I love Ann Cleeves's books! The Raging Storm is the third in the Two Rivers (Matthew Venn) series and can be read as a standalone. I've read all three in the series now and highly recommend them! The Raging Storm takes Venn to Greystone, a place Matthew remembers visiting as a child, when the body of a famous adventurer is found off the coast.

I love how much of a part the atmosphere "plays" in Cleeves's books. The Raging Storm actually has a raging storm that greets Venn and his team when they arrive to investigate. Her descriptive writing makes you feel as if you're in that storm. You're cold and drenched through. The wind is whipping your wet hair into your face. Your shoes are squishing in the wet sand. It's unpleasant, and it's the perfect backdrop for this book. The small village makes the setting even more unpleasant for Venn since almost all of the villagers are members of the almost cult-like religion in which Matthew was brought up.

Though Cleeves's books aren't technically cozy mystery books they often feel like it to me. They're clean and set in smaller villages or towns. The books are more traditional detective books since they're solved by the police rather than amateurs, but who cares?! They're amazing! I highly recommend The Raging Storm!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

“The Raging Storm,” by Ann Cleeves, Minotaur Books, 400 pages, Sept. 5, 2023.

Jeremy Rosco, sailor, adventurer and legend, arrives suddenly in Greystone, Devon. He goes to the Maiden’s Prayer tavern and says he’s rented a cottage. Gwen Gregory owns the cottage.

People are delighted that there’s a celebrity in town. Rosco told them he was in Greystone to meet someone, but didn’t say who. Harry Carter, the landlord, says he came in nightly, then stopped just as suddenly as he started.

Mary Ford is on lifeboat duty when a call comes in about a fishing boat in trouble. Rescuers find Rosco’s body in the dinghy. He has been stabbed. Mary is a single mother to Isla and to Arthur, who has a rare genetic illness. Mary’s father, Alan, is visiting and watches the kids when Mary is called out.

Detective Inspector Matthew Venn remembers visiting Greystone as a child. His parents took him to Barum Brethren social events. But Venn has been estranged from his family since coming out as gay. He is now married to Jonathan. Sergeant Jen Rafferty is with Venn.

This is the third in the Two Rivers series. The characters are well-drawn and they evolve over the books. Ann Cleeves is also very good at creating settings for her novels and excellent plots. She is also the author of the Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez series, all of which I enjoy.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves features her newest character: Matthew Venn, a policeman, the head of his unit and the head of this murder investigation. Matthew is an interesting and complex character, easily envisioned given the gift telling of his story by the author. He had lived a troubled childhood, not of abuse, but of a lack of love. When he grew up, left the oppressive church his parents belonged to, acknowledged he was gay, and found Jonathon, things were changing for him. Now this murder took him back into the center of the Brethren, many of whom were good people; he just had a prejudice. The dead man had been a local, once, and had left and become famous by televising and writing about his travels on his sailboat. He had been well-known but now was past his prime. His body was found, naked, curled up in the bottom of a small dinghy in Skully Bay. There were lots of legends surrounding Skully Bay and plenty of the older emergency crew didn’t want to go there. The police were called and Matthew and his team arrived.

Greystone was a small town, close-knit. Matthew remembered it well from his childhood when his family attended worship here. He had some fond memories. But he couldn’t figure out why this man, newly arrived in his childhood home town, had been murdered. He reportedly spent most evenings in the Maiden, a local pub and was friendly enough. He said he was waiting for someone. That was all they had to go on. That and interviews with people who knew him. It was a tough mystery and it took all of the team’s expertise to solve the crime. Ann Cleeves is a wonderful author, always giving the reader a complex character and an interesting crime. Such was the case here, when they finally resolved the murder.

The book was read by Jack Holden who personified Matthew Venn, with his innate shyness and insecurities. Holden did a credible job with the other characters and the narration as well. I always have trouble at the beginning of a new audio book with the narrator, but Holden became familiar very quickly. Although I enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the audio book more. That is not always the case.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Raging Storm by St. Martin’s Press and a free e-AUDIO by MacMillan Audio. All thoughts and opinions are freely given. #Netgalley #StMartinsPress #MacMillanAudio #JackHolden #AnnCleeves #TheRagingStorm

I received a free digital copy of AnnCleeves’ “ The Raging Storm” from Net Galley to read and review.

Ann Cleeves is the writer of the Vera Stanhope books that coined the long- running tv series. I had enjoyed those stories so I was pleased to get this copy of a e-book “ The Raging Storm” .
The book, as the Vera books is set in south coastal England, in Greystone a remote village that has seen prosperity pass its by. During a raging storm, with strong winds and heavy rain, the local rescue boat service is called out for a small boat on the rocks. A body is discovered in the boat, a murdered man with a knife in his chest. The constabulary is called in. Responding are Matthew Vail and sergeant Jen Rafferty. Greystone is an apt name for the bleak sight that greets them: all the houses and shops look in need of maintenance, the skies are dark with clouds, the shingle beach unwelcoming .it may be pleasant in the summer , but it is gloomy in the icy downpour .
Vail knows the area well: as a child his family often visited here. His was a religious family, and the town. had many other coreligionists of the Brethern to visit. ( The Brethern were/ are sort of strict Baptist Christians ,, descended from German sects born in the early days of the Reformation. Some of the area groups have joined the LDS. (I looked them up - thanks Wikipedia). But Vail has no religious affiliation; indeed, may be put off by the idea, especially since he openly declared his homosexuality. Nevertheless , he has acquaintances in the village.
Early in the investigation we know the name of the victim: Jeremey, Jem, Rasco, who in life was some sort of tv show personality who was know for adventuresome taking trips to exotic places. Earlier in the week, he visited here and took a room in the Cottages while, he said he waited for the arrival of a friend. Affable and gregarious he made friends in the local , buying rounds, telling stories ,generally being a good fellow. So who would want to stab him in leaving his cottage a blood.sprayed mess. Why take him out in a small boat in a storm with dangerous winds and waves. A local boatman? . Why leave him adrift in stead of weighting the body somehow and simply tossing the body in the sea? Did they want him found- maybe as a warning? Was the killer the visitor? All for Venn to discover. He does of course, but that is the plot of the story , for the reader to discover and enjoy.
Like the Vera stories the book is filled with quirky locals, often surly, who sometimes telling only part of the truth. if not outright lying. Like the wind and rain that permeates the area, nothing is easy to navigate for the police. Venn is an aloof, even prickly character, resembling Vera in that way. He wants nothing more that get the job done. One does not have to like or feel sympathy for the primary character in a book, but it helps. But the story is good and fast moving, the and the writing is crisp and clear and the outcome logical. Fans of Brit mysteries will enjoy “ The Raging Storm”

What I loved most about this book, is the location, the setting and the perfectly described weather. There were times I could almost feel the rain and the wind! This is a slower paced detective mystery, which has a sort of rambling, bumbling (in an endearing) way about it. You get perspectives of several of the characters, and its interesting to see what they think of one another as they are working through the mysteries. I will say, the ending felt quite odd to me in comparison to the rest of the book, almost like there was a stronger point that was trying to be made than I expected. However overall, I enjoyed this and if you like a dreary, slower paced mystery you may really enjoy this. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

Having read & enjoyed The Long Call, I was happy to have the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Raging Storm.
Matthew Venn returns to an area he knows from his childhood. He’s in a remote North Devon coastal village to investigate the death of a local well-known celebrity who had recently returned to the area. The description of the isolation, cold windy weather, & dangerous rocky shore really helps set the tone.

I had a hard time putting this book down. It really kept me interested from the start. The mystery of Jem Rosco & his strange death is set up perfectly in the first couple chapters. There are many characters to meet, but the author does a good job of introducing them gradually as the crime unfolds, & the team investigates. Guessing who & why is made all the more challenging when there are a lot of suspects with intertwining lives in the past & present. I thought I had things figured out a few times, but ended up being a bit off the mark. I love that!

Although Matthew is the lead, I like his whole team. Their dynamic is one of the best things about the series, & I’m glad to have the multiple points of view. It’s interesting to get a glimpse of their lives & thoughts outside of police work, too.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy. I picked up the 2nd book in the series after I finished this one. Each story holds up on its own, so I haven’t had any issues reading it out of order.

From gale-force winds, rising tides, and going out on stormy seas on a lifeboat search and rescue, Ann Cleeves' The Raging Storm kept me drenched in salt water and glued to the page. This talented woman knows how to blend mystery with setting and characterization to make a compelling read.

Venn's own history and his upbringing within a religious cult have made him a loner, someone who's introspective and prefers observation instead of interaction. Through word and deed, his methods have begun taking root in Jen and Ross, the two members of his team. These two tend to be competitive, and it can be entertaining to watch them try to one-up each other.

The fictional village of Greystone is one that I would want to avoid since it is very insular and wary of anyone who doesn't live there. As Matthew, Jen, and Ross interview villagers, readers watch the three form opinions of each one. The problem is... are these opinions valid? Even the "all-seeing" Matthew Venn finds out that he can be led astray.

The Raging Storm is another masterful outing for Ann Cleeves. Long may she write, and long may I read every one of her books.

s the third installment of the Two Rivers series. When I started it, I realized that although I had purchased the second book in the series, I hadn’t read it yet so I went back and read book two before I started this one. You don’t really need to read them I order but there are some background details introduced in each volume that helps flesh out the characters. Now into book three, the characters are becoming more familiar. I love Ann Cleeves’ writing and have followed all of her series.

As in the other two series, Vera and Shetland, one of the things the author does so well is to make the landscape a character in itself. You can absolutely visualize the dark, brooding seascape in this novel as a menacing backdrop to the story that adds to the tension and mystery.

Matthew Venn along with his team Jen Rafferty and Ross May are summoned to Greystone to investigate the curious death of Jem Roscoe. Jem had mysteriously arrived in this creepy little town situated on the cliffs above the sea, renting a cottage from one of the locals, saying he was waiting for an unnamed guest to visit. In the meantime he spent his time at the local pub hanging out with the villagers who seemed simultaneously curious and baffled by his reappearance. Jem, as it turns out, wasn’t really a stranger but grew up not far from Greystone before he went off to fame and fortune as an adventurer with a TV series that plotted his exploits. Who exactly was he waiting for and why?

Mathew Venn , too, isn’t really a stranger to this town either having visited here with his parents as a child when they were involved with a local religious community, something he would sooner forget.

There are numerous backstories here that emerge as Venn, Rafferty and May try to figure out who wanted Jem Roscoe dead. The plot is very twisty with a few red herrings and I honestly did not guess the ending which is always fun when reading a mystery.

I would definitely recommend this book and the entire series…..great plot, well written with good character development and an atmospheric setting. I look forward to the next one.

This book is part three of a series. Although I read the book without realizing this, I had some small clues that it was part of a series. This in no way affected my ability to read and enjoy this book.

It starts with a raging storm and a woman is called to lead the crew to address a distress call. They discover a local and worldwide celebrity, dead, naked and laying in a boat that had been anchored. He had not been killed in the boat. It takes the police investigation a while to gain any traction. The town is small, distrustful of strangers, and divided by religions differences.

The book is slow to get started, but the mystery is intriguing. There are at least a couple of likely suspects. But historical relationships, motivations, and clues are very difficult to cull from all the data that the police are uncovering. It's definitely a mind tickler.

DI Venn investigates the murder of a local hero in the small community of Greystone. Having grown up nearby, Venn is familiar with its guarded nature, but will the locals be helpful or harmful? The Raging Storm is well-paced and builds to a surprising and satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed the characters and the sense of atmosphere. The village and its surrounding harsh landscape became an additional character, creating suspense and danger. The secondary characters are well-developed and believable and add to the richness of the narrative. The twists and turns never felt unnecessary, and the end was twisty and satisfying. I'm hooked and look forward to more from this series.!

I found this 3rd book in the Matthew Venn series absorbing, despite its length and leisurely pace. Never having read any of the Detective Matthew Venn novels (I'm a Vera fan), I found it easy to enter the series here at book 3 and will definitely pick up 1 & 2. Like many of her other mysteries, The Raging Storm is atmospheric, has good character development, and great writing. While I typically identify the murderer quickly, Cleeves's novels often keep me guessing; for this one, I didn't figure out who done it until the big reveal.

Very delightful read I can see as a movie.

The Raging Storm is third in the Two River Servies but also a stand alone read. This book takes place in Greyston, Devon England.

Jem Rosco blew into Greystone and went to the Maiden's Prayer which is a pub. Jem was known as a legend because he was a sailor, adventurer who was a celebrity on TV sharing his travels sailing around the Southern Ocean. Jem was renting a cottage not far behind the pub. The patrons of the pub enjoyed Jem stopping in for his 2 pints as they found him very interesting and when Jem said he was meeting someone and never comes back to the pub they were wondering who he was to meet.

When Jem ended up being found curved up around the inside a dinghy, naked, and very dead, anchored off Scully Cove, superstition, secret, and unanswered questions arise.

Inspector Matthew Venn is on the case. Greyston was a village he had visited several times with his parents so many memories were brought back. Greystone is a community of Brethren that never liked outsiders and Matthew being an ex-member he thought all this was left in his past until now.

This book is highly recommended for those that like a slower paced read as I enjoyed taking my time with this book. Secrets, murder, and Raging Storms a must for the lovers of a good mystery.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Raging Storm follows a mystery around a costal town’s own hero who shows up dead one night. Matthew Venn is called to figure out why he and another man are murdered and how they are connected.

I unfortunately picked this book up without reading the previous two in the series. I think had I learned more about these characters prior, I would have really enjoyed this. However, it was difficult for me to connect and follow due to my choice of reading this as a stand-alone. What I did enjoy was the writing style, the details, and the setting. I would love to go back and pick up the previous books and read the series from the beginning.

Matthew Venn, Ross, and Jen go to the aptly named village of Greystone to investigate the murder of a has-been celebrity sailor. What happens as the investigation progresses is exemplary of why series mysteries appeal to so many of us: the characters do foolish things we know they're going to do and then need each other to fix the problems appertaining thereto; they confront their separate pasts in ways that both expand the seriesverse and explain the case; they think about their spouses, kids, parents, friends, dinner, what they will and won't do to fix the rent in society that murder represents (tracksuit pants? really?). So the reader who's been here with these people before now is definitely in a better position to appreciate the nuances and to find the little signposts the author leaves for us as to how things will play out.

A LOT of people I know would prefer to eat raw frog embryos rather than read a series out of order. I myownself don't care a whole lot these days, as spoilers are a matter of indifference to me so moving back and forth in a series isn't going to cause my circuitry to fry. Also, there aren't that many plots in the storyverse. Once you've read a few thousand books it pays to turn off the analytical part of your brain. Not everyone can.

Lucky me, I can.

So at {a late-ish point past halfway} into this read when the lightbulb went on and the reasons the murder took place got clear I wasn't unhappy but rather very, very impressed because the one thing Matthew needed to know was carefully kept hidden in plain sight. Well done indeed, Author Cleeves.

Should people who haven't read the first two books start here? I think those people would miss some very pleasure-enhancing nuances in the relationships among the team. It would not affect the solution of the puzzle in a serious way but it might reduce the emotional impact of a very big twist late in the story and that would be a shame. The gentrification of the North Dorset coast and its ramifications plays no small part in the puzzle's solution. That was very enjoyable to me. Seeing the way Jen, a single mother, copes with the pressures of motherhood-v-career is vintage Cleeves. It's all tied in to the way the case develops. Matthew's life with his husband Jonathan isn't neglected or foregrounded in this outing (!), but his loving musings about needing Jonathan (warts and all) ring true to me. For any eww-ick homophobes who somehow or another found themselves reading this review, you should really set your search terms to exclude me but also don't fear. Of sexual intimacy there is none. The focus is on the interrelationship of these men who're very different yet very lovingly connected. Not to say that there aren't worries and issues because that'd be really boring. I don't find these stories boring, in large part because Matthew Venn's background reminds me of a dialed-up version of my own, with a cold, judgmental religious-nut mother. That does increase my willingness to invest in the proceedings. This one was no exception.

The character I love to hate, Ross, just never gets out of the nasty, Babbitty little bro-dawg box he's been drawn inside. Thank goodness. I don't want to have to like him after three books learning to despise him, thanks.

A series-reader's pleasure. I think that, if Jimmy Perez and Vera Stanhope are your jam, Matthew Venn might be, too. He's quieter than Vera, more patient than Jimmy, happier than either.

This is the 3rd book of the Two Rivers series by Ann Cleeves. Jem Rosco returns to his hometown of Greystone. His dead body is found in a dinghy anchored in Scully Cove and Matt Venn is called in to investigate. I have read all of Cleeve's books in her Vera Stanhope and Shetland series. She wants us to pay attention to the story as the characters act it out according to their personalities. She always keeps her cards close to her chest as she only lets us know as much as we need to know as we read towards the perfect ending. I'm now looking forward to reading the next book in the series. If you like secrets mixed with your mystery thrillers then you will love this book.

I really enjoyed this mystery with suspense thrown in. Detective Vinn gets a case when a boat is found adrift with a body in it. The man was a famous adventurer, who showed up in a small village one day saying he was expecting someone. He rented a cottage even though he had a very nice place to live not far away. The more the team investigates the murder, the murkier it becomes. There did not seem to be any reason for his death and Vinn is stumped. The village is a place he remembers from his childhood, and it is not happy memories. When Vinn finds another man at the base of a cliff, he has to determine if the man fell accidently or was pushed. Is his death connected to the first one? Someone is trying to keep Vinn and his team from investigating and it puts their lives on the line. Will they find the killer? Will they survive this case?

"The Raging Storm," by Ann Cleeves
Minotaur, 400 pages, $29


Vicious wind and rain are battering the coast of Britain's North Devon when Detective Inspector Matthew Venn and his team arrive in the village of Greystone to investigate the mysterious death of a "national treasure."

Jem Roscoe -- "adventurer, sailor and legend," once a fixture on television but now mostly a relic -- had turned up days earlier, checking into a rental cottage and telling anyone who asked that he was there to meet someone. "Someone special. I'm expecting them any day."

Now Jem is dead, found naked, ice cold and lifeless in a dinghy in a cove with a reputation for tragedy. The excitement of the relentless storm, which traps Venn and his team in claustrophobic rooms in the pub, adds to the tension of this absorbing (if maybe overlong) mystery.

And it's no simple whodunnit. Jem Roscoe had secrets that stretched deep into the past of Greystone, a community, we're told, "where many people were related and everyone knew their neighbors; no effort at friendliness was needed, and grudges grew unheeded."

Matthew Venn, in his third starring appearance in Cleeves' new Two Rivers series, also turns out to have ties to the village. The Brethren, the strict religious community in which he grew up, held meetings there, but he is revisiting it for the first time since leaving the church.

Venn's childhood in the strict religious community, his loss of faith and subsequent split with both the Brethren and his parents, especially after coming out as gay, are continuing background for the Two Rivers series, which began with "The Long Call" and continued with "The Heron's Cry." ("The Long Call" was adapted into a limited television series, but apparently a second season is not planned.)

Although Matthew went on to professional success and personal happiness with husband Jonathan, he still wrestles with his own self-worth. This can make him a downer, especially when he's away from the upbeat Jonathan, as he is for much of "The Raging Storm."

Fortunately, Cleeves balances Venn's gloom with the brisk sass of red-haired Sgt. Jenn Rafferty, divorced mother of two teens, who is as good at her job as she is terrible at relationships. Jenn is appropriately creeped out by Greystone. "She'd never before been anywhere that felt so cut off from the rest of the world. ... The constant noise of the wind outside, howling like an animal in pain, added to her unease."

Rarely uneasy, and just as rarely self-aware, is the third member of Venn's team. Ross May has aspirations to climb both professional and social ladders. It's a treat to see him come in from the storm: "His usually gelled hair was wind swept, and it seemed he'd stepped in a puddle."

If you like to rush through mysteries to see them solved, "The Raging Storm" may not be for you. At 400 pages, it's heavy on atmosphere and introduces a dozen or more important characters.

Each gets a vivid description, such as Gwen, the cottage owner, who had “tight gray curls and a sharp little face, which gave her the appearance of an amiable sheep,” and Mary Ford, helm of a maritime rescue lifeboat, whose son is declining from a rare childhood disease, “eating him away like the tide eroding a sandstone cliff.” (Cleeves dedicates the book to Britain’s lifeboat service, which once saved her husband.)

But as with Cleeves' other series, one starring crusty cop Vera Stanhope (played to perfection by Brenda Blethyn in "Vera") and the other, now-ended, set in the Shetland Islands, place and people are as important here as plot. ("Shetland" the TV series continues even though no more books are forthcoming.)

Deep into "The Raging Storm," real excitement blows in, bringing with it some alarming jeopardy. And after all is calm, readers get a little reward, setting up a future book that will be most welcome.

The Raging Storm is the third in Ann Cleeves" newest series. It is intensely atmospheric and aptly titled. Matthew Venn and his team are called to Greystone, a coastal village to solve a murder. The village itself is perfectly named; gloomy, dour and colorless. Venn had visited Greystone as a child during a church excursion and actually has fond memories of this insular village. Venn's team feels less enamored as they question the tight-lipped residents. The murder victim (Jem Rosco) is a native of the village and a bit of a celebrity. He mysteriously appears after years away and claims to be waiting for a special visitor. He arrives as a September gale is roaring and his naked body is found at Scully Head ( a place the villagers think is cursed) during another storm.

As the investigation proceeds, it becomes evident that not all is as it seems. The Brethren church, the native villagers and dark secrets from the past stand in the way of Venn and his team solving the case. Ms Cleeves does an excellent job sustaining the menacing tone of the case. Her characters are fully developed and the plot exquisitely complicated. The novel leaves the reader anxiously awaiting the next in this highly recommended series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur for my chance to read the latest Two Rivers installment early.

Being a huge fan of Ann Cleeves' Shetland series, both the books and the television series, when I was approved to receive an ARC of The Raging Storm, I was so excited. This is the third in the Matthew Venn series. When a celebrity arrives in a small village near the sea, the locals are left wondering why he is there. When he ends up dead, Matthew Venn and his team are sent to the village to investigate.

The author has a way of describing the scenery and the storm that makes you feel like you are there. Her characters are not perfect, but rather perfectly flawed, if that makes sense. The detectives each have their own personal issues and personality flaws, but they are all likeable and extremely good at their jobs.

At times I had difficulty keeping up with all the characters, but it did not detract from the story. it actually provided so many possibilities of who the killer might be. I love books that keep you guessing, and this one definitely kept me on my toes until about the last five or six pages.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great mystery with a small town setting, especially set near the ocean (which I love). I recommend anything written by Ann Cleeves. She is an amazing writer and so gifted at describing the people and the scenery and providing just enough red herrings throughout the story. You should definitely give this series a try!

Ann Cleves weaves a tale of long-held resentments, a faded hero and a woman who has always managed to get what she wants throughout her life. Set in a rugged coastal town, the weather plays a big part in the mystery as two men are murdered and Matthew Venn must figure out the how and why. Entertaining, easy reading.