The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

From the Publisher: From Ann Cleeves, bestselling author of Vera and Shetland, beloved by readers and TV viewers alike, comes a spectacular new series, told with deep compassion and searing insight.

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.

I discovered Ann Cleeves a few years ago and binged her Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez books. Now she has introduced a new detective, Matthew Venn, who struggles with his past while working on a future with his husband Jonathan. Cleeves does some of her best storytelling here, creating likable and intriguing characters working their way through a clever plot. She sets the stage for further development of Venn, Jen Rafferty, Ross, and Jonathan, which makes me eager for the next one in this series.

Here, I particularly appreciated Cleeves’ sensitive and accurate portrayal of adult women who have Downs Syndrome. Lucy Braddick is especially sassy, intelligent, and clever, with a smile that lights up the room.

I’ll be recommending this new series and looking forward to the next TV adaptation of Cleeves’ work!

Publication Date: September 3, 2019
Published By: St. Martin’s Press Minotaur Books
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy