AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! WINNER OF THE AGATHA AWARD FOR BEST CONTEMPORARY NOVEL From Ann Cleeves–bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows–comes the first in a gripping new series, told with deep compassion and searing insight. “Ann Cleeves is one of my favorite mystery writers.”–Louise Penny A PEOPLE MAGAZINE BEST BOOK … “Ann Cleeves is one of my favorite mystery writers.”–Louise Penny
A PEOPLE MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF FALL 2019
In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his estranged father’s funeral takes place. On the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family too.
Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.
The case calls Matthew back to the people and places of his past, as deadly secrets hidden at their hearts are revealed, and his new life is forced into a collision course with the world he thought he’d left behind.
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Ann Cleeves has done it again! A new detective, a new series, another terrific puzzle of a story that won’t let you go until the very end. Matthew Venn quickly earns his place beside Vera and Jimmy in a debut you don’t want to miss: The Long Call.
Brilliant, thoughtful and deeply engaging.
Fans of Ann Cleeves’ Vera and Shetland novels won’t be disappointed with this unputdownable series debut! With an evocative setting, a gripping plot, and beautifully drawn characters, The Long Call is a terrific read — and Matthew Venn is my new favorite detective.
The Long Call is book one in the Two Rivers series by Ann Cleeves. It is a great start to a new crime/mystery series that I will continue with.
I am a huge fan of British mysteries and this did not let me down. In the spirit of her Vera and Shetland series we are transported this time to Barnstaple, North Devon between the 2 rivers, Taw and Torridge. I enjoyed a few weeks in North Devon and knew some of the places described in the story.
In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father’s funeral takes place. Once loved and cherished, the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family too.
Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.
The case calls Matthew back into the community he thought he had left behind, as deadly secrets hidden at its heart are revealed, and his past and present collide.
In true Ann Cleeves format the story is more character driven, moving at a steady pace and all coming to a climax closer to the end. I enjoyed the inclusion of the learning disabled women, Lucy, Chrissie and Rosa Holsworthy and their central role in the mystery as well as touching on the difficulty of being different in a small village. Kept me guessing till the very end, I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery.
I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from the publisher and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
5 stars
This is a great start to a new series by Ann Cleeves, creator of the Shetland and Inspector Vera books.
We meet Inspector Matthew Venn and his team, as well as his husband and a host of unusual characters.
A man is found stabbed to death on a beach. The man is found to have a somewhat mysterious background. Some say he is mentally ill, some say it has to do with his vehicular homicide/accident when he was driving drunk years earlier. He moves in with two young women, one of whom dislikes him thinking that other is blind to his less attractive qualities.
Matthew and his team investigate the case. This book follows the investigation closely and takes the reader into the intricacies and procedures involved in such an undertaking. There are the usual bumps and bruises along the way. The investigation turns up some of the inevitable secrets that everyone has to hide and some unsavory information about the art-based “daycare” center for those with learning disabilities as well as the general public.
The reader is treated to much information regarding the individual backstories of the major characters. This is a treat and doesn’t at all detract from the story.
This book is very well written as are all of Ms. Cleeves’ novels. It is written in a linear style so thaone event logically follows another. There are several layers ad subplots to this book. It was really intriguing. I really enjoy Ms. Cleeves’ character descriptions. The people in her stories are so well described and fleshed out that one could almost believe that they are truly alive. Matthew is a very interesting person. I liked him and found his history particularly interesting.
I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for forwarding to me a copy of this wonderful book for me to read, enjoy and review.
If you like a moody, atmospheric mystery set in a beautiful place, Ann Cleeves is a go-to author! I took off a star for the slow pacing of this one; it could have moved faster and not lost anything.
Ann Cleeves writing at the top of her form. A great beginning for a new series!
This first book in the new police procedural series by Anne Cleeves, easily draws you in and keeps you enthralled. This well-crafted mystery set in Britain, has a great range of interesting, fully developed characters, a captivating plot of deceit, secrets and intrigue, and sub-plots that weave expertly into the story. Detective Matthew Venn is a complex, captivating character. He is compassionate, somewhat strait-laced, introverted and a deep thinker. Jonathan, his husband, is his polar opposite; relaxed, outgoing and loves to socialize. The two compliment each other well and you can’t help but become attached to both. Matthew’s past and present life entwines in the case, creating additional problems and tension as the connections grow. I loved the complexity of the characters and how the investigation unfolded. It is a terrific thriller with murder, estranged family, kidnapping, abuse, personal struggles and people who are not what they seem. The twists, suspense and wonderfully crafted plot will keep you reading to the end and leave you wanting more stories in this world. I received an early copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way influenced my voluntary review and all opinions expressed are solely my own.
I enjoyed this beginning to a new contemporary detective series set in North Devon featuring Detective Matthew Venn. Lots of characters who might have featured in the murder/abductions and some twists and turns. Venn will probably be more fleshed out in future offerings but strikes me as a conflicted, complicated soul stemming in large part from his upbringing. Would definitely read more.
Thanks to #StMartinsPress, #MinotaurBooks and #NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
As Detective Inspector Matthew Venn of the North Devon Police stands outside a crematorium, listening to the funeral service within, the body of a young man is found on a beach near his home, stabbed in the chest. Venn is assigned to oversee the case, although he quickly discovers the case hits very close to the hearth: the murdered man was a volunteer at the adult day care center managed by his husband, Jonathan, who’s part of the reason Venn was eavesdropping on his estranged father’s funeral.
The victim, Simon Walden, was burdened with a guilty conscience: a few years earlier, while drunk, he’d hit and killed a young child. After serving his prison sentence and working for a season in a resort restaurant, he’d shown up intoxicated and desperate at St. Cuthbert’s, an Anglican Church. It’s affiliated with the Woodyard, a former timber mill and warehouse converted to a community arts center, day care facility for mentally disabled adults, and café. He’d been put to work in the kitchen and lodged in a room at the home of Caroline Preece, a Woodyard counselor who also happens to be the daughter of the complex’s main financial backer, Christopher Preece, and girlfriend of St. Cuthbert’s priest, Edward Craven.
With no obvious suspects, Venn and his team, Sergeant Jen Rafferty and Constable Ross May, discover a flurry of activity in Simon’s recent past, but can’t draw workable links to his death. However, when one of the Woodyard’s mentally disabled clients disappears and Matthew’s estranged mother asks him to intervene, clues slowly start falling into place, but will the team have enough to guide them when a second patron vanishes?
Ann Cleeves has written an emotionally and psychologically astute novel, planting a stoic detective in the midst of physical and emotional mayhem. The Long Call is not only the cry of a herring gull, but the portrait of a man whose past traumas afford him the intuition and strength to rescue society’s most vulnerable citizens.
This is my first time reading a book by Ann Cleeves; it probably won’t be the last. I am a huge fan of British crime shows and have seen all the episodes of “Vera” and “Shetland” available for streaming. If the books upon which they are based are anything like this one, I could definitely binge read them all.
THE LONG CALL is a character driven story with very modern themes. It has all the atmosphere I have come to appreciate in the series made from her books. Locale is as important as character development. I was struck by her description of one small town as being too bland, modern, and featureless to have been used to make an episode of “Midsomer Murders.” (Yes, I’ve watched all of them as well.)
This is a well written murder mystery with no extraneous characters to misdirect which makes it quite remarkable that the culprit isn’t revealed until almost the very end. I had no clue. I think this makes for a great story. Rather than sending the reader down a primrose path, Cleeves follows the characters through their thought processes and frustrations until all the facts become available. Of course, there are some characters that you just know couldn’t possibly be the killer because… well, just because.
I absolutely enjoyed reading this, even the parts that made me somewhat uncomfortable. What parts were those? That would be telling. I would say that given the modern tone of the book, there is probably something to give everyone pause but those things will be as varied as the reader. I recommend this book to any and all who read mysteries.
procedural, law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation, family-dynamics, friction, friendship, Devonshire, secrets, lies****
DI Matthew Venn is complex, often brooding and with a lot of personal baggage in a job that could break a less driven man. He finds this case more trying than most because it is in a location he is not fond of and comes just as he has returned for the funeral of his estranged father. All of the character development is clear and realistic within nearly the whole gamut of the human condition. The plot seems rather plodding at times but it is complex with plenty of twists and red herrings. The length had me at a disadvantage, but I did enjoy it.
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you
A great murder mystery!
The Long Call isn’t the first book that I read by author Ann Cleeves. I loved the Vera and Shetland series, and enjoyed the debut of this new gripping series. A captivating murder mystery with a smart leading character named Matthew.
Set in North Devon, England, Detective Matthew Venn attends his father’s funeral outside the church where he grew. Matthew once belonged to a religious sect that when you leave it, you are banished for life, he was then cut off from his own family. When his father dies, everything changes and he has to come back for the funeral. That’s when a body is found on the beach nearby. Lots of twists and turns follow! Back in his old community, memories and secrets come flooding back. His past comes back to haunt him!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I’m always excited to start a new series and have been looking forward to finding the time to read The Long Call by Anne Cleeves for some time. I’m happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was a bit surprised by it as well.
I admire authors who are willing to take a chance and experiment with new ideas and I think Cleeves did both in this book. The reader is introduced to Detective Inspector Matthew Venn, a middle aged gay man who has been raised in a very conservative Brethren community. He’s quiet and somewhat reserved and not a character one would expect in a typical police procedural. He works closely with Jen Rafferty. She’s another character who is quite intriguing. Single mom to two teenagers, survivor of an abusive relationship, and out to prove that she’s capable of anything she sets her mind to, Rafferty is a force to be reckoned with.
The book starts out with a bang. Matthew is watching his father’s funeral processions from afar and receives a call about a dead body being discovered close to the home in which he now lives. Of course, this sets the stage for a ton of reader questions. Why isn’t Matthew at his own father’s funeral? What does it mean (if anything) that the death is so close to the detective’s home? Is Matthew in the right state of mind to lead a homicide investigation, especially one that’s going to have ties closer to home than he ever could have imagined?
There were so many things I liked about this book. I thought the characters were very well developed. The setting was also ideal. The story is dark and dreary and it seems to match the landscape of North Devon. The plot is unique. Several of the characters involved have Down’s. The writing felt very authentic concerning how each of these characters would act and react to the ongoings around them. The mystery itself leads the reader to wonder how everything is connected and what a possible motive for murder could be. The ending is nicely done and entirely plausible. (I’m not a fan of rushed endings!)
If I had one complaint (although it’s more of a comment) it would be about Jonathan, Matthew’s husband. He felt off to me. He should be so likable. He commits himself to helping others and doing the right thing and yet there was just something bothersome about him. Maybe it was the way he acted towards Matthew? Maybe he seemed fake? Maybe he seemed too self-centered for what he does? I’m honestly not sure. I suppose it could even be intentional in writing his character that way. Regardless, I have no doubt I’ll read the second book of the Two Rivers duology.
What a fantastic mystery–and the first of what’s sure to be a wonderful new series by the author of the beloved (on the page and on the TV screen) Vera books. Dark, thought-proving, and deeply character driver, Ann Cleeves’ new main character Matthew Venn will be your new favorite detective. Truly loved this.
This was a very slow start for me but the great reviews kept me reading and I’m so glad I did. I hadn’t read Ann Cleeves before but she’s totally on my list now. I can’t pinpoint what exactly about this one resonated so well with me – the characters are well developed but not so individually compelling that they stood out for that alone. The plot was intricate and well paced but again not anything so specifically unique that it would do it on its own. The writing was very crisp and tight – which in itself is always worth remarking upon – and that was probably the single most significant contribution.
Frankly, I think it was the combination of all of them – this was, quite simply, a well-written, well-rounded story prepared by someone who is clearly in mastery of her writing. It kept my attention, engaged me, made me feel for the characters, and kept me curious and guessing right up until the end. I’m certainly going to keep this series on my watch list!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy.
As with every new series the reader needs to get used to the characters and often the need for background can be overwhelming and slowing the story down.
First if you are negative towards homosexual relationships do not read this book. This book is clean language and no visual sexual scenes but the caring relationship between two men is accurately portrayed.
Detective Matthew the main character comes with a lot of emotional baggage from the past which has only intensified by the dead of his father. The breakup with his parents went together with his separation of the religious sect they belonged to leaving him with permanent scars.
Besides the husband the other two main characters which hopefully we will see getting developed more in the next books in the series. Both work for Matthew. One is a woman having relocated in order to separate herself from a dominating and abusive husband the other is a bit overambitious young married male. All of it and the ongoing actions come to a satisfaction explanation as you are finishing the book.
A clearer view of people with Down syndrome is been established. Clearly many of them are intelligent in their own way. Their emotional needs are not so different from all of us. This book might not be for everybody but I think Ann did a great job and it certainly stays in your mind for a while after having finished the story
Ann Cleeves, one of the finest crime writers working today, launches her new series with Detective Matthew Venn. She paints his difficult history and lost family with great compassion, explaining his drive to serve the victims he has pledged to protect. Plus a wonderful setting and complex mystery–everything I hope for in a series!
“The Long Call” by Ann Cleeves introduces Matthew Venn of the Devon Police and his husband Jonathan. A body has been found on the English seacoast beach at Crow Point, and Venn is called to investigate. This is not only the story of a crime, but also of Venn, the police officer who must solve it.
Cleeves unveils the story of a whole village, its culture and ambiance, its surrounding geography, and most of all its citizens. The village is defined by its people — their back-stories, their relationships, and their interactions. One man upsets the tranquility, security, and purpose of the villagers, the dead man found on their beach. They all know him, but they know little about him.
Cleeves creates an interesting and diverse cast of characters encompassing those who are creative, focused, disabled, and conventional. They are a complex and troubled collection, but they are genuinely concerned about each other, usually. They are all respectable people, but some of them have things to hide; some have past secrets that come back to haunt them, and of course, one of them is a murderer.
Details unfold at a slow but steady pace as Venn conducts his investigation. He finds that the people are friendly but not always helpful. Residents are confronted with emotionally intense and unthinkable situations, both real and imagined, and yet as Venn searches for evidence, people seem to be hindering the investigation. Corruption and the desire for power have disrupted tranquil village life. Entitled people are worried about their own reputations, and conspiracy may have stripped them of any sense of humanity.
“The Long Call” is the inaugural book in the new “Two Rivers” series, and I was given a review copy from Ann Cleeves and Minotaur Books. It has all the ingredients that readers love in Cleeves’ work, compelling characters with complex backstories, unlikely culprits with unusual motivations, and a timely resolution with just a touch of creepy but little actual blood or gore. Oh yes, and the wonderful English countryside. I cannot wait for the next book.
Barbara’s rating: 3 of 5 stars
Series: Two Rivers #1
Publication Date: 9/3/19
Number of Pages: 384
I came across this book because I was searching for a new mystery series to read and love. I was really excited to get started on it, but what I found was a really slow-moving tale that could easily have been one hundred pages shorter. The murder mystery was a good one with many layers and multiple suspects – I really was guessing until the end. For me, it didn’t excite me or interest me enough to continue with the series – even with the excellent mystery. It was more character-driven than event-driven and none of the characters really stood out – not even the main character Inspector Matthew Venn. I think I learned and understood much more about the secondary characters than I needed to know – and not as much about the primary characters as I needed/wanted. I actually think the most interesting character in the book was the victim.
Detective Inspector Matthew Venn is originally from the Devon area and returned, after several years away, when he married his husband Jonathan. Jonathan and Matthew are polar opposites. Jonathan is a sociable soul full of wit and charm and Matthew is a prim and proper one who prefers to be more solitary.
The team of investigators that Matthew leads is also a disparate group who don’t really mesh but manage to solve the crime. Matthew is from a religious cult family who disowned him when he questioned their teachings. He is still more prude than not, even though he is gay. Jenn respects Matthew and thinks he is a good leader and a good man. Jen, however, has low self-esteem and a lot of self-doubts – mostly stemming from an abusive marriage. Then, there is Ross who just irritates everybody. Ross is a bit hyper and cannot be still and cannot be enclosed for any length of time. He’s also the golden boy of the Detective Chief Inspector Joe Oldham, who is in charge of their station, and that causes the others to resent him.
Matthew and his team are called to the scene of a murder on the beach at Crow Point, very near Matthew’s home. The man has been stabbed and there is nothing on his body to identify him. He has a tattoo of a large bird on his neck, but no other identifiable markings. When he is finally identified as Simon Walden, they find he is a derelict drunk with depression and other mental instabilities. Then, later, they find there is so much more to him.
When there are also two kidnappings of women with Down Syndrome added to the list of crimes to be solved, the intensity of the investigation has to be really stepped up. Matthew is sure the kidnappings are somehow related to the murder, but he can’t see what the connection would be.
You’ll be surprised by the wrap-up and solution to all of the crimes – at least I was. I had parts of it figured out, but not all – and I’m usually pretty good at figuring the mysteries out almost from the beginning.
I would have loved this mystery had it been less slow and plodding. If you don’t mind that, then I’d say that I recommend this book for you. However, if you are like me and lose patience with so much extraneous information and slow-moving investigations, then you might want to look elsewhere. The pace does pick up in the last twenty percent of the book if that is of any value to you.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.