetland boat, outside the house of the Fiscal, down at the Marina, young Detective Inspector Willow Reeves is drafted in to head up the investigation. For the first time in years, Catherine's neighbours nervously lock their doors, whilst a killer lives on in their midst. But when police insist on opening out the investigation a veil of suspicion and fear is thrown over the entire community. The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man - loner and simpleton Magnus Tait. As Fran opens her mouth to scream, the ravens continue their deadly dance. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbour Catherine Ross. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a vivid splash of colour on the white ground, ravens circling above. It is a cold January morning and Shetland lies buried beneath a deep layer of snow. Perez also has to deal with the fact that some years ago, a child by the name of Catriona Bruce - who lived at the same address as Catherine did in the present - vanished without a trace.Raven Black is the first book in Ann Cleeves' Shetland series - filmed as the major BBC1 drama starring Douglas Henshall, Shetland. A piece of fiber found under her fingernails show that she had been at her teacher Hugo Scott's flat, something he initially denied. On Sunday, she visited Jess at tea-time and was last seen when she dropped in at a neighbor's house around 8:30 p.m. The previous Saturday evening, Catherine and her friend Sally had attended a party on the beach and then visited an old recluse, Magnus Bain whom she had previously met while working on a school project. Monday morning and was strangled with her own scarf. The local doctor determines that she died between midnight Sunday and four a.m.

It seems the case may be linked to the disappearance of a young girl 19 years earlier.ĭI Perez and his team investigate the murder of 17 year-old Catherine Ross who was found on the beach in the early hours of the morning by Jess Collins who was walking her dog.

When the body of a teenage girl is found on a beach, DI Perez leads the investigation.

Shetland raven black