The Moth Catcher (Vera Stanhope)

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Heaping praise on her stunning surroundings and the region as a whole, Brenda said: "“I do love the North East. Everyone is so friendly. I will certainly continue to visit the area once Vera has finally hung up her hat. I’d recommend anyone to go. It’s just lovely." The deaths of P.D. James and Ruth Rendell have left a slight void in my need for an occasional crime fiction fix (of the non-hard-boiled type), which is being filled to an extent for me by Ann Cleeves. The Moth Catcher is the latest in her Vera Stanhope series, the only series I have sampled so far, and it is quite a complex plot, with many well-drawn characters from different strata of society. It is difficult to review a crime writer's work in any detail without inserting spoilers. Suffice to say that The Moth Catcher will satisfy those who like their murder mysteries to be more than jigsaw puzzles. Acute social commentary and observations on human nature are a part and parcel of Ann Cleeves' work, and she is an extremely skilled writer. In this novel, some critical observations about the criminal justice system in the UK are included, which we can assume are based on the author's previous experiences working as a probation officer.

Vera is called upon when the charred remains of a body are discovered in an abattoir incinerator. The body is found to be that of DC Harry Fenton, of the Northumberland & City Fraud Unit, who had been on his final day of the job before retirement. After one of Fenton's colleagues, Jac Williams, gives Vera a useful tip-off, Vera looks into one of Harry's fraud cases. Filming for that had been first noticed in Tynemouth in September 2020 where Blethyn - masked up between scenes - was seen, together with Vera's familiar Land Rover, in Beach Road and Broadway. In the opening episode, called Witness, the story started with the finding of a body at the base of Collingwood Monument. Weekly Top 10 Programmes: ITV+1 w/e 3 June 2012". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board . Retrieved 12 June 2012. Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV w/e 15 May 2011". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012 . Retrieved 2 July 2011. The “Vera effect” - credited with the sharp rise of tourists following the airing of each series - has also led to local residents proving keen to reacquaint themselves with their home turf.

Cast & Crew

Vera investigates the murder of 22-year-old Alex Gartside, victim of a hit and run in a remote Northumberland Valley. Vera star Brenda Blethyn enjoys an ice cream treat during a break in filming in Station Road, Corbridge (Image: TimMcGuinness/ChronicleLive) ITV Vera role for Hollyoaks villain Rhiannon Clements as cast 'shaken up' for new series". Chronicle Live . Retrieved 31 August 2023. Joe's daughter is a witness to the death of a pensioner, seemingly stabbed, on a rush hour train she and her father were travelling on. Her seemingly quiet life turns out to be anything but as Vera's investigation begins to unravel a tangled web of lies and deceit. An old friend of Vera's father appears to hold the key to the entire mystery, which involves unraveling a murder committed thirty years previously, a rape, and an affair which nobody suspected would be likely to have taken place. Vera realises that the answer may lie in events which have started to repeat themselves. A man, outwardly happily married, is discovered in the river with his shoe laces tied together suggesting suicide until the post mortem confirms murder. The victim was an informant for Revenue and Customs, on a case regarding the smuggling of alcohol which widens the suspects from family to include his business associates.

One of the first sightings of Vera was at a gym in Gateshead - or rather in the snooker hall above Low Fell Life Gym - where Blethyn was inside filming while location vans took up space in its car park. Following Vera's footsteps across the North East also takes us to the Northumberland coast, including Craster, Seahouses and Rumbling Kern.The judging panel consisted of Geoff Bradley (non-voting Chair), Lyn Brown MP (a committee member on the London Libraries service), Frances Gray (an academic who writes about and teaches courses on modern crime fiction), Heather O'Donoghue (academic, linguist, crime fiction reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, and keen reader of all crime fiction) and Barry Forshaw (reviewer and editor of Crime Time magazine). The star was seen filming for that in the summer 2018 at the Turknaz restaurant in Whitley Bay in July then the focus of the action switched to the city centre with the cameras set up outside St Nicholas Cathedral, Amen Corner and the top of The Side. Brenda Blethyn and co-star Kenny Doughty being protected from the elements on Tynemouth beach (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Media) When the dead body of the young ecologist is found in a ditch by a country lane, DI Vera Stanhope is called to the scene. When she and her sergeant Joe Ashworth go to the victim's flat to search for clues, Vera stumbles upon a second body. It is that of the former teacher. What could possibly have led to the murder of these two mild-mannered, inoffensive men? Could it have anything to do with their mutual interest in moths? Vera's familiar Land Rover Defender was positioned next to a police cordon and officers wearing forensic suits.