Michael and Peg Long have a daughter, Jeanie, who lived with a man, Keith Mantel, whose daughter, Abigail, was murdered.

She feels her way into the complexities of a situation and perceptively picks up on hostilities and lies. Ann is the author of the books behind ITV's VERA, now in it's third series, and the BBC's SHETLAND, which will be aired in December 2012. Emma's parent's home seems cold and empty which was a perfect metaphor for what was going on with a lot of people. Both misfits in their own way, Emma longed for escape to the Old Chalet and Abigail’s glamorous lifestyle with her widowed and charismatic father, Keith.As there were a couple of characters in each of those categories I sometimes lost track of which crotchety, naive hooligan was speaking.

But she's so great at what she does, even when we know that she's as lonely as they come, and probably drinks too much. It is a compelling mystery as a young woman is wrongfully accused of murdering her boyfriend's teenage daughter.Again as in the first Vera Stanhope mystery, The Crow Trap, Vera is not center but is slowly coming forward to have the suspects circle her instead of the other way around.

The Humberside location is vividly brought to life, the coldness of the North Sea was felt throughout. At one point she is referred to as looking like a bag lady but when it comes to interviewing suspects and discovering the guilty she is the best. We also follow up with the original investigator and another officer on the case and we find out how their lives changed too. Hopefully there will be more character-building in the third book which I will probably read at some point. The setting perfectly captures the essence of the book, a 15 year old girl murdered in a village of lies and deceit.

Ten years after Jeanie Long has been convicted for the murder of 15 year old Abigail Mantel, Jeanie commits suicide after being turned down again for parole.