The Rising Tide (Vera Stanhope)

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Philip Robson is a priest, Ken Hampton is a ex-headteacher, now suffering from dementia, looked after by his highly competent and well organised wife, Louise, Annie Laidler is part owner of the popular Bread and Olives, and celebrity former journalist, Rick Kelsall, has been sacked after sexual assault complaints from an intern. There’s a swathe of clues to go through, and false starts, overlayed by the sense of time and Hector’s bits of nonsense bullying Vera from the grave.

THE RISING TIDE is yet another example of Cleeves’ skillful writing, especially including a reference to COVID without dwelling on it. They think the murder may be due to Rick's present transgressions or some rivalry among the group, but Vera is insistent that it is somehow connected to the long-ago death of Isobel. Sometime, she supposed, she’d have to release him and send him out into the world beyond her sphere of influence, but not yet. The Darkest Evening reminds us that the novels are richer, fuller, and more satisfying than any episode of television can be…[Cleeves] is a master of the genre and if anything has gained a step over the years.Now they are 50 years older, all at different places in their lives, about to begin another weekend of eating, drinking, meditation, swimming, and lots of walking and talking. Rick was a popular TV presenter who has recently been stood down by his network for allegations of sexual assault by an intern, so Vera wonders that one of his female victims could have exacted her own revenge. This plot line was not well developed, and certainly not handled with compassion or a solid understanding of the issue.

If one of the women who’d shared that first weekend of connection had been free, perhaps that would have worked.

And there had been a connection, so strong and fierce that after fifty years the tie was still there, unbroken and still worth celebrating. The aging tribe meet at Pilgrims' House to light candles, reminisce over their years together at grammar school, and dine and drink heartily into the night. Vera fans have every reason to feel a bit sorry for themselves as Brenda Blethyn has cast doubt on the future of the ITV detective drama – so is Vera ending?

But with the tide rising, secrets long-hidden are finding their way to the surface, and Vera and the team may find themselves in more danger than they could have believed possible. She was attracted less by the ornithology than the bottle of malt whisky she saw in his rucksack when she showed him his room. She said: “Everyone needs a huge amount of stamina to get through long days of filming with often a lot of travel to and from set. The story takes place on Holy Island, connected to the mainland by a causeway, The rising tide covers the causeway twice a day, making it inaccessible by car when the tide is high, and isolating the site. I hated it, it sort of spoilt the book for me, but I just reminded myself of how much I’d enjoyed it up to this point, and accepted it for what seemed like a cheap trick….Rick and Isobel hadn’t noticed her, because they were so focused on each other, spitting out insults. Cleeves turns the location of Holy Island, that simply drips with atmosphere, into a wonderful central background character, popular with tourists, with its menacing mists and fogs, and the dangers of the rising tide. So, here Philip was, a priest on the verge of retirement, an old believer, yet with no great desire to meet his maker.

They gather together for a hearty evening meal with plenty of alcohol and discuss memories and their present lives.

The Rising Tide is a good addition to the Vera Stanhope series, but some descriptions felt repetitive, and I felt like something was missing in comparison to previous books of the series! She is adept at conjuring the texture of their complex relationships, their stories, and the stories they tell themselves to keep on going. Like many others I love Vera (brilliantly portrayed on television by Brenda Blethyn) and her larger-than-life personality shines through the pages and she is undoubtedly the centre and star of her own show.