This book is haunting in a good way. Investigating the murder of an unknown man, Matthew Venn and his 2 detectives slowly work the case, peeling the story back like an onion, and developing each character’s story in rich layers. The story picks up halfway through and I couldn’t wait to read how it concluded but not wanting it to end.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

I received a copy of this book for free for an honest review. I'll be honest, when I read the description I wasn't sold and put off reading this book for awhile. I'm upset that I took this long to finally give it a chance! Wow! I could NOT put this book down. I loved the main character Matthew and how he meshed with his coworkers in the police department. I wasn't initially intrigued by the death at the beginning of the book, but there was such a wonderful woven story that made you more and more interested and dying to know who killed Simon and WHY. I had an inkling of what the answer was but I was still pulled into the story regardless. I would highly recommend this book!

Inspector Matthew Venn is called to the scene when the body of Simon Walden Is found stabbed to death on the beach. Tracking down lines of inquiry keep pointing Matthew to the Woodyard, a local community arts center, which also happens to be run by Matthew’s husband, Jonathan.

Simon was volunteering at the Woodyard and living at the home of two other women who also had ties to the center. He was also becoming friends with Lucy Braddick, one of the adults with down syndrome who spent time at the center.

It seems Simon was fleeing from his painful past but what was his connection to Woodyard and what was he after? The stakes are raised even higher for Matthew when another woman from the community is abducted.

Matthew is skilled Inspector but at the same time he is vulnerable and that’s most evident in his interactions with his mother. He may be held in high esteem by his peers but is still looking for acceptance from his family. Along with Matthew, there are several other characters who serve to make this a fine start to a new series by the author.

The Long Call
By: Ann Cleaves
St. Martin's Press
Minotaur Books
Mystery and Thriller
376 Pages
Publish Date 3 September 2019
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This book is a detective mystery story that takes place in the UK. There are a lot of characters in this story and can be hard to keep in your mind. Some characters only show up for a little while and could have been left out of the story.
Matthew is the main detective on the case of murder man found on the beach. The murdered man is not well liked. He is an unknown in the area and really hasn't been around for long but long enough to get himself killed.
Matthew and his team are trying to figure who he is and why he was murdered. The clues lead them all over the little town and makes Matthew go to people he hasn't seen for awhile.
I am trying to be very careful about what I say because this is mystery and I don't want to spoil anything.
You really need to go into this book with out much knowledge. This book does hold your interest and you will question somethings.
The murder victim is Simon Waldon. Who is he and why is he in North Devon?
I gave this book 4 stars and highly recommend that you read it.

I was unfamiliar with this author's work before this and would like to check out her other series. I liked the premise that the series centers around a detective, Matthew Venn, has to take a case that takes him back home where he is forced to confront his past and I see to follow his growth throughout the series in addition to the central storyline of each book.

A creepy thriller that proves you can leave, but you are never really gone from home and the past, it will always catch up just when you least expect.

A new series from Ann Cleeves! What a time to be alive. Fortunately, this does not disappoint. This character-driven mystery is exactly what fans of Cleeves will expect - and I mean that in a very positive way.

This mystery opens a brand new series by Ann Cleeves. I haven’t read this author before, but when Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press invited me to read and review, I hopped on board. This book is for sale now.

Detective Matthew Venn is called upon to investigate the murder of a man found on the beach. His queries force him to return to the strict evangelical Christian community in which he was raised. The Brethren cast him out because he is gay, and so returning in a professional capacity brings back all sorts of memories and feelings.

The last person to see the victim prior to his death may have been 30-year-old Lucy, a woman with Downs Syndrome. This character is engaging as is her adoring father. Lucy rode the bus to The Woodshop each day with this man, and this produces some consternation when her father learns of it. As a mother, I can appreciate his concern.

This is a solidly constructed mystery fashioned by a pro, and yet for some reason I had difficulty engaging with the protagonist. I’m rounding my rating up to 4 stars because I have a hunch that if I had read the printed galley provided me, I might have understood it better and therefore might have found it more interesting. I fell behind in my reading and reviewing over the summer and obtained audio books of a few titles whose publication dates had passed, figuring to catch up. It took me a long time to figure out that The Woodyard was actually not a lumberyard or hardware store, and so some of the plot left me scratching my head. If I’d read with my eyes instead of my ears, I might have caught on sooner. Once I figured out all the pieces, I could follow what was happening and recognized the red herrings as they passed by. The ending was reasonable and the whodunit surprised me.

This is a decent work of crime fiction and I recommend it to the author’s faithful readers.

I had never read any Ann Cleeves before, but I'd heard good things and wanted to give her a try. I was disappointed by this, however. The detective and his crew were so weighed down by baggage that it weighed the story down.

This was my first novel by Ann Cleeves, so I wasn't sure what to expect. While I like mysteries (my favorite genre), I tend to shy away from main-character-is-a-detective books (too many Alex Cross books, maybe?).
I found this a pretty average mystery. It was very character driven and the author took a lot of time setting up background, scenery, etc. The pace was just unbelievably slow for me!! It did pick up at the end, but not quite enough to compel me to continue onto Book #2. Nothing really "wrong" with the story, just nothing to make it stand out or grab me!
Thanks to Ann Cleeves, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Thank you to the Author Ann Cleeves, the publisher, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid opinion.

It was a compelling read. It is the story of a murder of a mysterious man and kidnappings. It methodically puts the pieces together to solve the mystery. I read the book quickly and generally enjoyed it.

The only problem with the book is that the whole atmosphere of the book is rather dark. The main characters all have some darkness in their past and it gives the entire story a dark atmosphere----even for the good guys. It was a little darker than I would like. But other than that---it was a compelling read.

I have been a long time fan of the Vera and Jimmy Perez novels. The Long Call is the first book in a new series by Ann Cleeves. The new character, Detective Matthew Venn, was not well developed, in my opinion, making it difficult to hold my attention. As a reader, I never felt engaged with the characters. It’s doubtful I’ll be reading more books in this series,..missing Jimmy Perez.

The Long Call was a suspenseful novel with a twisted story line. I enjoyed how the story unraveled throughout the pages and how well the truth was kept hidden. Matthew is on a case involving a man who was found murdered. For some reason this man had contact with a young woman with Down's Syndrome from the center that he was involved with. Shortly after he is found murdered, another woman from the center disappears one day. The characters are all local people and most of them have some connection to the center. They either seem like they couldn’t have had anything to do with the murder or they seem like they could be guilty. Matthew becomes more and more determined to solve the case as more incidents happen and the situation begins to hit closer to home.

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves is a murder mystery set in southwest England. Detective Matthew Venn is investigating a murder in a tight-knit community. The author did an excellent job of drawing me into the North Devon population. I felt a connection to some of the inhabitants, and importantly, a lingering sorrow for the murder victim. Admittedly there were times I felt bogged down by some of the cast of characters, and the slow burn almost wasn't worth it. In the end, I enjoyed getting to know Matthew Venn, and I was glad for the justice he was able to deliver for Simon. I would consider continuing with this series. Sometimes I find a first book suffers from too much exposition when attempting to introduce all the people in their world, and Matthew is a strong lead.

Detective Matthew Venn is a brilliant character. I am so glad that this book is the first in a series because I can't wait to read more.

I’m a huge Ann Cleeves fan! Shetland might be one of my fav shows. This mystery introduces a new detective. There is body discovered on the beach; a man is stabbed to death. In the small town of secrets everyone is affected by murder

Not for me. I’ve had this on my kindle for several months and I’ve started and abandoned it 5 or 6 times.

Ann Cleeves introduces Detective Inspector Matthew Venn who has returned to police service in his home area which he had abandoned when he left his parents' restrictive religion. A man is found murdered, two women with intellectual disabilities go missing. What misbehavior has led to murder? Small town England and inward looking people. The Long Call is a good classic police procedural.

This is my first book by Ann Cleeves and I found myself drawn in immediately.
The story was different from a lot of books out there right now and I found that refreshing. The lead detective is a man who happens to be married to another man. Both men hold decent, respectable jobs. This immediately gives the story and updated, fresh feel.
The basic premise of the story revolves around the lead detective investigating a murder. The heart of the story though, involves the detective returning home to the community that shunned him to solve this murder. As this appears to be the beginning of a series, I see promising things for these characters.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for my review.