The author, who has brought many landscapes to life, moves to a new part of the UK, North Devon, The mystery is well done, here, but the main character is a bit of a cold fish. That may be understandable given his situation - a gay man coming to terms with his upbringing in a fundamentist cult by a woman who hasn't forgiven him for leaving the fold - but he's, frankly, not the best company.

In this introduction to a new series, Ann Cleeves gives us a complex mystery and well-developed characters. Matthew Venn is a police officer investigating the murder of a man found on the beach near his home. It’s a complex story but I do like stories that when rules are broken they are done for a good reason and you will see this in Cleeves. Even though the story was based across the pond I enjoyed it immensely. I do look forward to following this series since it has all they things I like. A must read filled with the unexpected.

Oh, finally! A compelling set of characters in a complicated (yet simple) mystery. I won’t recap the plot or give any spoilers, but I will tell you what I enjoyed here. The lead detective Matthew is a complicated man. He grew up in a bizarre cult sort of community with which he fell out with years before. He returns as an adult as the head of a small police department with his husband who runs a local community center. As the head of the police/detective unit Matthew commands, we meet one of the women, Jen, who has the makings of an excellent detective but with a difficult family life to balance — single mom with two teenagers at home who she seems to neglect for the most part. There is also the alcoholic higher -up who pops in to wield some power, and the one suck-up officer who tries very hard to do his job and impress Matthew, but to little avail.

As the story slowly unwraps (some might feel it was too slow—I didn’t mind the pace), we learn about the complexities of this old “cult” community and get a small impression of Matthew’s difficult relationship with his mother and leaders in the community. The crime and the resulting ending is not full of surprises, but does twist a little at the end.

In all this character driven mystery was a great read and I look forward to more of this main character and especially the development of the other police officers and Matthew’s husband.

I thank St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

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!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a very interesting British crime novel. Senior Detective Matthew is a very complex character and it will be great to see more from him. I'm this bpok, he has a murder and a missing girl on his hands. How are they connected? The author did a wonderful job unfolding the story.

This is the start of a new series by an established author. I found the book really well written if a little slow in places. The cast of characters were well developed but there was a lot of them so it took a bit of concentration to keep up with them all. The mystery was good but didn't really draw me in as much as other mysteries have.

We are introduced to a new DI Matthew Venn a well dressed, well groomed man a pleasant opposite to Vera. The new location for the series is North Devon. A map would have been useful for the readers unfamiliar with the area as numerous locations are involved in the mystery. The mystery revolves around a man found dead on the beach. Is there a connection to the Woodyard Day Center where Matthew's husband works? We get to know numerous people who were involved with the victim until the author comes to a very satisfying resolution to the crime. A great new addition joining Shetland and Vera. Looking forward to more with DI Venn. Could not review on Amazon as the book hasn't been released.

I enjoyed this book and seeing how all the different characters interacted with one another. Mathew is a detective who is trying to find out who killed a man and left him on the beach. His search leads him to long buried secrets and what some are willing to do to keep those buried.

https://www.cleasimon.com/ready-for-summer-reading/Ready for summer reading?
May 23, 2019
What are you looking forward to reading this summer? There are so many great books coming out. Here in the Boston area alone, we’ll be celebrating Hallie Ephron’s Careful What You Wish For, (Aug. 6), Hank Phillippi Ryan’s The Murder List(Aug. 20), Julia Henry‘s Tilling the Truth and Edwin Hill‘s The Missing Ones (both Aug. 27). On the cozy side, former Sisters in Crime president Leslie Budewitz has her Chai Another Day coming out June 11, and many others are due soon too. But recently I was asked by an editor to compile a list of summer mysteries and in my desperate attempt to pull together books that weren’t by friends or that haven’t been recently profiled on my own blog, I came up with the following. (Then I found out I had misread the assignment – he wanted books that were already out! Oops!). Anyway, here’s a small sampling of what I’m looking forward to, with an eye to every taste. Please let me know what you’re looking forward to – we’ve got time, at last, to indulge!
1. “One Small Sacrifice,” Hilary Davidson (out June 1)
Author of the Anthony award-winning Lily Moore series launches a new police procedural series with NYPD detective Sheryn Sterling unraveling a complicated possible murder.
2. “Conviction,” Denise Mina, (June 18)
Newly single Anna McDonald tunes into a true-crime podcast for distraction only to realize that she knows what really happened – and she’s involved – in the latest grim psychological suspense from a Scottish master of the genre.
3. “Big Sky, ” Kate Atkinson (June 25)

After an eight-year hiatus, Yorkshire ex-cop turned private investigator Jackson Brodie (with dog) surfaces in a quiet seaside village where a routine domestic case turns into something darker.
4. “Paranoid,” Lisa Jackson, (June 25)
Decades after Rachel Gatson accidentally killed her half-brother, her high school reunion – and a string of new murders – make her doubt her sanity in this bestseller’s latest psychological suspense.

5. “A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder,” Dianne Freeman (June 26) The follow-up to the series’ multiple award-winning debut, this frothy, fun historical cozy once again has the American-born Countess of Harleigh solving a murder in Victorian London’s high society.
6. “The Paper Bark Tree Mystery,” Ovidia Yu (June 27)
The steamy Singaporean summer of 1937 smolders when private detective Su Lin’s ex-boss is murdered in a case involving diamonds, race, and political unrest in this third evocative Crown Colony mystery.
7. “The Whisper Man,” Alex North (June 27)
A widowed father and his young son move into a strange house in a town haunted by the memory of a serial killer in this truly creepy debut thriller.
8. “The Chain,” Adrian McKinty (July 9)
To ransom her kidnapped daughter, a mother must kidnap another child, whose parents must then do the same, in this fast-paced, nightmarish thriller from the award-winning suspense author.
9. “Lady in the Lake,” Laura Lippman (July 23)
Having bolted from a stale marriage in 1966 Baltimore, Maddie Schwarz has transitioned from housewife to crusading journalist, heedlessly seeking the truth about a missing woman in this New York Times-bestselling author’s latest standalone.
10. “The Hounds of Justice,” Claire O’Dell (July 30)
In O’Dell’s second strikingly engaging dystopian Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Dr. Janet Watson once again joins covert agent (and fellow queer black woman) Sara Holmes in infiltrating an extremist group.
11. “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead,” Olga Tokarczuk, (Aug. 13)
This Man Booker International Award finalist veers from straight mystery into fantasy as Janina, the local crank in a Polish resort town, takes a break from astrology to investigate a murder.
12. “The Swallows,” Lisa Lutz, (Aug. 13)
Best known for the humorous Spellman Files books, Lutz follows up her thriller “The Passenger” by going very dark with this tale of revenge and secrets at a New England prep school.
13. “Play With Fire,” William Shaw (Aug. 13)
In his fourth series outing, Detective Sergeant Cathal Breen can’t get into the swing of 1969 London, but with his pregnant partner Helen Tozer’s help he tackles the murder of a high-society call girl.
14. “Thirteen,” Steve Cavanaugh (Aug. 13)
Conman-turned-defense attorney Eddie Flynn uses the crooked system against itself, but he’s out manipulated when he’s brought into a Hollywood star’s murder trial in this legal thriller.
15. “The Long Call, ” Anne Cleeves (Sept. 3) With her usual stunningly deft prose, Scottish master Cleeves (“Vera” and “Shetland”) debuts Detective Matthew Venn, who returns to the North Devon evangelical community he once fled when a body washes up on the beach.

This was my first novel ever written by Ms. Cleeves and I'm super excited to devour some more of her work. This is a well-written novel which takes place in Devon, England. I believe this is book one of a new series and I can't wait to see what Detective M Venn gets into next! I huge thank you to NetGalley and Ms. Cleeves for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. A must for your TBR pile :)

I received a free copy from NetGalley. A murder, a kidnapping, are they related? Interesting characters that should have enough depth to make a good series. Enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. Watch out for the British words here and there that might throw you off.

Carelessness on the part of the publisher made this book hard to enjoy at times. The start of each chapter had the first sentence badly formatted in a weird font. Then throughout the book, the paragraphs and dialogue were clumped together randomly so it could be hard to figure out who was talking. I was reading the book on a Kindle and it wasn't formatted for the most popular ereader in the United States. Sloppy, sloppy work on the part of the publisher and unfair to detract from the author's hard work in this manner.

I like Anne Cleeves books. Culturally I learn a little bit about people in the far corners of the UK. I thought her characters were well developed. The lead detective has a believable relationship with his partner. Part of the story dealt with disabled people and I thought that was handled respectively and without prejudice. The story was nicely layered in that it felt like DI Matthew Venn continued to go down the same roads and talk to the same characters and yet he came away with some tidbit to add to the story. I was kept guessing until the end and even the final interview with the culprits was nicely layered. The final paragraph was a very abrupt ending so abrupt that I kept swiping my Kindle thinking there were one or two more paragraphs. Oh well.

Thus begins a new series by an established author. As with Peter Robinson's Yorkshire, Ann Cleeves brings Devon to life, incorporating the landscape as an important element, with the convergence of two rivers, the estuary, and the southwestern coast of England playing a vital role in the proceedings. Since this is the first book in promised series, members of the local constabulary are introduced, some with more backstory than others, featuring most prominently DI Matthew Venn, unusual in that he was raised in Devon as part of a radical Biblical sect known as the Brethren, from whom he has become alienated after having his awareness raised as a college student. Now he is living coastside, with his husband Jonathan, his most telling characteristics being his dedication to his job and his regret over the split with his family. Cleeves has woven a truly original situation here, with an involved tangled mystery and she unravels at her own speed, which never feels either rushed or unduly extenuated, and was wrapped up in satisfactory fashion. Can't wait to go back to these holiday resorts for more.

THE LONG CALL – Ann Cleves
The Two Rivers Series – Book 1
Minotaur Books
ISBN-13: 9781250204448
ISBN-10: 1250204445
ASIN: B07NCW9F8V
September 2019
Mystery

North Devon, England – The Present

Matthew Venn watches his father’s funeral remaining unobserved, without greeting anyone as the Barum Brethren elder Dennis Salter performs the service. Dennis knew the group cast him out when he chose to leave the Brethren. Leaving the service, he receives a call and assumes his duty as a detective investigator. A man has been found dead on Crow Point beach, near where Dennis and his husband Jonathan live.

With his detectives Ross May and Jen Rafferty, Matthew determines the man was murdered, and while he has no identification, further investigation soon identifies the man as Simon Andrew Walden. Simon had been an alcoholic. While drunk he had injured and killed a child in an automobile accident. He had been recovering at Woodyard and working in the center’s cafe. Woodyard in a church related center that provides the community many benefits, including those community members with mental health problems like Simon or those with other disabilities. Jonathan is the manager of the center. In the course of the investigation, two young women from Woodyard will be abducted, raising suspicions about the center.

The story’s detectives face many challenges and characters who are not always truthful. It makes for an interesting story. In between interviews with characters, Matthew considers his life and his relationship with Jonathan.

Matthew defines the long call (the drawn out note of the herring gull’s cry) as “an inarticulate how of plain.” In this story it might also apply to the victims of those with strong beliefs and power to hide misdeeds.

The short and sweet of it is that you can’t really ever go wrong with Cleeves. She consistently delivers solid, entertaining crime fiction and The Long Call is no exception. Her ability to transport us to these quiet seaside towns of the UK makes me want to book a flight, despite the inevitable body showing up.

Cleeves’ prose is always pretty polished. The main characters of the story felt fleshed out without devoting too much time away from the tension and the ending felt like a surprise that also made sense. I look forward to the subsequent novels in this series

My only complaint was that there were a lot of supporting characters that you needed to keep track of, and that there was a little bit of the “wow” factor missing. However, arguments could be made that there isn’t supposed to be one and that these are stories made to be cozied up with and enjoyed for what they are.

The Long Call is an interesting mystery taking place in a small coastal town in Devon, England.
The main characters are
Matthew, a detective and Jonathan,his husband. The book opens with a dead body on the beach and it takes the entire book to determine who the murderer is.
It definitely held my interest, mainly because of really good characterization.
This was a new author for me. I would be interested in reading another book she wrote.

*The Long Call* is defined this way: "The cry of a herring gull, the sound naturalists named the long call, the cry which always sounded to him like an inarticulate howl of pain."

A body is found in the sand bordering the river. Stabbed, so no natural death.

And so begins to emerge a most unique cast of characters. Matthew Venn, local Detective Inspector, married to Jonathan who manages a community center, Woodyard. We are soon introduced to Lucy, Rosa and Christine, mentally challenged adults, who attend Woodyard during the day.

After the body is identified, things really start to heat up. Turns out, he's been renting a room in the home of Caz Preece, who works for a mental health charity and whose boyfriend is Edward, a curate at The Bretheran. Also living at Caz's home is Gaby Henry, artist-in-residence at the Woodyard. Caz's father is on the Board of the Woodyard, along with several other influential men. Do you begin to see the circular relationships among all these people in this small village? So do Matthew and his team, but they just can't seem to find the one thread that binds them all together. Until. Until Matthew has an 'aha moment' and the unraveling begins.

A well-written top notch detective mystery, with well-drawn characters, that is well worth your time.

I read this EARC courtesy of NetGalley and MacMillan. pub date 09/13/19

DI Matthew Vern had left his family's religious organization to the extent that he watched his father's funeral from afar. However, in this story, he finds himself engulfed with that same religious Brethren during both a murder and a missing persons investigation. During these investigations, Matthew meets ( and reacquaints himself ) with many of the people that live in his community. At first, I thought perhaps maybe TOO many people. However, since this is first in a series of stories I believe that Ms. Cleeves was writing forward.

Jonathan, Matthew's partner, is in charge of Woodyard - a community center that also houses an arts department and a special needs area. The real managers of the place are the Board that consists of some interesting and powerful persons. In effect, they have total control of Woodyard.

A man is stabbed to death at Crow Point, special needs women are in danger of becoming involved in a kidnapping. A lot of deceit, betrayal and threatening situations cause Matthew and his co-workers to step up their game to new heights.

A good read and a positive start to a new series by Ann Cleeves.

Don't miss this read !

Many Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a good read and a start on a new series.

Ann Cleeves made up for ending the Shetland series by introducing us to a new series starring Detective Matthew Venn. I immediately fell in love with the area in North Devon and with Matthew, his husband Jonathan and his fellow police officers. The Long Call is a terrific police procedural that deals with lots of sensitive issues in a straight forward matter of fact manner. I can’t wait to learn more about Matthew and his earlier life as well as getting to know Jonathan and the other people of the village.

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves is the first in a new series aptly named Two Rivers. It is also the first book I have personally ready by this author. The main character, Detective Matthew Venn, is thrust back into the community of religious zealots he abandon years ago when a body is discovered on the nearby beach. Little is known about the victim, making it far more difficult to find a starting point for the investigation. The unusual set of characters and the many twists and turns in the plot will keep you engaged in the story line through to the last page.