DI Jimmy Perez moves to Orkney in new Cleeves book

The best-selling author behind TV series Shetland has announced the return of her fictional detective, DI Jimmy Perez.

Ann Cleeves' new book, The Killing Stones, picks up after a gap of seven years and will see Perez swap his hometown of Shetland for a new island location, Orkney.

The latest book, from the author who also created detectives Vera Stanhope and Matthew Venn, will be published in October.

Ann Cleeves said swapping the location for the new book was a "leap of faith".

Ann told the BBC's Orkney Arts programme that she thought she had left DI Perez behind after the last novel.

"I thought I had said everything I could say about Shetland," she said.

"I really thought that I'd finished with him because when he was on his own he was a bit miserable and he got me feeling a bit depressed with him and I didn't really want to write any more about him."

The new book picks up from 2018's Wild Fire, which ended with the detective moving to Orkney with his partner and fellow police officer, Willow Reeves.

"He's sent away to Orkney and I would never write about him again but then I wanted to know what happened to them."

Shetland was a familiar setting for the writer, who had lived and worked on the island for three years.

But while she has spent some time on Orkney, the author described changing the location as a "leap of faith".

"I love Orkney and so it was that sense that it would be really fun to come and get to know it a bit better," she said.

The Killing Stones will be the ninth book featuring Perez. The first was released in 2006.

The latest book follows Perez as he investigates the death of a childhood friend on the Orcadian island of Westray.

Cleeves credits the character as being a "career changer" and the one that allowed her to "give up the day job".

The TV series based on the novels is currently in its ninth series.

Douglas Henshall, who played Perez, quit after seven series. He was replaced by Ashley Jensen, who stars as DI Ruth Calder.

Shetland averaged 7.2m viewers in the UK and is popular around the world.

Ann spent time in Orkney to gain inspiration for the novel and said the main difference between the two islands is the scenery.

"I think it is the landscape isn't it? Those views that you don't get in Shetland. So much of land and then water, then another island," she said.

"It's a gentler, softer landscape and I wanted to reflect that in the new book."

Orkney's "amazing history" will also play a role in the novel in the form of an unusual murder weapon; a Neolithic stone bearing ancient inscriptions.

When asked if the new book is a standalone story, Cleeves simply asked "who knows?".

Listen to the full interview on the Orkney Arts programme, BBC Sounds, 18:00 on 27 January.