The Crow Trap (Vera Stanhope)

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The audio edition, read by Janine Birkett, is available as an Audible audio cownload, or from the Reading House on MP3 or audio CD. Three very different women come together to complete an environmental survey on the Northumberland countryside. Three women who, in some way or another, know the meaning of betrayal....For team leader Rachael Lambert the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double-betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne Preece, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace Fulwell, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of her own secrets to hide...

Three very different women come together at an isolated cottage on the North Pennines to complete an environmental survey. Three women who each know the meaning of betrayal . . . Many agreed that Vera is a very unlikable character, a real “witch,” with others pointing out that she had to really fight hard to find her place among a male dominated society–especially difficult in rural police force. If she had been a male character, perhaps her “rough edges” would have been more kindly taken, such as just being “grouchy” or “crusty” rather than witchy. But the members who didn’t like Vera, really didn’t like her! “A witch”“A mooch”“amusing but too hard to like to get into story”

Rachael is the first to arrive at the cottage, where she discovers the body of her friend, Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide – a verdict Rachael refuses to accept. Three very different women come together at isolated Baikie’s Cottage on the North Pennines, to complete an environmental survey. The Crow Trap is the first book in Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series – which is now a major ITV detective drama starring Brenda Blethyn, Vera. Research your local laws about catching crows to make sure it’s legal. Different areas have different rules and regulations about catching crows because they’re a protected species. Before you take any action, do some research online to find out if you’re allowed to catch crows as well as any rules you need to know before doing so. [1] X Research source

Provide proper care for the crow and live decoy while they're caught. While you can't keep the crow in captivity permanently or for a long time, it's important that you care for it responsibly in the short time that you do have it trapped. There are rules for what the crows and live decoy birds should have access to and how they should be treated. These include using a trap that’s large enough, giving them food and water, and providing them with a perch. [4] X Research source Vera Stanhope's first appearance was in The Crow Trap; it was adapted by Stephen Brady as the third episode of the TV series Vera, starring Brenda Blethyn.Ann Cleeves is a skillful technician, keeping our interest alive and building slowly up to the denouement. Her easy use of language and clever story construction make her one of the best natural writers of detective fiction." — Sunday Express (UK) decoy bird and is side entry, crows and rooks like to hop along the ground and are easier to catch in a side entry crow trap. From Ann Cleeves— New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows—comes The Crow Trap, the first in the Vera Stanhope series. When Rachael arrives at the cottage, however, she is horrified to discover the body of her friend Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide--a verdict Rachael finds impossible to accept. If 2 days pass and you still haven’t caught a crow, move the trap to a different spot to see if it works there.

Only when the next death occurs does a fourth woman enter the picture - the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, who must piece together the truth from these women's tangled lives... Set up the trap so the split perch is holding open the door. The larsen trap should come with a perch for the crow that’s split in half. Prop the two parts of the perch up so that they’re aligned and holding open the trap door. This will make it easy for a crow to land on the perch and fall into the trap. [10] X Research source Some readers really liked the Vera character, though, and found the roughness contributed to the feeling of a genuine person, a well developed “real” character. She was really a new type of female officer when this series started, and it’s tough to get a fresh take on the mystery genre, so the feeling was that this part was done well.

The characters themselves, though, were distinctly written-a real challenge. All three women were distinct with different degrees of likability, sympathy, mistrust, etc. Although again the group was split–some liked the tension building up between the three women, others felt it was very “sophomoric.”