Shetland Series, by Ann Cleeves

One way and another, Ann Cleeves’ Shetland series of detective novels has consumed a fair bit of my time this fall. First there was the highly-acclaimed BBC TV series, recommended to me by almost everyone I know, which proved to be every bit as addictive as people promised it would be once Jason and I got into watching it. When we’d seen all the TV Shetland currently available (we still can’t get the newest season here on any service we currently have), I decided to try the novels they were based on.

It’s opposite to how I usually approach a book and a TV/movie adaptation: normally I read the book first and then I’m disappointed that the adaptation is not “true” to the books. Coming at it the other way around was interesting: the actor, Douglas Henshall, is the “real” Jimmy Perez in my head, even though Cleeves’ physical description of her detective is very different from the actor’s appearance. He’s essentially the same man, otherwise, but his backstory is also quite different in the books from the movies — his love life, family life, etc, all unfolds in significantly different ways in the TV adaptation. The mysteries themselves are different also — some were written specifically for the TV series, but even in the case of the books that were adapted for TV, there are major changes to victims, killers, motives, etc.

The constant elements between the book series and the TV series, and the things that make them both good, though different, are, first of all, the character of the quiet, introspective, diffident, empathetic police detective, Jimmy Perez; secondly, the landscape and culture of Scotland’s Shetland Islands. These novels have a strong sense of place which is beautifully developed, and is of course enhanced by the visuals of the TV series. I enjoyed reading the eight novels and watching the five (so far) series of the TV show … but don’t expect one to be a faithful reproduction of the other!