In The Darkest Evening, Inspector Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria Police is driving home in a blinding snowstorm when she finds a car abandoned by the side of the road. The driver’s door is wide open. There is a sleeping baby in a car seat in the back. Failing to find the driver nearby, she takes the baby to the nearest house. It happens to be the Stanhope family home rarely visited by Vera and her black sheep father, Hector. Eventually, the child’s mother is found bludgeoned to death outside in the snow.
The characters within The Darkest Evening drove my interest in the book. As this is the ninth book in the series, I feel I might have missed some of the nuances though. However, there was one unbelievable part at nearly the beginning that told me who the murderer was early on. Then, it was a bit of a slog to wait for Vera and her team to catch up. While this book has atmosphere for days, it made me cold when the temperature here was 111, I prefer to be surprised by the reveal. 3 stars.
Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.