Ann Cleeves: The Moth Catcher

Holly was about to argue the point – she’d heard Lizzie’s attempt at blackmail – but looked at Vera and thought better of it.

‘I don’t think Lizzie will be sticking around to bother us anyway,’ Vera went on. ‘If she’s desperate to see the world, I suspect her parents will fund her adventures. Life will be much easier for them if their errant daughter is on the other side of the planet. And maybe when she comes back she’ll be a bit older and wiser.’ She paused. ‘Lizzie will have to learn a bit of responsibility on her own in the big, bad world. Sending her back inside would be an easy option and she’d never grow up.’

They were quiet again. The fire was just embers now and Vera made no move to throw on another log. Joe stretched, got up and said goodbye. Holly stood up and followed him to the door, but Vera called her back.

‘Are you okay, Hol?’

‘Yeah, just tired.’ What could she say? I’m not sure I want to do this any more. This investigation has got under my skin and sapped my confidence.I don’t want to end up like you.

‘Some cases bother us more than others,’ Vera said. The light was so dim that Holly could barely make out her face across the room. ‘That’s just the way it is. It’s not a bad thing to get involved, no matter what the textbooks say.’

‘I’m not sure I did a very good job.’ It was the closest Holly could get to an explanation for her unease.

‘Nonsense!’ There was a pause. ‘You cracked the case for us. You found the connection that mattered: that Crow, Lucas and Hewarth had all been in the same institution.’ Vera got to her feet. ‘And you saved a young woman’s life. Nothing more important than that.’ A pause. Her voice changed, became loud and hard. ‘But if ever you put your life in danger like that again, you’ll be off my team before you have time to make a pot of that disgusting herbal stuff you call tea. Now get off home. A good night’s sleep, a decent meal and a couple of days’ leave and you’ll be ready to start on the next investigation. We’ll forget the rest.’

Outside Vera’s house a breeze had blown holes in the cloud, and the lights in the valley were visible again. Holly found herself grinning. She thought that Vera was probably right. As usual.

As always I’m grateful to my fabulous agent, Sara Menguc, and to the whole team at Pan Macmillan for their considerable support in the writing of this book. I’d also like to thank Prof. Lorna Dawson, for agreeing to appear as herself. Any mistakes around the soil science in The Moth Catcher are entirely mine.

Ann Cleevesis the author behind ITV’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland . She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez – characters loved both on screen and in print. Her books have now sold over one million copies worldwide.

Ann worked as a probation officer, bird-observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger (CWA Gold Dagger) for Best Crime Novel, for Raven Black , the first book in her Shetland series. In 2012 she was inducted into the CWA Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Ann lives in North Tyneside.

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