Wild Fire: A Shetland Island Mystery (Shetland Island Mysteries, 8)
Wild Fire: A Shetland Island Mystery (Shetland Island Mysteries, 8) book cover

Wild Fire: A Shetland Island Mystery (Shetland Island Mysteries, 8)

Hardcover – September 4, 2018

by
Price
$17.92
Format
Hardcover
Pages
416
Publisher
Minotaur Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1250124845
Dimensions
5.82 x 1.39 x 8.56 inches
Weight
1.05 pounds

Description

Praise for Wild Fire :"A fantastic end to one of the key detective series of the past decade."―Ragnar Jonasson, author of The Darkness "Intricately plotted and elegantly written, this installment is billed as Perez's final case. Series fans will be sorry to see the last of him."― Publishers Weekly (starred)“Compelling…Throughout the “Shetland Island” series, Cleeves lovingly depicts the Scottish island life, and this volume is no exception. Fans may be saddened but certainly not disappointed by this final installment.”― Library Journal (starred)"The final case in this complex, character-driven series is a tour de force."― Kirkus Reviews " Wild Fire is one of the best books in her long series. It's the perfect end for this complex character wedded to this past and this place."― Globe and Mail Praise for the Shetland Island series: “Nothing short of riveting.” ―Louise Penny “In true Christie fashion, Cleeves once more pulls the wool over our eyes with cunning and conviction.” ―Colin Dexter, author of the Inspector Morse series “Intricate and engrossing...offers readers the pleasures of the traditional locked room/isolated island mystery.” ― The Washington Post Book World “Every bit as good as we have come to expect from Cleeves.” ― Reviewing The Evidence “ Thin Air is perhaps the best and most compelling in the series so far.” ― Curled Up With a Good Book "Cleeves has an unusually deft hand with characters; not one of them seems purely plot functional, and Perez's characters keeps deepening with each book."― Booklist (starred)"Absorbing...Cleeves keeps readers guessing until the final page."― Publishers Weekly on Dead Water "Cleeves is in her element in this extraordinary landscape, with its old croft houses and modern oil fields―and water, water everywhere."― New York Times Book Review on Dead Water "Cleeves has an unusually deft hand with characters; not one of them seems purely plot functional, and Perez's characters keeps deepening with each book."― Booklist (starred) on Dead Wate r "Absorbing...Cleeves keeps readers guessing until the final page."― Publishers Weekly on Dead Water "...Enough to freeze the blood."― New York Times Book Review on Raven Black ANN CLEEVES is the multi-million copy bestselling author behind two hit television series― Shetland , starring Douglas Henshall, and Vera , starring Academy Award Nominee Brenda Blethyn―both of which are watched and loved in the United States. Shetland and Vera are available on BritBox in the United States. An adaptation of The Long Call , the first book in her Two Rivers series, will premiere on BritBox in 2021.The first Shetland novel, Raven Black , won the CWA Gold Dagger for best crime novel, and Ann was awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger in 2017. She lives in the United Kingdom.

Features & Highlights

  • Wild Fire
  • is the much-anticipated final entry in Ann Cleeves's beloved Shetland series, which is now a hit television show starring Douglas Henshall.
  • "Nothing short of riveting."
  • ―Louise Penny
  • on
  • Blue Lightning
  • "Gripping from start to finish."
  • ―
  • Booklist
  • "Jimmy Perez is a fine creation."
  • ―
  • Peter Robinson
  • The betrayal of those closest burns most of all . . .
  • Hoping for a fresh start, an English family moves to the remote Shetland islands, eager to give their autistic son a better life. But when a young nanny's body is found hanging in the barn beside their home, rumors of her affair with the husband spread like wildfire. As suspicion and resentment of the family blazes in the community, Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez is called in to investigate. He knows it will mean his boss, Willow Reeves, returning to run the investigation, and confronting their complex relationship.With families fracturing and long-hidden lies emerging, Jimmy faces the most disturbing case of his career.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(7.5K)
★★★★
25%
(3.1K)
★★★
15%
(1.9K)
★★
7%
(879)
★
-7%
(-880)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Shetland's Finally Done - 4 books too long *******SPOLERS*********

Conceived or at least marketed as a quartet, the first four Shetland novels were wonderful. Each book was devoted to a separate island to demonstrate the contrast between what is lumped together as The Shetlands. The notion that Perez was a descendant of Spanish sailors gave him an outsider point of view. The plots were interesting enough, but the atmosphere and descriptions of each island were glorious for an armchair traveler. The books declined in quality with the superfluous Book 5 and the introduction of Willow - a sort of misfit who somehow managed to become a high ranking investigator & Perez's boss/lover. With this "final" book, the Perez of the original quartet has morphed from a man with a deep desire for children - his marriage ended due to infertility problems & he was seemingly thrilled to become an informal guardian to his late lover's child Cassie - to one who resents Willow's pregnancy w/their child. He has no real standing with Cassie whose natural father treats Perez like a childminder.

That aside, there's no mystery here. There's a portrait of an unhappy marriage, two calculating victims whom no one mourns, and an obvious murderer. The most interesting character is an autistic child who straddles two worlds. The narrative is so repetitious Ms. Cleeves seemed to be padding pages to surpass novella length.
16 people found this helpful
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Perez goes out with a bang!

That's not a spoiler by the way - just an expression. What a fitting tribute and farewell to Jimmy Perez. Having followed him and his cases since book one, this is the last in the series and there’s a very fitting ending although it’s a new start for many characters.

As for the case before that though. An interesting one. A woman comes to see Perez at home as she knew his wife, knows Cassie and has a problem. She moved to the village recently and now lives in a hous where a man was previously murdered. Now that barn, the scene of the crime is the scene of something more and a case involving regret, despair and…well to tell you anything else is to give the game away and you have to say farewell to Jimmy yourself.

As ever, the setting of Lerwick and Shetland with a visit to Orkney is aptly and nicely done. The author loves this part of the world and it shows. Nearby islands are referred to, historical sites, local landmarks yes but also the names of birds, the type of food, sayings particular to the area, and in this novel, the Summer Solstice and the Helly Aa festival.

A roaring fire and fitting ending of a novel. Bye Jimmy, we’ll miss you!
3 people found this helpful
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This book didn’t Capture my imagination. But I’m not confused by it (3 stars)

The writing seems ok, it’s not overly confusing or specific accent jargon, but I just can’t get into it. It’s not slow paced but I’m seven chapters in and don’t really care if I find out what happens next. I feel like you either connect with a set of characters or you don’t. Unfortunately for me I’m not connecting. So I’ll see if someone else wants to read it then I’ll update if they love it. It’s like when you watch a PBS British TV show and think- is something else on? That’s how I feel about this story.
2 people found this helpful
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Final book in the Shetland series

As usual, Ann Cleeves has written a book that will keep you from doing anything else until you've finished the final page. She has an understanding of how people, ordinary and extraordinary, think, what their motivations are, how they react to situations. Then, she weaves her characters through a plot enhanced by subtleties of the locale -- in this case the beauty and wildness of the Shetland islands. Willow surprises Jimmy with an unexpected announcement. Sandy makes a decision. Cassie's dad will be moving away.
2 people found this helpful
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More like a soap opera than a detective novel

The atmosphere is good but the story just dragged on a bit too long. Written with too many characters’ point of views.
The main character, Jimmy, seems to be just running around interviewing various people in the whole book. None of them really was that interesting. Some were kind of annoying. Not too much detecting going on. The ending was just blah.
1 people found this helpful
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Final of Shetland series. Pulitzer prize winner.

I loved this Shetland Island series with Perez and since this is the final book in the series, I am disappointed not to have another book in the series coming. I have read the entire series and Ann cleeves is the reason. Excellent writing. I will look for her books in the future.
1 people found this helpful
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Not as good as previous books

I eagerly awaited for this book to come out, but was disappointed and did not finish it. My husband read it before me and I asked him after I read about 100 pages, "is this book slow and boring" and he said it was but he kept reading hoping it would get better. The plot was thin and the ending could have been a lot better.
1 people found this helpful
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i wanted to like it but...

this book was more about willow than jimmy. i feel like cassie, who is a huge part of his life, was all but forgotten.
1 people found this helpful
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Farewell Jimmy Perez, Nice Knowing You

I was delighted to find this latest (and last, sadly) installment of Ann Cleeves' Shetland Island series at my local library. I'd devoured the first books as quickly as I could find them. The atmosphere of the Shetland Islands is haunting and all-encompassing. I am sad to leave the locale and DI Jimmy Perez (with Spanish ancestors who gave him his dark eyes and hair) after traversing some of the toughest years and cases with him.

This book did not disappoint in terms of the mystery and the progress of figuring it out. We even get to find out about a new development in the fledgling relationship between Jimmy and Willow Reeves (his boss from the mainland and sometimes lover.)

Many have recounted the plot, so I won't bore you by repeating it. I will say that I agree with some reviewers about the lure of the straight police procedural. I've always found that part fascinating. And, I love mystery authors who weave in details about the character's lives, especially in a series, where you can follow along as they grow and change with their circumstances, as if you're getting to know them as you spend time hanging out.

I hear there is a television series and I may check it out, although I fear my imagination might be sorely bruised if I do. I may prefer to leave Jimmy Perez as I imagine him: darkly handsome and gruff, with a heart of gold that he does not wear on his sleeve.

I highly recommend starting this series from the beginning, which you will want to do anyway, once you read this novel that can stand alone. Farewell, Shetland Islands! Godspeed, Jimmy! I hope to perhaps meet again...someday...when Ms. Cleeves is drawn to revisit you and the islands.
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The British TV series is better

This was the first Ann Cleeves novel I've read. I have watched Shetland the TV series and really liked it. This novel was just so-so. It seems she ran out of enthusiasm for the plot and wound up telling us at the end instead of showing it to us. The Vera TV series is really good. I've watched most of them and they too are based on Ann Cleeves writing. Maybe those novels are better than the ones about Shetland. I'll need to read one to have a firm opinion. On the whole I learn some things about Shetland and would love to visit it one day.

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