Raven Black – (Shetland 1)

Travel Guide

If you have never been to the Shetland Isles or know much about it then you might not want to base all of your opinion on the nature of the island featured in the novel – for Ann Cleeves’ Shetland is a dark and mysterious place with a sense of foreboding and a landscape of dark empty fields and the quiet ripple of the darker waters – the only sound that of the waves lapping at the rocky crags.

“Outside it was completely silent. There was no sound of wind. In Shetland, where there was no wind it was shocking. People strained their ears and wondered what was missing.”

The subject of pedophilia is difficult to read about in any setting but on a small and remote island community it seems much more darker and tragic. The atmosphere throughout is one of extreme claustrophobia and coldness in all its forms. As with Ann Cleeves though, this is brought across in often amusing and dry ways –

“You can’t fart here without somebody noticing”

The Shetland Islands community is a closed one  – extremely suspicious of outsiders but with a bogeyman of sorts within their number. But there is culture and folkore too with mention of the annual uphellyaa festival which adds to the intrigue and traditions of the area and beliefs of its people.