A SCOTTISH crime writer who lost her laptop and half of her next novel in a blizzard in Shetland has announced that the computer has been found – though in far from perfect condition.
Ann Cleeves – whose books have been adapted into the television series Shetland – had appealed for help after losing her HP laptop.
She feared the computer may have fallen out of her bag as she made her way through Lerwick in wintry conditions on Monday.
The Scottish Government declared a major incident for Shetland on Tuesday after thousands of homes were left without power on Monday evening following significant snowfall.
Cleeves said the device was probably under “a foot of snow”.
The author has now announced that the laptop was found by a “sharp-eyed” schoolgirl.
Here it is! Found in the snow not far from where I was staying by sharp-eyed Rachel as she got off the school bus. It’s been run over so not much use, but glad to know it’s safe. pic.twitter.com/OnFULNmfsG
— Ann Cleeves (@AnnCleeves) December 15, 2022
She wrote on Twitter: “Here it is!
“Found in the snow not far from where I was staying by sharp-eyed Rachel as she got off the school bus. It’s been run over so not much use, but glad to know it’s safe.”
Twitter users suggested that a tech expert may be able to help with data recovery from the harddrive, even if the laptop itself wasn’t functioning.
However, Cleeves said not too much had been lost because she had sent a recent draft of her upcoming novel “as an email attachment to myself just a couple of days ago”.
Her novels about Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez were adapted into the BBC One crime drama Shetland.
Ashley Jensen will now lead the cast following the departure of Douglas Henshall, who spent almost a decade playing Perez.
