Raven Black, Week 2

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of Raven Black.

How was the reading for you this week? Are you enjoying the beginning of the book? I was drawn into the story from the very beginning. I've been intrigued by the mystery since the first chapters.

Did you know much about the Shetland Islands before starting this book? I didn't have any familiarity with them, so I had a bit of a hard time picturing the setting of the story. If you're interested to learn more, check out Shetland's official website to see some pictures of the landscapes and to learn more about local history and traditions. 

What do you think of the main characters? There's Sally who was Catherine's closest friend, and then there's Fran, who found Catherine's body, and Jimmy Perez, the detective. I feel sorry for Sally because she doesn't really seem like she fits in. She was never popular at school until Catherine was murdered and people thought that was interesting. And, it seems like she doesn't have very friendly parents. At least, her mom doesn't seem that kind. Fran seems kind, but she's an outsider, too. I felt so sorry for her that she was the one to find Catherine's body. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to find something like that. Inspector Perez seems like a really good police officer, and I appreciate that he is commited to investigating and not just locking up Magnus because he's weird. What do you think of Magnus? Do you think he's just a misunderstood man, or do you think he's dangerous? I thought it was weird that Sally and Catherine spent time with him. I couldn't tell if they were making fun of him or not. 

What do you think of the old murder of Catriona? Do you have any ideas about what could have happened to her? Do you think Magnus is connected to her crime? It's odd that Catherine and Catriona lived in the same house. It seems like that's just a really unfortunate coincidence, but do you think that connection could have lead to Catherine's murder? 

There were some suspicious men in this first section. What do you think of Robert? I'm not sure why Sally is so interested in him. Do you think he's interested in Sally? I thought when Perez first interviewed Robert that Robert was very cagey, and I got the feeling that he knew more than he was willing to let on. I also thought it was kind of weird that he was an older guy, but he spent time partying with high schoolers. I just don't trust him. I also didn't get a good feeling from Mr. Scott, the English teacher. It was super inappropriate that he spent time outside of school with Catherine. And, it was really creepy that he had such deep feelings for her and was willing to act on them. Do you think he's just a lonely, misguided man, or do you think he's hiding something more sinister? 

Out of all of the people interviewed in his first section, Magnus seemed the most innocent to me. I think he's really misunderstood, and I don't think he did anything to hurt Catherine. I hope I'm right in thinking that. 

Do you have any idea what's going to come in the later sections? Do you have any inkling who might have committed the crime? Leave any thoughts you have in the comments!

Want to hear what author, Ann Cleeves has to say about Shetland? Check out the video clip below. I can't believe all of the beautiful scenery in this video!

Thanks for following along this week! I hope you'll be able to read the next 16 chapters for next week. I can't wait to hear all of your thoughts in the comments!