The Sleeping and the Dead

A Novel

By: Ann Cleeves

Narrated by: John Telfer

Before Shetland and Vera, Ann Cleeves wrote The Sleeping and the Dead, a vivid standalone psychological suspense novel—now available for the first time in the US.

Detective Peter Porteous is called to Cranwell Lake where the body of a teenager has been discovered. After trawling through the missing persons files, he comes to the conclusion that the corpse is Michael Grey, an enigmatic and secretive young man who was reported missing by his foster parents in 1972.

The news report that a body has been found leaves prison officer Hannah Morton in shock. Michael had been her boyfriend, and she had been with him the night he disappeared. And now the discovery is bringing back dreaded and long buried memories from her past . . .

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books.

Brilliant story telling!

This "page turner" had me hooked from the start. I wasn't confused by the amount of characters, (sometimes I get lost if there are too many people to focus on) The backstories of each are so detailed. The twist at the end... brilliant!

Characters were not formulaic.

The plot was complicated and challenging. I did not predict the finale. Ann Cleeves was a great writer early on.

Confusing story telling

Unclear characters and plot
Too much jumping around in characters and plot and times. No real clarity about motives