Cold Earth

A Shetland Mystery

By: Ann Cleeves

Narrated by: Kenny Blyth

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Cold Earth is the seventh book in Ann Cleeves’ beloved Shetland series, which is now a major success for the BBC, and available to stream in the US.

From Ann Cleeves, winner of the Crime Writers Association's Diamond Dagger Award, comes Cold Earth.

In the dark days of a Shetland winter, torrential rain triggers a landslide that crosses the main road and sweeps down to the sea.

At the burial of his old friend Magnus Tait, Jimmy Perez watches the flood of mud and water smash through a house in its path. Everyone thinks the home is uninhabited, but in the wreckage he finds the body of a dark-haired woman wearing a red silk dress. Perez soon becomes obsessed with tracing her identity and realizes he must find out who she was and how she died.

Cold Earth is the seventh book in the beloved Shetland series, which is now a major success for the BBC.

©2016 Ann Cleeves (P)2017 Isis Publishing Ltd

Critic reviews

"Narrator Kenny Blyth transports listeners to the Shetland Islands with his delightful and easily understood Scots brogue...Blyth's talent with acting and accents makes for an engaging, well-paced listen." -AudioFile Magazine

Ann & Kenny, always the best!

Her writing and his narration blend beautifully and make life on Shetland seem very real.

Jimmy Perez becomes more accessible

Tight plotting, great characterization, stellar narration. Need I say more? I guess I am required to. OK, I listened in one fell swoop while spending a long day in the garden. Well, admittedly, the last couple were actually spent in a comfy adironack in the back yard. Try it, you'll like it.

Wonderful Return to Shetland

Ann Cleeves brooding detective Jimmy Perez is back with a new murder to solve. This story delves less into island life than some earlier books, but we get a glimpse into a bit of Jimmy's inner turmoil.

Cleeves is a great story teller

It is so good to be back with Perez. And it’s a great story. Told well. Can’t wait for the next one! And the next season on tv.

Ann Cleeves is a good writer

If you could sum up Cold Earth in three words, what would they be?

a good read/good story line. I really like Ann Cleeves as a mystery writer.

What did you like best about this story?

You did not know who the murderer was before until the end. You could not figure out the entire story line.

What aspect of Kenny Blyth’s performance would you have changed?

I had to listen very carefully to the book. While his accent was endearing it was somewhat disconcerting and I had to listen carefully to understand.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

These books are a TV series on Netflix.

Any additional comments?

Would recommend to others who enjoyed mysteries.

Shetland

I enjoy listening to these books. It’s like being on the islands with Jimmy Perez , Sandy, and so many of the islanders who have become familiar with their accents and small island life.

Another Ann Cleeves winner!!

I may be obsessively listening to Ann Cleeves books on Audible lately but that's because they are so good! This is another great listen. The narrator is essentially perfect and the story is terrific. The characters and place are so well drawn out hat they feel real, like people I've met and a place I've just come back from. (In reality - a place she makes me want to go to!). So happy with the whole thing!!

Enjoyed it.

Lived the story and interaction with the main characters. I like the Jimmy/Will relationship arc.

Perez; Getting back in the water of life, love and murder

It is one thing to be a murder investigator in the remote Isles of Shetland. It is another to have the tables turned, to hold your own beloved as her life’s blood 🩸 spills on to the ground. It takes years to find desire for work or love. In this Shetland Mystery DCI Jimmy Perez discovers both.

Ann Cleeves does Murder Mysteries like no one else. All is out in the open air, potential suspects are discovered in the land and sea that is Shetland. You discover them though their past, in the present and by their thoughts. One by one, they reveal themself until only one suspect remains.

So far, every one of Ann Cleeves mystery’s is a fascinating journey of truth about the many mysteries of the Shetland Isles and it’s Shet-landers.

Unique Setting and Characters

This has become one of my favorite mystery series. Before discovering these stories on television and in books I knew nothing about Shetland. Now I look forward to every literary visit to this place.

The characters in a story must appeal to me if I am to enjoy their story. I like Jimmy Perez. He is complex. He is brave. He is smart. He is gentle and loving. He has experienced difficult times through this series of stories. He has learned from his experience and managed to heal and survive without turning bitter or angry.

My enjoyment of this book does not rest solely on the "puzzle" of the crime to be solved. The author creates a cast of characters that I care about in a place that is fascinating. That is enough.

Narrator Kenny Blyth is superb.