Dark Wives. Ann Cleeves. 2024.

Vera book 11.

The man’s body is found in the early morning light by a local dog-walker on the common outside Rosebank, a cre home for troubled teens. The victim is Josh,  staff member, who was due to work the previous night but never showed up.

DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate the death. Her only clue is the disappearance of one of the home’s residents, fourteen-year-old Chloe Spence.  Vera can’t bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder, but even she can’t dismiss the possibility.

Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie Bell are soon embroiled in the case and, when a second body is found near the Thrww Dark Wives standing stones in the wilds of the Northumbrian countryside, superstition and folklore begin to collide with fact.

Vers knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, but it seems that the dark secrets in their community may be far more dangerous than she could ever have believed possible…