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Cover of The Dark Wives

Mystery · 2024 · PG-13

The Dark Wives

by Ann Cleeves

A teenage girl is missing from a residential school. The staff aren't telling Vera everything.

“Everything Ann Cleeves writes is incredible.”—Richard Osman As New York Times bestseller Ann Cleeves's beloved Vera series explodes in popularity in print and on TV, this stunning eleventh book explores the web of secrets surrounding a young man's death. The man’s body is found in the early morning light by a local dog walker in the park outside Rosebank, a home for troubled teens in the coastal village of Longwater. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who was due to work the previous night but never showed up. DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate the death, with her only clue being

For14+GenreMysteryLength432 pagesRead time~11 hours

This analysis was generated by AI from publicly available reader reviews, literary criticism, and book discussions. It has not been verified by a BookLens community reviewer and may contain errors. Be the first to verify →

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

Some

Missing teenager; deaths; the violence of a system failing vulnerable young women

Language

Barely any

Mild language

Sexual Content

Barely any

Mild; adult relationships; the therapeutic setting involves some discussion of trauma

Substance Use

Some

Moderate; some residents have substance histories

Emotional Intensity

Very heavy

Very strong; the systems meant to protect vulnerable young women and how they fail; Vera's unusual empathy for the damaged; what a residential community enables and what it conceals

What this book is about

The eleventh Vera novel finds Vera Stanhope investigating the disappearance of a teenager from Rosebank, a therapeutic community for troubled young women. The staff are protective and the residents are damaged, and everyone seems to be hiding something. Cleeves writes about vulnerable young women with the same care she brings to all her victims.

Notes for sensitive readers

Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.

Vulnerable teenage girls in a residential system

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