Academy Award nominee and BAFTA Brenda Blethyn (Secrets and Lies; Atonement) stars as Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope in the new American Public Television-distributed detective series VERA. Vera is an experienced and brilliant murder investigator in the North East England county of Northumberland. Kind-hearted but an inherent loner, Vera freely admits she can become obsessed with her job; driven by her own demons, the detective faces the world with caustic wit, guile and courage.