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Ann Cleeves

{{Short description|British novelist (born 1954)}}

{{for|the wife of Henry VIII|Anne of Cleves}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}

{{EngvarB|date=October 2016}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Ann Cleeves

| caption = Cleeves in 2024

| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1954|10|24}}

| birth_place = Herefordshire, England

| image = Ann Cleeves at STABF (cropped).jpg

| genre = Crime

| awards = Duncan Lawrie Dagger 2006

| children = 2

}}

Ann Cleeves {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}} (born 24 October 1954) is a British mystery crime writer. She wrote the Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez, and Matthew Venn series, all three of which have been adapted into TV shows. In 2006 she won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for her novel Raven Black,{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9912245/Ann-Cleeves-interview-for-Shetland.html|title=Ann Cleeves interview for Shetland|last=Lobb|first=Adrian|date=2013-03-19|website=The Telegraph|access-date=2016-05-24}} the first novel in the Jimmy Perez series.

Early life and career

Cleeves was born in Herefordshire and brought up in north Devon where she attended Barnstaple Grammar School;{{cite web|url=https://www.anncleeves.com/weblog/archives/archive-072010.html|title=Ann's Diary: On growing up and going back|date=2010-07-13|access-date=2020-03-27| df=dmy | website= Ann Cleeves| type= official website}} she studied English at the University of Sussex, yet she dropped out and then took up various jobs, including cook at the Fair Isle bird observatory, auxiliary coastguard, probation officer, library outreach worker, and child care officer.{{cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/island-secrets-inspire-shetland-author-ann-cleeves-1527068|title=Island secrets inspire Shetland author Ann Cleeves|access-date=17 January 2025 | last= Christie | first= Janet | date= 6 September 2014 | work= The Scotsman}}

Television adaptations

Cleeves's work was first optioned for television after producer Elaine Collins discovered a copy of one of the Vera novels, The Crow Trap, while searching for holiday reading in an Oxfam shop in north London where she lived. Collins was the books executive for ITV Studios, which was looking for a new female detective to fill its Sunday night drama slot.{{Cite web |last=Govan |first=Chloe |date=2024-04-22 |title=Vera author 'wasn't sure' about Brenda Blethyn as lead star for show |url=https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1891045/Vera-ITV-author-Ann-Cleeves-Brenda-Blethyn |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Express.co.uk |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=How charity shop browse gave TV 'tec big break |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-sunday-post-newcastle/20190203/282097752943957|work=Sunday Post| place= Newcastle |date=3 February 2019 |access-date=2024-07-19 |via=PressReader | url-access= limited }} Collins subsequently went on to buy the rights to Cleeves' Jimmy Perez novels for the BBC, which turned them into Shetland.

Personal life

She lives in Whitley Bay, and she was widowed in December 2018. Her husband was Tim Cleeves, a birdwatcher whose interest in ornithology Ann came to share.{{cite news |last1=Knight |first1=Chris |title=Vera writer Ann Cleeves opens up on husband's struggle with depression |url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/ann-tim-cleeves-whitley-bay-15843625 |access-date=4 January 2025 |work=Chronicle Live |date=17 February 2019 |language=en}} She has two daughters.{{cite web|url=https://anncleeves.com/bio.html|website=Ann Cleeves| type=official website|date= 2023 | title = Biography}}

Honours, awards, and media appearances

In 2006, she won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for her novel Raven Black, and in 2008 she was elected to the prestigious Detection Club. In 2014 Cleeves was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Sunderland.{{cite web|url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/vera-writer-ann-cleeves-gains-7391800|title=Vera writer Ann Cleeves gains honour from University of Sunderland |work= The Journal|first=Joanne |last=Butcher|date=8 July 2014|access-date=24 May 2016|archive-date=23 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923183617/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/vera-writer-ann-cleeves-gains-7391800|url-status=dead}} In 2015, Cleeves was the Programming Chair for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. In 2015, she was shortlisted for the Dagger in the Library UK Crime Writers' Association award for an author's body of work in British libraries (UK).{{cite web|title=The Dagger in the Library Shortlist 2015|url=http://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/dagger-library-shortlist-2015/|website=Dead Good Books|date=8 June 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616165446/http://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/dagger-library-shortlist-2015/ | archive-date = 16 June 2015 | url-status= dead}}

Cleeves was chosen as the 2017 recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers' Association for "sustained excellence" in crime fiction.{{Cite magazine|title=Ann Cleeves to receive CWA Diamond Dagger|date=January 24, 2017|magazine=The Bookseller|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/ann-cleeves-receive-cwa-diamond-dagger-473981|last=Eyre|first=Charlotte|access-date=February 6, 2022}} In February 2019, Ann Cleeves appeared on Desert Island Discs.{{cite av media | author1-first=Lauren |author1-last =Laverne|title=Ann Cleeves, writer | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002lhr |work=Desert Island Discs|publisher= BBC Radio 4 |date=22 February 2019}} Cleeves was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to reading and libraries.{{London Gazette|issue=63571|supp=y|page=N11|date=1 January 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-59835962 |title=Ann Cleeves and Matt Baker awarded Queen's honours |date=31 December 2021|access-date=3 January 2022|work=BBC News}}

In July 2022, Cleeves was awarded an honorary D.Litt. from Newcastle University for services to reading and libraries.{{Cite press release|url=

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2022/07/shakahislopandanncleeveshonorarydegrees/|title=Leading lights in sport and literature given honorary degrees|publisher=Newcastle University|date=13 July 2022}}

On 15 September 2024, Cleeves' life was featured in an episode of the BBC Radio 3 series Private Passions.Radio Times, 14–20 September 2024.

Bibliography

=Palmer-Jones=

  • A Bird in the Hand (1986), {{ISBN|978-0-712-69476-6}}
  • Come Death and High Water (1987), {{ISBN|978-0-712-61670-6}}
  • Murder in Paradise (1988), {{ISBN|978-0-712-61965-3}}
  • A Prey to Murder (1989), {{ISBN|978-0-712-62557-9}}
  • Another Man's Poison (1992), {{ISBN|978-0-333-58258-9}}
  • Sea Fever (1993), {{ISBN|978-0-333-60494-6}}
  • The Mill on the Shore (1994), {{ISBN|978-0-333-61345-0}}
  • High Island Blues (1996), {{ISBN|978-0-333-66011-9}}

=Inspector Ramsay=

  • A Lesson in Dying (1990), {{ISBN|978-0-712-63415-1}}
  • Murder in My Backyard (1991), {{ISBN|978-0-712-63830-2}}
  • A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy (1992), {{ISBN|978-0-333-57093-7}}
  • Killjoy (1993), {{ISBN|978-0-333-59275-5}}
  • The Healers (1995), {{ISBN|978-0-333-63724-1}}
  • The Baby Snatcher (1997), {{ISBN|978-0-333-69179-3}}

=Vera Stanhope=

These novels, except for The Glass Room, have been dramatized in the television series Vera on ITV, which stars Brenda Blethyn in the title role. The programme premiered in May 2011.

  • The Crow Trap (1999), {{ISBN|978-0-333-76627-9}}
  • Telling Tales (2005), {{ISBN|978-1-405-04647-3}}
  • Hidden Depths (2007), {{ISBN|978-1-405-05473-7}}
  • Silent Voices (2011), {{ISBN|978-0-230-74581-0}}
  • The Glass Room (2012), {{ISBN|978-0-230-74582-7}}
  • Harbour Street (2014), {{ISBN|978-0-230-76018-9}}
  • The Moth Catcher (2015), {{ISBN|978-1-447-27828-3}}
  • The Seagull (2017), {{ISBN|978-1-447-27834-4}}
  • The Darkest Evening (2020), {{ISBN|978-1-509-88951-8}}
  • The Rising Tide (2022), {{ISBN| 978-1-509-88961-7}}
  • The Dark Wives (2024), {{ISBN|978-1-250-83684-7}}

=Shetland=

In 2013, Red Bones was dramatised by David Kane for BBC television as the first episode of the series Shetland, which stars Douglas Henshall as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez. Episodes broadcast in 2014 were based on Raven Black, Dead Water, and Blue Lightning.{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a470128/shetland-gets-full-six-part-series-on-bbc-one.html|title='Shetland' gets full six-part series on BBC One|date=3 April 2013|work=Digital Spy|access-date=24 May 2016}}

;The Four Seasons Quartet

  • Raven Black (2006), {{ISBN|978-1-405-05472-0}}; Gold Dagger Award
  • White Nights (2008), {{ISBN|978-0-312-38433-3}}
  • Red Bones (2009), {{ISBN|978-0-230-01446-6}}
  • Blue Lightning (2010), {{ISBN|978-0-312-38435-7}}

;The Four Elements Quartet

  • Dead Water (2013), {{ISBN|978-0-230-76017-2}}
  • Thin Air (2014), {{ISBN|978-0-230-76019-6}}
  • Cold Earth (2016), {{ISBN|978-1-447-27818-4}}
  • Wild Fire (2018), {{ISBN|978-1-447-27824-5}}
  • Shetland (2015), {{ISBN|978-1-509-80979-0}}; a Shetland Island series (non-fiction) travel tie-in preceding Too Good To Be True
  • Too Good To Be True (2016), {{ISBN|978-1-509-80611-9}}; a Shetland Island series novella following Shetland and preceding Cold Earth

Further Novels

  • The Killing Stones (2025), ISBN 978-1-0350-4309-5; Set in the Orkney Islands after the previous books{{Cite web |title=Ann Cleeves: The Killing Stones, a standalone mystery featuring the return of Jimmy Perez |url=https://www.anncleeves.com/shetland/killing.html |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.anncleeves.com}}

=Two Rivers=

The first book is the adaptive basis for The Long Call ITV series starring Ben Aldridge as DI Matthew Venn.

  • The Long Call (2019), {{ISBN|978-1-509-88956-3}}
  • The Heron's Cry (2021), {{ISBN|978-1-509-88968-6}}
  • The Raging Storm (2023), {{ISBN|978-1-529-07769-8}}

=Standalone novels=

  • The Sleeping and the Dead (2001), {{ISBN|978-0-333-90648-4}}
  • Burial of Ghosts (2003), {{ISBN|978-1-405-00113-7}}

class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="font-size:100%;"
Short stories
* "A Winter's Tale" (1992)

  • "The Harmless Pursuits of Archibald Stamp" (1995)
  • "Sad Girls" (2001)
  • "The Plater" (2001)
  • "A Rough Guide to Tanga" (2002)
  • "Games for Winter" (2003)
  • "Owl Wars" (2004)
  • "The Midwife's Assistant" (2005)
  • "Basic Skills" (2006)
  • "Going Back" (2007)
  • "The Soothmoothers" (2010)
  • "Beastly Pleasures" (2010)
  • "Hector's Other Woman" (2011) – (re-released as "The Woman on the Island" in 2022)
  • "Mud" (2011)
  • "The Habit of Silence" (2011)
  • "Drop Dead Gorgeous" (2012)
  • "The Harmless Pursuits of Archibald Stamp" (2013)
  • "Secrets of Soil" (2013)
  • "The Spinster" (2014)
  • "The Pirate" (2014)
  • "Stranded" (2014)
  • "The Writer-in-Residence" (2014)
  • "The Starlings" (2015)
  • "Dreaming of Rain and Peter Lovesey" (2016)
  • "The Queen of Mystery" (2017)
  • "The Return" (2017)
  • "Moses and the Locked Tent Mystery" (2018)
  • "Frozen" (2020)
  • "Written in Blood" (2020)
  • "Wild Swimming" (2021)
  • "The Girls on the Shore" (2022)
  • "The Woman on the Island" (2022) – (originally released as "Hector's Other Woman" in 2011)

TV series adaptations

The Vera Stanhope novels have been dramatised as the TV detective series Vera beginning in 2011; the Jimmy Perez novels as the TV series Shetland; and the Matthew Venn novel The Long Call (from Cleeves' Two Rivers book series) as the TV series The Long Call (premiered autumn 2021). Some of the later episodes in the Vera and Shetland series were original scripts based on Cleeves's characters.

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

  • {{Cite interview| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219071931/http://www.writersnewsweekly.com/interview_cleeves.html| title = Literary Spotlight: Ann Cleeves|interviewer=Carlotta Holton | work= WritersNewsWeekly.com | volume=12 | issue= 34 | date= 2008-02-08 | df=dmy}}
  • {{Cite interview | url=http://keeperofthesnails.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/sunday-salon-interview-with-ann-cleeves.html | title =Sunday Salon: An Interview with Ann Cleeves |website =Keeper of the Snails | date=11 July 2010 | interviewer= Clare Dudman}}
  • {{Cite web | url=http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/review-ann-cleeves-harbour-street | title= Review: Ann Cleeves – Harbour Street | date= 20 January 2014 | website= Upcoming4.me | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140129064742/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/review-ann-cleeves-harbour-street | archive-date= 2014-01-29}}
  • {{Cite web | last=Cleeves | first= Ann | date=28 April 2014 |url= http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-harbour-street-by-ann-cleeves |title=Story behind Harbour Street |website=Upcoming4.me | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505061215/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-harbour-street-by-ann-cleeves | archive-date=2014-05-05}}

{{Ann Cleeves}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleeves, Ann}}

Category:1954 births

Category:Living people

Category:English crime fiction writers

Category:Members of the Detection Club

Category:20th-century English novelists

Category:Crime Writers' Association

Category:21st-century English novelists

Category:20th-century English women writers

Category:21st-century English women writers

Category:English women novelists

Category:British women mystery writers

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:Writers from Herefordshire

Category:People from North Devon (district)

Category:People educated at Barnstaple Grammar School

Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Cartier Diamond Dagger winners