Library Book Review – Too Good To Be True by Ann Cleeves

Genre: Mystery/Short Story

Number of Pages: 94

📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS📖

Too Good To Be True is a gripping Quick Read from Ann Cleeves, featuring Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez from the bestselling Shetland series.

When young teacher Anna Blackwell is found dead in her home, the police think her death was suicide or a tragic accident. After all, Stonebridge is a quiet country village in the Scottish Borders, where murders just don’t happen.

But Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez soon arrives from far-away Shetland when his ex-wife, Sarah, asks him to look into the case. The local gossips are saying that her new husband, Tom, was having an affair with Anna. Could Tom have been involved with her death? Sarah refuses to believe it – but needs proof.

Anna had been a teacher. She must have loved kids. Would she kill herself knowing there was nobody to look after her daughter? She had seemed happier than ever before she died. And to Perez, this suggests not suicide, but murder…

💭THOUGHTS💭

I wanted a quick read and this one looked good. I enjoyed watching Shetland in the past (which is a TV show based on this series of books) so had high hopes for this short mystery. After reading it I definitely want to read more of the books in the series.

The writing was engaging and to the point. There were a couple of different avenues that the investigation could have gone down, which kept me on my toes. There was a good flow to the book which I enjoyed.

The chapters were very short, numbered and named. They gave the story a good pace, making it easy to read in one sitting (although I personally had to read it in two!). It was very methodical and kept me engaged.

The characters were good. There were a couple of possibilities as to who the murderer could be, but I managed to kept up with what was going on. I did appreciate the round up at the end instigated by the Police Officer that was originally given the case. That tied up all the lose ends well without you as the reader having to think about it too much. Nothing was over complicated which I liked. It was everything that I wanted in a short story.

I also enjoyed the fact that all the characters were suspicious and seemed to be hiding something. I liked how the secrets were gradually unearthed and brought to light.

Lastly the settings. I enjoyed being in the Scottish Boarders. There wasn’t a lot of detail, but what there was went well with the story. It was mainly a character focused story.

Overall a great, well balanced, short mystery. I have definitely been encouraged to read the rest of the series!

⭐ Rated 5/5⭐

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