You know what I hate about British dramas? They can just never get the military right. It’s one thing if it’s older, lighthearted stories - the bombastic silly old colonel, the brash young lieutenant. But in things like Foyle’s War or Vera these caricatures stand out among otherwise realistic settings. For instance, in this episode of the show, there are five young male soldiers. One is an adulterer, another’s a murderer, another’s a liar, another’s a sexist, and a last one is crippled by PTSD. None of them are positive characters, and the portraits are all too clearly informed by the opinion that soldiers do little more than “the marching and the saluting,” and that war necessarily destroys a man’s life.

The story begins by paralleling two swimming women - one is Vera, trying to please her doctor by exercising at The Willows Health Spa and Club. The other swimmer is the victim, Jenny Lister, who is summarily strangled by someone on shore. Vera and Joe's investigations lead them to discover that she had, in the past, been involved in another murder case. One of her underlings, social worker Connie Masters, was blamed for mishandling the case of a young mother who had ultimately drowned her young son. On the other hand, Lister’s personal life was fairly simple. Her beautiful daughter Hannah is dating Simon, whose mother disapproves - but does she disapprove enough to kill?I’m the police,’ Vera said. ‘Detective Inspector Stanhope. Stand there. Don’t go in and don’t let anyone else in.’ Still no response. Lisa continued to stare. ‘Did you hear me?’ Jenny, on the other hand, was well regarded and adored by her daughter Hannah (Hannah Britland). She is devastated over her mother's death and leans heavily on a neighbor, Simon (James Rastall), whose mother Veronica (Penny Downe) disapproves of the relationship.

The main reason is that Cleeves has written the central character, DI Vera Stanhope, superbly. A "moon-faced", overweight woman, impassioned by her job and sharp of mind and tongue, despite the "Shall we have a cup of tea, pet?" that she frequently uses as a prelude to interrogation. Vera possesses the established detective personality of the dysfunctional outsider who uses their obsessive traits and their intuition to arrive at the solution to the crime. But Cleeves has created Vera's character deftly. We follow her working days and her solitary evenings in her rural hillside home, feet-up with a bottle of beer or two, mulling over the progress of the case. We catch her occasional pangs of envy when observing those "on the inside", those with friends, families, relationships. We begin to understand where the sharpness, the mix of cruelty and sudden warmth comes from. And equally we understand the survival instinct that will drive her to remain wary and on the "outside". Ann Cleeves να μπερδέψει τον αναγνώστη σε σχέση με το ποιος είναι ο ένοχος και πώς λειτουργούσε η ντετέκτιβ θύμισαν Agatha Christie! In the third novel, Vera is called to investigate the deaths of two young people, who were murdered in the same way - placed in water and surrounded by flowers - before a third murder is committed. Watch this one in Vera’s TV debut in series one, episode one. Silent Voices Overall, the weakest episode so far. It had its moments, but there were too many cliches and military stereotypes. And what could possibly be more cynical than the final scene - a gang of boys playing with toy guns?

Cleeves has a way of making unlikely murders plausible by grounding them in recognisable communities... [Vera's] bluntness gives solidity to such police procedurals, which bodes well for the ITV adaptation." When a social worker connected to a high-profile case is found drowned by being held under water, Vera and Joe (Brenda Blethyn and Joe (David Leon) embark on an investigation, in "Silent Voices." Social worker Jenny Lister was part of the Mattie Jones case two years earlier. Mattie had drowned her son Elias while she was the client of Connie Masters, whom Jenny supervised. Jenny was found innocent of any wrongdoing, but Connie Masters, overloaded with cases, was blamed. Masters now lives quietly under another name. Inspector, Vera had wanted to say. Inspector Stanhope. Knowing that actually this child would be unimpressed by the rank. Inspector Vera Stanhope is played to perfection in the TV series by the wonderful Brenda Blethyn and thus I was interested in reading this book when offered on the kindle daily deal. Vera is not like other detectives who tend to have affairs and problem home lives. By her own admission she is large and shambolic with bare legs and blotchy skin and never wears makeup. There is a comical, even touching scene when Vera interiews the main suspect in the murder of social worker Jenny Lister, and there is a stirring of lust within her...."He smiled again and sat on the floor facing them. The movement was fluid, very graceful, and it came to Vera, unbidden, that he'd be very good at sex. The physical stuff. Was that part of his attraction? She felt a moment of panic, of the old regret that time was slipping past. Then something close to lust."

Except, of course, for the sassy female officer who doesn’t really fit in with the guys. She joins Vera and Joe as they investigate the suspicious suicide of a young “sandancer.” His death seems to be connected with that of a fellow soldier, KIA some months ago. They visit that soldier’s parents, who, suspiciously, have a bunch of guns. Soon enough, they’re discovering all number of dirty secrets in the dead man’s closet.

Favorite Books (No Particular Order)

Holly has now departed, to be replaced by Bethany Whelan. Jury’s still out, but I think she’ll work. Kenny and Billy are at their best here, and it’ll be interesting to see how she fits into the established cast.