Review: THE SLEEPING AND THE DEAD, Ann Cleeves

• 
  This edition made available as an e-book through my local library on Libby
  
• Originally published 2003, recently republished
• 400 pages

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)
A vivid psychological suspense novel. 

A diving instructor makes a gruesome discovery in Cranwell Lake - the body of a teenager who has clearly been in the water for many years. Detective Peter Porteous is called to the scene. After trailing through the missing persons files, he deduces that the corpse is Michael Grey, an enigmatic and secretive young man who was reported missing by his foster parents in 1972. 

As the police investigation gets under way in Cranwell, on the other side of the country prison officer Hannah Morton is about to get the shock of her life. For Michael was her boyfriend, and she was with him the night he disappeared. The news report that a body has been found brings back dreaded and long buried memories from her past...

My Take

This stand-alone followed the Inspector Ramsay series, but preceded the Shetland series. 

Detective Peter Porteous and his older assistant Sergeant Eddie Stout don't seem to have made any other appearance, although they had potential as a detective duo. 

The novel is multi-stranded, complex, and well littered with red herrings. There are some interesting scenarios and some well drawn characters. It kept me guessing and I really didn't know who the murderer was, although in retrospect there was a hint.

My rating: 4.5 

I've also read

• RAVEN BLACK - Shetland #1
• WHITE NIGHTS - Shetland#2
• RED BONES - Shetland #3
• 5.0, BLUE LIGHTNING - Shetland#4
• 5.0, DEAD WATER  - Shetland#5
• 4.6, THIN AIR - Shetland #6
• 4.3, MURDER IN PARADISE - Palmer-Jones series #3
• TELLING TALES (Vera Stanhope) #2
• 4.8, SILENT VOICES, (Vera Stanhope) #4
• 5.0, THE GLASS ROOM (Vera Stanhope) #5
• 4.9, HARBOUR STREET (Vera Stanhope) #6
• 4.5, BURIAL OF GHOSTS - stand-alone
• 4.8, THE MOTH CATCHER (Vera Stanhope #7)
• 4.4, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE (Quick Reads)
• 4.7, THE SEAGULL - (Vera Stanhope #8)
• 4.6, THE LONG CALL - Two Rivers #1
• 4.9, THE DARKEST EVENING - Vera #9
• 4.5, A LESSON DYING - Inspector Ramsay #1
• 4.5, MURDER IN MY BACKYARD -Inspector Ramsay #2 
• 4.4, A DAY IN THE DEATH OF DOROTHEA CASSIDY - Inspector Ramsay  #3
• 4.6, KILLJOY -  Inspector Ramsay #4
• 4.5, THE HEALERS - Inspector Ramsay #5
• 4.6, THE BABY-SNATCHER - Inspector Ramsay #6
• OFFSHORE, Ann Cleeves - Shetland 6.1 - short stories
• 5.0, THE RISING TIDE - Vera #10