Ann Cleeves Shetland Series 8 Books Set - Books 1-8

Ann Cleeves Shetland Series 8 Books Set by Ann Cleeves brings together eight novels featuring Detective Jimmy Perez. This is a collection covering books 1 to 8 in the Shetland series.

Included titles

• Raven Black
• White Nights
• Red Bones
• Dead Water
• Thin Air
• Cold Earth
• Blue Lightning
• Wild Fire

Key details

• Author: Ann Cleeves
• Shetland series collection featuring Detective Jimmy Perez
• Includes books 1 to 8 in the series
• Cold Earth is described as the seventh book in the series
• Thin Air is described as the sixth book in the series
• Dead Water is described as the fifth book in the series

Synopses

Blue Lightning

Autumn storms isolate Fair Isle, cutting it off from the mainland and tightening the atmosphere across the community. When a woman is found dead at the Fair Isles bird observatory, Detective Jimmy Perez is forced to work without outside support and follow the evidence by traditional means.

As he digs deeper, it becomes clear the death was not impulsive, and the weather ensures no one can leave. With the island sealed until the storms ease, Perez must act quickly while the killer remains close by.

Raven Black

On a bitter January morning, Shetland is buried under snow when Fran Hunter discovers the strangled body of her teenage neighbour, Catherine Ross. Suspicion settles fast on Magnus Tait, a local loner, as the island searches for a simple explanation.

Police pressure widens the inquiry, and fear spreads through the community as long-held certainties begin to fracture. Doors are locked again for the first time in years, while the possibility of a killer among them becomes impossible to ignore.

White Nights

Described as the second title in Ann Cleeves’ Shetland crime series, this instalment follows on from the award-winning Raven Black. When Jimmy Perez finds a body in a fishermen’s hut, the scene suggests suicide, yet the details refuse to settle into an easy conclusion.

The victim is a stranger with amnesia who disrupted a local party the night before, and Perez is drawn into the guarded secrets of the Biddista community. In a season when night blurs into day, another death raises the stakes and nothing feels quite as it seems.

Red Bones

Jimmy Perez is called in after an elderly woman is shot in what appears to be a tragic accident. The investigation leads him into a landscape shaped by sea and scarcity, and a community marked by fierce loyalties.

Two families, locked in envy, greed and bitterness across generations, complicate every answer. When another murder follows and spring mists close in, Perez must unearth old secrets to prevent further violence.

Dead Water

Presented as the fifth book in the series, this novel opens with the body of journalist Jerry Markham found in a traditional Shetland boat outside the local public prosecutor’s home at the Marina. Detective Inspector Willow Reeves is brought in to lead the case, while Jimmy Perez—still affected by the death of his fiancée—finds his interest returning.

Markham, a Shetlander who made his name in London, left behind a scandal and few friends on the islands. The investigation draws Willow and Jimmy towards Sullum Voe and the North Sea oil and gas industry, as it becomes clear Markham was pursuing a story worth killing for.

Thin Air

Described as the sixth book in the Shetland series, this story begins when a group of former university friends travel from London to Unst for a wedding celebration. Late that night, Eleanor disappears, and an email received the next day appears to explain her absence as a final decision.

When her body is found in a small loch near the cliff edge, Jimmy Perez and Willow Reeves are sent to investigate. Eleanor’s earlier claims of a ghost and the pull of local myth complicate the case, raising questions about what might be hidden behind the story. The source describes the novel as exploring tensions between tradition and modernity, and the way the past can shape the present.

Cold Earth

Labelled as the seventh book in the bestselling Shetland series, this instalment is set during a harsh winter when torrential rain triggers a landslide that sweeps from the Lerwick–Sumburgh road down to the sea. At the burial of his old friend Magnus Tait, Jimmy Perez witnesses the destruction of a croft house believed to be empty.

In the wreckage he finds the body of a dark-haired woman in a red silk dress, and becomes determined to learn who she was. When it emerges she died before the landslide, Perez must uncover the truth behind her identity and death.

Wild Fire

A new English family arrives on the islands, drawn by Shetland’s reputation and hoping to build a better life for their autistic son. When the body of a young nanny is found hanging in the barn at their home, rumours spread quickly and suspicion falls hard.

DI Jimmy Perez is brought in as Willow Reeves runs the case, pulling him back into a place tied to their complicated relationship. As the investigation intensifies, Willow reveals news that will change Perez’s life, adding personal pressure to an already unsettling inquiry.