Ann Cleeves

1 - What's your latest?

Ann Cleeves: BLUE LIGHTNING

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Ann Cleeves: Because it's a book you can get lost in. It'll take you to Fair Isle, the most remote inhabited island in the UK. Autumn and a place of storms and wild birds. A scientist at the field centre is murdered - by one of the staff? A birder? An islander? A traditional enclosed community mystery, but set in the present.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Ann Cleeves: Jimmy Perez grew up on Fair Isle. He's influenced more than I'd realized by the isolation and the weather.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Ann Cleeves: There's a second murder and the victim is found in the Pund, a ruined croft house, lying on a pile of sheepskins in the loft. I spent a lot of time in the Pund with my husband before we were married. But I think the scene works well. It's physically and emotionally cold.

5 - What's next?

Ann Cleeves: I've nearly finished a new Vera Stanhope novel. ITV is filming the series for television and I don't want them to run out of books to adapt.