You’ve seen the TV show. You know the brooding face of Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Perez, standing against a backdrop of gray seas and sharp cliffs. But honestly, if you haven’t cracked open the Ann Cleeves Shetland books, you’re only getting half the story. There's a common misconception that the books and the show are twins. They aren't. They’re more like distant cousins who share a last name but have totally different personalities.
Take Jimmy Perez himself. In the novels, he’s not the fair-haired Scot you see on screen. He’s dark. Mediterranean-looking. His ancestors were supposedly survivors from the Spanish Armada who washed up on Fair Isle. That tiny detail changes everything about how he moves through the world—as a man who belongs to the islands but always looks like an outsider.
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The Real Order of the Ann Cleeves Shetland Books
If you’re planning to dive in, don’t just grab whatever is on the shelf at the airport. The character arcs in these books are slow burns. You need to see Jimmy grow, grieve, and eventually find his way back to some semblance of peace. Ann Cleeves originally wrote these as two quartets, though they basically flow as one long, tragic, beautiful narrative.
- Raven Black (2006) – This is where it starts. A lonely man, a dead girl in the snow, and the heavy weight of island gossip. It won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger, and for good reason.
- White Nights (2008) – Midsummer in Shetland. It never gets dark. That "simmer dim" light is creepy as hell when there’s a killer wandering around a gallery opening.
- Red Bones (2009) – This one digs into history and family feuds. It’s claustrophobic and misty.
- Blue Lightning (2010) – Set on Fair Isle. A storm cuts the island off. It’s a classic "closed room" mystery, but the ending... man, the ending of this book is a gut-punch that changed the series forever.
- Dead Water (2013) – After a hiatus, Cleeves brought Jimmy back. He’s a different man here. Broken, mostly.
- Thin Air (2014) – A group of old friends, a ghost story, and a midsummer party gone wrong.
- Cold Earth (2016) – A landslide at a funeral. It’s as dark as it sounds.
- Wild Fire (2018) – For a long time, we thought this was the end. It deals with "incomers" and how hard it is to actually fit into a tight-knit community.
Why the Setting is a Character, Not Just a Backdrop
Cleeves doesn't just use Shetland as a pretty place to put a body. She lived there. She worked as a cook at the Fair Isle Bird Observatory in the 70s. You can feel that authentic grit in every chapter. She knows the sound of the wind. She knows how the ferry ride from Aberdeen can make your stomach do somersaults.
In the books, the geography dictates the crime. People are trapped by weather, by the sea, and most importantly, by their own reputations. In a place with only 23,000 people, everyone knows who your grandfather was and who he cheated in a land deal forty years ago. That’s the real "Shetland" magic. It’s not just the scenery; it’s the social architecture of isolation.
The 2025 Bombshell: Jimmy Perez is Back (But Not Where You Think)
For years, fans mourned the end of the series. Wild Fire felt so final. But in late 2025, Cleeves pulled a fast one on us. She released The Killing Stones, and while it’s technically the start of a new phase, it features our old friend Jimmy Perez.
The twist? He’s moved to Orkney.
He’s there with Willow Reeves and their son. It’s a "mellow" Jimmy, according to Cleeves in recent interviews, but murder has a way of finding him. This move was a stroke of genius. It allows Cleeves to keep her best character while exploring a new island culture that is subtly different from Shetland. Orkney has more trees, more farming, and a different kind of ancient history.
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What Most People Miss About the Writing
Cleeves isn't a "shocker" writer. She isn't trying to gross you out with gore. Her strength is what she calls "the slow reveal." She spends pages describing a woman making tea or a man looking out a window. It feels like nothing is happening, and then suddenly, a single line of dialogue recontextualizes the last fifty pages.
It's "quiet" crime.
She also doesn't rely on the "tortured genius" trope. Jimmy Perez isn't a Sherlock Holmes who sees things others don't because he's smarter. He sees things because he listens. He’s empathetic to a fault. Sometimes that empathy is his greatest weakness, leading him to trust people he shouldn't.
Practical Tips for New Readers
If you're coming from the TV show, be prepared for some major character differences.
- Tosh (Alison O'Donnell): She doesn't exist in the early books. She was created for the screen. In the books, Jimmy often works with Willow Reeves, a detective from the mainland who has a very different dynamic with him.
- The Pace: The books are atmospheric. If you want high-speed car chases, look elsewhere. These are novels of manners, just with more dead bodies.
- The "Four Seasons" Theme: The first four books are themed around the seasons (Winter, Summer, Spring, Autumn). Reading them in that order makes the environmental shifts feel incredibly vivid.
Moving Forward With the Series
If you've finished the original eight, don't stop. Grab The Killing Stones. It’s a fresh start that respects the history of the characters while giving them room to breathe in a new location. There’s even word from Pan Macmillan that more Perez/Orkney books are contracted through 2031.
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Next Steps for Your Reading List:
- Start with Raven Black. Even if you’ve seen the pilot episode, the internal monologue of the characters provides a depth the screen can’t capture.
- Track the "Incomer" Theme. Note how Cleeves treats characters who moved to the islands versus those born there. It’s the key to solving almost every mystery in the series.
- Compare the ending of Blue Lightning. Read it, then compare it to how the TV show handled that specific plot point. It is the single most debated change between the two mediums.
- Look for the "Fair Isle" connections. Keep an eye out for mentions of Jimmy’s parents and his heritage; it explains why he feels a "longing for the north" even when he’s already there.
The world of Ann Cleeves is expanding, and Jimmy Perez's journey from the snow-covered hills of Shetland to the ancient stones of Orkney is one of the most rewarding long-form character studies in modern crime fiction.