The Long Call is the start of a new police series by author Ann Cleeves. In this story Ms Cleeves gives us a good mystery, with interesting main characters, who I'm looking forward to learning more about. I was given an early copy to review.

For the most part, The Long Call seems like an interesting start to a Mystery/Detective series. Maybe as Cleeves continues with these characters, she'll get a better feel for them and flesh them out a little more because, while I liked the sketch of the overall series' premise, I don't feel this one worked for me. There was just more in the Cons column for me than in the Pros. This was the definition of the two-star "it was ok" categorization.

What immediately struck me as a positive was the casual way Matthew, the lead character (if there is such in this book of constantly shuffling points-of-view), was presented as a gay man—quite simply he was looking through the room or window towards his husband Jonathan. I loved that.

I only wish Jonathan had been a properly fleshed out character. Unfortunately, his appearance was like a pop-up metal cutout in a traveling carnival. He jumped into the scene when it was needed for Matthew, and then fell right back down when his time was done.

To that point, no one really had proper characterization. Part of that seems to be a style choice. The writing was clipped and to-the-point, like many detective novels whose purpose is the mystery first and the characters second. There was a lot of telling instead of showing ( Matthew was discouraged. ), along with some very distracting segue sentences ( Matthew's mother was still speaking. ) placed between lines dialogue and the italicized narrator's thoughts. It was an odd and disruptive choice to indicate that the narrator had nearly lost his/her concentration during the conversation. While I understand the concept and recognize it to be very natural, to address it so directly lifted me right out of the moment every time.

It was this style choice, succinct and fairly detached, that made the pacing seem so uneven and disjointed. Even the dead man, who should presumably be the one the detectives most want to get to know, wasn't given proper characterization. I still don't quite feel that his role fit even once I knew the identity of his killer and the motive. In addition, I found myself at least one or two steps ahead of everyone in the hunt, despite the constantly rotating POV's. One or two narrators came and took over until their participation in the book was finished. When I realized they weren't coming back because they no longer had anything to add, the decision to switch to their respective points-of-view at all, seemed needless and neglectful. I'll be interested in seeing how this series reviews as it continues, but I don't think I'll stick with it.

This murder mystery is decent with lots of layers and moving pieces. While there is a wide variety of characters, I was not very attached to any of them. Things seemed to hop around a good bit, but at the same time the plot overall was slow moving for me until the end.
Thank you for the advanced reading copy!

Ann Cleeves is a well known author for her "Vera Stanhope" series and "Shetland" series and I read this novel, based on the strength and popularity of these two. With that said, this novel was a struggle for me to maintain my interest. Ann Cleeves has created a news series, "The Two Rivers" series and this is the first book.

The plot is interesting and it's a sound basis for the story, but she spends an inordinate amount of time on character development with too much detail. This becomes a major impediment to the story and it allows for the reader to become too distracted and impatient throughout the novel. The characters are interesting and the book comes to a gradual conclusion without too much surprise.

The title character, Detective Inspector Mattew Venn is attending his Father's funeral in North Devon, when a body is discovered is on the beach and DI Venn begins his investigation.

I do plan on reading the next book in the series and I hope the next one is able to maintain my interest. Ann Cleeves is an exceptional and prolific writer and that is why I will return to this series. Her name carries a lot of weight in the Mystery genre and that alone should appeal to all Mystery readers.

I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher Macmillan for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

Publisher's description: 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.

**************
"The Long Call" by Ann Cleeves is a drawn out murder mystery that took me altogether too long to read. The book spans only about a week in time, but it felt like so much longer. I am definitely in the minority on this one, but I really wouldn't recommend this unless you're already a fan of this author.

I struggled with a number of things in this book.

The chapters, the pace, and the writing style all felt very disjointed to me. Nothing flowed together from one chapter to the next. On top of that, in trying to create backstories for characters, most authors will take a present-day situation and have them remember something from their past that is at least a little bit related to what's happening now. I felt like everything we learned about the characters' pasts was just filler and didn't have any relevance to the story. There was an entire chapter that I highlighted and noted that I just didn't see the relevance. A whole chapter!

The key characters all seemed to have really low self-esteem. The Senior Officer, Matthew Venn, constantly second guesses himself, and I suspect we are supposed to assume this relates to his estrangement from his family. He was raised in a strict Christian (almost cult-like) home, where his parents worshiped with "the Brethren." When Matthew came out as gay and married a man, his parents basically disowned him. I don't have any issues with gay characters, but the constant references from others to Matthew's "partner" and their hesitation to call him Matthew's husband were just really distracting. And it was like everyone had to bring it up -- the people they interviewed during the investigation, Matthew's co-workers. I get it. "The Brethren" didn't approve, but it was everyone. This is a murder mystery, not a romance novel. It would be just as distracting if it were a heterosexual couple.

More on the self-esteem issues, Matthew is basically the boss with only one other person above him. It should be safe to assume that he would be good at his job, confident in his abilities. He may be good at his job, but he's afraid that his subordinates think he's just sitting in his office taking phone calls. Even personally he has confidence issues. At one point, Matthew says to his husband, "Don't be too late," and we're told that "this was the closest Matthew could ever get to being demanding, and even that felt like a risk." Seriously?!?! This man is supposed to be leading a murder investigation, and he feels it's a risk to tell someone not to be too late? And he considers that demanding?

Matthew's second in command, Jen Rafferty, is a single mom of two teenage kids. She is always worried that she's going to get in trouble for wanting to get any time at home with her kids, and she has the guilt of not spending enough time with them. I think every working mother feels that tug of war, but every time we are focused on Jen's activities, there's something related to this topic. At the same time, if she comes to work looking tired, Matthew wonders to himself if she was out drinking the night before. So let's think this through...a woman comes to work looking tired, so she MUST have been out drinking?? And do these people know nothing about the personal lives of the people they work with day in and day out? Wouldn't Matthew know that she has two kids at home? I mean, she certainly referenced it to him at one point. I just find this very hard to believe.

The last issue I'll talk about was the volume of characters for this story. There were so many, and there really didn't need to be. It felt to me like the author created this huge cast of characters to distract the reader from figuring out what really happened. Honestly, by the time I got to the end, I really didn't care anymore. I just wanted to finish.

As I said, I'm giving this 2 stars (instead of 1) because the murder mystery itself was a decent premise. Without all the distractions outlined above, I probably could have enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is scheduled to be released on September 3, 2019.

This is not the most unique book out on the market, but it was certainly well done. It follows a seasoned detective on the case of a recently stabbed man. While I thought that this book has great characters and was very well written, I was just not that excited by the plot itself. There was nothing about it that made me want to keep reading. I'm sure that other people would thoroughly enjoy this book.

Detective Inspector Matthew Venn is standing uninvited outside of his father's funeral when he receives a call that a body has been found on a nearby beach.  

Setting aside his personal grief, he begins his investigation into the murder of Simon Walden.  The case becomes personal when he discovers that the victim had recently began volunteering at the Woodyard, the community center run by Venn's husband Jonathan.

When a vulnerable woman goes missing from the Woodyard after Walden's death, the cases at first appear unrelated.  Venn's superior investigating skills are put to the test as the case hits even closer to home when his mother who disowned him and the evangelical community that he left behind become involved.

The Long Call is an excellent police procedural mystery!  It's the beginning of a new series from Ann Cleeves and serves as a great introduction to Matthew Venn and his colleagues.  This slow burn mystery kept me invested and clues were revealed at a decent pace.  Nothing is as it appears and Venn and his team piece together the truth in a smart and believable way.
The best part of this book was the complex relationships and I'll pick up book two to learn more about Venn!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  The Long Call is scheduled for release on September 3, 2019.

4 stars for a well done police procedural.
I have read 1 other book by Ann Cleeves, "The Crow Trap" which is book 1 in the Vera Stanhope series. I gave that book 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because it moved very slowly at times. This book moved along well and held my interest. The characters were believable and I was not sure who did what until towards the end, The DI(Detective Inspector) in charge of a murder investigation is Matthew Venn. He is a gay man married to Jonathan, head of The Woodyard, a day centre for learning disabled adults and. a craft/art centre.
The murdered man volunteered at The Woodyard..
One quote: "He'd left the window down and now he could hear the surf on the beach and the cry of a herring gull, the sound the naturalists named the long call, the cry which always sounded to him like an inarticulate howl of pain.
Thank You Minotaur Books/St Martin's Press for sending me this eARC through NetGalley. .

<i>The Long Call</i> by Ann Cleeves is a British Police Procedural with excellent character development and an enjoyable plot. Centered on North Devon area Detective Matthew Venn, a veteran detective leading a team investigating the stabbing death of a man found at the converging shore of two rivers (fyi, this is the start of a new series for Cleeves, aptly named Two Rivers). While the victim appears to those who knew him to have been a homeless former soldier, all is not as it appears. Venn and his fellow detectives, as well as his husband and others associated with the victim are well thought out characters and the plot moves at a good pace while keeping the reader entertained. Highly recommend for fans of Elizabeth George, PD James, and similar authors.

The book begins with Matthew Venn attending his father's funeral, and this mystery revolves around themes of family and betrayal and loss. Matthew's husband runs an adult care center, and when several young women with Down's Syndrome are kidnapped, his mother, after not speaking to him for many years, asks for his help. At the same time, the adult care center is involved in the murder of a recovering alcoholic who was volunteering as a chef. Venn's loyalties and conflicts are front and center in this well-written but somewhat grim mystery.

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.

3.5/5 This is a well thought out police procedural. The characters are well developed and the plot is sufficiently complex. However, it never really pulled me in and at times the plot seemed to drag on. Overall, I wished it had just a bit more excitement about it.

I tried very hard to get into this story. It simply was not for me. I did not connect with the characters or the story. I hope others read it and form their own opinions because to one of them it may be one of the best stories and right up their alley.

Fans of the Vera Stanhope series and the Shetland series have cause for rejoicing at the inaugural release of a new Ann Cleeves mystery series—this one set on the west coast of Britain in North Devon, where two rivers join and run into the sea. The title, The Long Call, refers to the cry of a herring gull which sounds much like a howl of pain.

The body of a homeless alcoholic is found on the beach. He bears the tattoo of an albatross on his neck. Detective Matthew Venn is called in to investigate. Matthew is a local who grew up in a fundamentalist enclave, but is now estranged from the Barum Brethren in large part due to his same sex marriage. Nevertheless, he still has a streak of Puritanism in his personality.

Venn is assisted by Ross May, a golden boy clad in designer clothes, and Jen Rafferty, a single mom who lives on the wild side. Between the two, Matthew has more confidence in Jen’s police work.

The search for the killer is compounded by two separate abductions of women with Down’s Syndrome who attend programs at the Woodyard Community Centre where the deceased man volunteered. Matthew’s role in the investigation becomes further complicated because his husband, Jonathan Church, is director of the Woodyard Centre.

The Long Call has all the elements Cleeves is known for: atmospheric, twisty plots and likeable yet flawed detectives with back stories that allow ample room for development in future installments of this promising series.

I had a really hard time getting into this book. The setting , the characters, the pace. It wasn't terrible but not a standout for me.

So it seems that this is book 1 in Ann Cleeves detective series

This is a good ole murder mystery that was very well written and developed!
i can't wait for part 2. :)

3 1/2 stars.

This type of book is totally my jam. British crime novels and TV shows are my favorite. Shetland is terrific, by the way. This book had a lot going on. The writing is great, and the story is good. But... I was bummed that the ending felt so rushed.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced copy of this book.

On the day of his father's funeral, Detective Matthew is called out because a body has been found on the beach. The victim is a troubled man who holds a guilty secret. He works at the local community center The Woodyard, which, amongst others, some mentally challenged people attend daily. The Woodyard is chaired by a trustee Christopher Preece, and Simon, the murder victim had been living with Preece's daughter and her roommate.
Detective Matthew's husband Jonathan manages the Woodyard and we also get to know some of the other characters who live in this quiet seaside town.
This story has merit and is the first of a series, but it does move slowly and there are several chapters where not much happens.

I received a free e-copy of The Long Call (Two Rivers Series #1) by Ann Cleeves from NetGalley for my honest review.

Detective Matthew Venn is new to his job, estranged from his family and is newly married. Matthew is standing outside of where is father's funeral is, when he receives a call. A call telling him that a body was found on a nearby beach. The victim was stabbed, has no ID and no witnesses.

Matthew, Sergeant Jen, and Constable Ross are on the case. These three make a great team. The search involves activities at a center for adult education and the those with learning disabilities.
The story focuses on this murder and subsequent abductions of two disabled women. Detective Venn and his team are set out on a complicated journey that hits close to home.

A wonderful mystery with well written characters and lots of twists and turns.

Watching his father’s funeral from a vantage point near the rivers saddened Detective Matthew Venn, but after leaving The Brethren and marrying a man, he knew he would not be welcomed into the church. The call that a man’s body had been discovered on the beach near his home pulled Matthew away, and he and his team began their investigation. The dead man had had a connection to the Woodyard, a mixed-use space that included a day care for adults with disabilities that was overseen by Matthew’s husband Jonathan Church. As the investigation progressed, two young women, both with Down’s syndrome, were abducted, other members of the Woodyard’s staff are implicated, and to Matthew’s shock, some of the faithful are involved in the case.

I love mysteries, and this book certainly kept me guessing! Matthew’s drive and dedication, even as he is pulled in several directions at once, shows his caring spirit. I appreciated his willingness to hand over the case once it became clear that the Woodyard was involved, so there could be no conflict of interest. The characters were strong, the storyline was fascinating, and I will be waiting eagerly for the second book in this series.