The Long Call is my first exposure to the writing of Ann Cleeves. I was pleasantly surprised at the in-depth exploration of character and the fine use of land/place as a character. I am always drawn to character driven books more than plot driven and this one did not disappoint. I was as intrigued with the guilt-ridden drive of the murdered victim to make amends of his drunken accidental killing of a child as with the unfolding of the ongoing mystery to be solved., with its ever tightening involvement of people and family left behind, only to emerge in powerful ways.

The Long Call is an interesting story deals with murder and kidnapping. The characters are diverse and you'll keep wondering who and why they are acting they way they are. Lots of plot twists that will keep you reading until the end.

meh !! its a whodunit book that keeps you entertained but not really excited.
One can smell the ending right at the beginning of the book so….

The story starts as un unidentified dead body is found on the beach, the reader follows, DI Matthew Venn as he conduct a swift inquiry.
The whole story takes place in North Devon England where a very conservative evangelical sect runs the city.
The books adresses special need adults, gay mariage, religion, influence and bribery.
It is very well written and easy to read.
A little too predictable for my taste.

Many thanks to Ann Cleves and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review
Book is coming out September 3rd

The bulk of this novel was taken up with explaining and re-explaining the personal lives of the characters. I see that the author has previously authored a couple of TV series. I’m not familiar with either the author nor her series, but I’m assuming from reading this book that the series are soap operas. There’s just too much time and attention given to insignificant details. This would, of course, serve to lengthen the episodes of the soap operas and draw the viewer in for another installment, but merely serves as a detraction in a novel.

The basic outline of the mystery was good and should have been interesting. However 50% was all I could tolerate. Actually, it was so boring I just kept falling asleep.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Ann Cleeves does a wonderful job showing the tedium interspersed with intensity of small town police work. The two main police detectives she introduces in this series are Matthew and Jen. Both have complicated family lives and back stories. The mystery they must solves is convoluted so there really isn't anyway you could solve it. But that is not the reason one reads Cleeves' books. The setting is a character in the book and the descriptions of both the setting and the interrogations are ripe for a television script. One can almost hear the music. Recommend to readers of her other series, especially Vera Stanhope. The Shetland series remains my favorite, due to more endearing characters.

I did not give it more stars because it was not a book that I couldn't put down. I read several books in between starting this and finishing it. I was able to keep the characters and plot in my head between reads which was helpful.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. I have never read this author before, but have followed the tv series. The story is gripping and the characters really come to life. Matthew is an unusual detective, not brash but empathetic, courteous, respected and always professional. His family belonged to an evangelical community and the brethren threw him out when he publicly stated he did not believe in God. He lost his family too as they remained in the community. Matthew married Johnathan and that was a huge blow to his family who had cut off all contact. I highly recommend this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is my first Ann Cleeves book, so I do not know her usual writing style. I will say that, although I am a huge fan of mysteries, this is not one that I can highly recommend because it is so slow-moving. It is a character-driven police procedural, with a lot of characters and a lot of what I considered unnecessary social commentary. The main character, DI Matthew Venn has left the church and there is a lot of commentary about how believers have blind faith. He is also gay, so there is the fact that accepting homosexuality should be a “given” in today’s society. The book has multiple plots and lots of characters, many of whom are very slowly developed but developed well. The setting for much of the mystery is a place called The Woodyard, a shelter for the mentally impaired and the disabled. One of my favorite characters went to The Woodyard daily and that was Lucy, a girl with Down’s Syndrome who is seeking her independence. If you are looking for a mystery that is a fast read, then this is not for you. But if you enjoy character development with a very slow-moving plot, then you may enjoy this one. I have to say that I was put off with all of the social commentary and the slow pace.

As a longtime fan of the Shetland series I was a little nervous about a new protagonist; but I needn't have worried. Ann Cleeves has done it again with Detective Matthew Venn, creating a complicated, believable man. Venn was raised in a Puritanical sect, but left the church and became a policeman. When a murdered man turns out to have connections to both his husband Jonathan's workplace, and members of his parents' church, Venn realizes that this case may be way too close to home.

#TheLongCall#NetGalley
By: Ann Cleeves
Review By: I LoveToRead/Librarian
An engrossing mystery from beginning to satisfying end. The murder of a troubled man whom no one seems to know well is a mystery to the police and to the few people who had limited contact with him. His friendship with a Downs Syndrome woman who is later abducted is puzzling. As the police further investigate an evil conspiracy is suspected. All characters are fully developed, even secondary characters, which reinforces believable motivation. I look forward to other books in this new series.

Complex characters, a murder, and a Detective I really enjoyed getting to read about. This checked all of my mystery/thriller boxes. Well written and character driven, this book kept me wanting more. It was a great mystery and I highly recommend.

THE LONG CALL is a slow burn mystery peaking at the back end of the book. It is a very compelling read with multiple plots and characters. The plots are interwoven well and more complicated than expected. Down’s Syndrome is touched upon with characters Lucy and Christine in an insightful manner.

The Long Call was centered around The Woodyard, a combined arts center for the community and day center for learning disabled adults. Being a parent with an adult Down syndrome son, I have to say that the author was incredibly accurate in her portrayal of the learning disabled adults who attended the day center and of the parents who loved and looked after them and sometimes feared for their safety. The readers get to know the lives of the detectives as well as the families who work and participate at the Woodyard. The mystery was excellent on many levels with a variety of characters that kept me guessing until the end. I would highly recommend this novel.

This book and the matter of the book is just not for me. It is a lot more sinister than what I am used to reading although the author gripped me with her writing I just couldn't connect with the characters.

A very solid mystery full of false clues and red herrings and an ending that is as unexpected as it's inevitable. Detective Matthew Venn is a local who's been away for ages so, for all intents and purposes, he's the new kid. The black sheep of a religious family, he is also - gasp!-gay, so he is an outsider looking in. When a suicidal alcoholic is murdered, Matthew and the team he's still getting to know start an inquiry that will hit close to home. All the characters are well developed, even the supporting cast. As in real life, bad people have redeeming qualities and the good guys can be mean sometimes. Matthew identifies with the victim because he was also an outcast. The resolution was a little convoluted but satisfying. My problem was relating to the characters. I didn't hate them but neither was I completely invested in anyone but Lucy, a young, independent woman with Dawn Syndrome who is stronger than other people think. Other than that, the plot is good and the outcome satisfying.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books!

I was painfully annoyed with myself for how quickly I was reading this book because I wanted to slow down and savor it more, but I also couldn't because I had this need to know what was going to happen next. No disappointment here.

The novel opens with Detective Matthew Venn lurking outside the church where his father's funeral is taking place. His mother has made it clear he is not welcome inside. Frustrated and grief-stricken, he leaves without speaking to anyone. On the way back to his office, he receives a phone call about a murder victim who was found on the beach near where he lives with his husband Jonathan. So begins a complicated plot where the detective's past and present are suddenly intertwined.

Matthew grew up in North Devon, where the Rivers Taw and Torridge converge and flow into the sea. He was raised in a strict evangelical community, the Barum Brethren, where he was once loved and encouraged to go into the ministry. But when he denounced the church he was shunned by his family and church members. Years later, Matthew has married and returns to the area as a police detective.

Simon Walden, a depressed drifter trying to get his life back together, died from a knife wound in his chest. Right away the investigation of Simon Walden's murder proves to be much too close to Matthew's current life, with links to the charity Jonathan runs and also to his past with the involvement of Dennis Salter, the head of the Brethren.

This is the first book in Ann Cleeves' new series introducing Detective Matthew Venn and his team. Cleeves works her magic in creating complex characters you'll want to visit often in upcoming books. They may have flaws, but they are also compassionate and caring. She also does a wonderful job of describing the North Devon area. I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series.

Mysterious and atmospheric, this book gripped me from the beginning and had me reading late into the night . A recommended read, for sure!

THE LONG CALL by Ann Cleeve is the first in a proposed series, The Two Rivers. The series features Matthew Venn as the Detective Inspector with supporting characters including his husband, Jonathan, a group of detectives who report to Matthew, and a Chief Detective Inspector who has one foot halfway out the door as he heads toward retirement. Of the detectives who report to Matthew, most of the action takes place between Jen, a fiery redhead with a talent for talking to witnesses and a conflicted home life as a single mother and Ross, a hot-head who longs for activity and chomps at the bit when he isn’t moving.

As the book opens, we learn that a body has been discovered on the shore on the same day Matthew is hovering at the edge of a group of mourners who are there to participate in the burial of Matthew’s father. For his part, Matthew is unwilling to let anyone know he is there, including his mother. His musings and feelings about his family and the guilt he still carries about withdrawing from the conservative religious sect that was central to his parents and which he had left some years before, provide the first insight into Matthew Interrupting this conflict of emotions is a call from Ross asking Matthew his whereabouts and informing him of the newly discovered body.

From that point on the reader is swept into the activity that initially is centered on discovering the identity of the body and eventually leads them to the Woodyard, a center managed by Matthew’s husband. The center is multipurpose, providing counselling and support groups, art classes and activities, an activity center for learning disabled adults, and a cafe where the community as well as the participants can enjoy a cup of coffee and something to eat.

As the investigation continues the reader is introduced to a series of suspects who have different connections to the Woodyard. Some of these work at the Woodyard and two of them were roommates of the deceased, while others are connected to both the Woodyard and the religious sect. As the reader moves through the book it becomes apparent the activity center, some of its participants and Lucy, a young woman with Down’s Syndrome in particular, have an active role in the mystery.

The story is told primarily through Matthew’s point of view, although there are occasional sections that are written from other participants such as Jen, the police detective, Gaby, one of the dead man’s roommates, and Maurice, Lucy’s father. These different points of view flow easily one into the other and serve to help pull the reader through the book. The writing is so well crafted it seemed to leap off the page and land, in full detail, in my mind.

This is one of the best books I’ve read all year and this review is deliberately short on information to allow the reader the pleasure of having the people and places unfold for them in the course of their reading. As the first in a series, it creates anticipation for the ensuing series and is likely to leave readers anxiously awaiting the next installment. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Digital Reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kudos to the talented Ann Cleeves for this first entry in her new series. I have read the author's Vera and Jimmy Perez novels, both of which I recommend. As a reader who looked forward especially to every Perez novel, I was sad to learn that the series had finished. I wondered if there would be no more books by this author. I am delighted that that is not the case.

In The Long Call, Ann Cleeves creates a world within a small community in North Devon where rivers converge; the setting effectively becomes a part of the story. In this world, there are three police officers who are central characters. First is Matthew; he was raised within the Brethren, a conservative religious group. While Brethren characters are very much a part of the novel, Matthew himself has left the group. This cast him away from the familiar into a new life in the police and with his husband, Jonathan. Next is a female character, Jen. She is divorced and never has sufficient time for that elusive work-life balance. Ross is a police officer who seems a bit full of himself but he too has reasons for being as he is. I enjoyed spending time with each of these characters.

The story is populated with many others. There are businessmen, a curate and his girlfriend, an artist and many others. There is the murder victim whose backstory is essential to the plot. Also, there are three young women with Down Syndrome who are integral to the novel. Ms. Cleeves portrays each as a fully rounded person. She is clear eyed and empathetic in the portrayals of the three and their families.

This book was an excellent read and one that I highly recommend. I was sorry to get to the end of the book and only hope that the next in the series comes out soon. If you are a person who enjoys well written British mysteries, put this one on your TBR pile

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this book in exchange for an honest review.

The first in a new series from Cleeves. She writes a great procedural and this one has some great characters to build on. A good mystery and compelling leads, I think she has another hit on her hands.