This newest novel in the Matthew Venn series is a solid, character-driven mystery, as usual with this author. The setting, a dismal, uptight, and insular village far from the usual tourist sites on the North Devon coast, is evocative and atmospheric. The local characters are a secretive lot, many of them belonging to the strict Brethren denomination in which Matthew was raised. The psychological burden of his past increases the tension of dealing with a local murder for the detective. The series regular characters, Jonathan, Venn's husband, and Jen and Ross, his subordinates, have backstories that are further developed here, also. The mystery itself, involving two corpses and a disappearance, grows murkier by the page until the very end of the book. The action may be slower than lovers of psychological thrillers might like, but this is because the characters make the story, and the author takes her time to develop them. Readers who have enjoyed the other entries in this series will appreciate this one, as will mystery lovers who are willing to put in the time and attention to a story in which action comes secondary to character development.

Detective Inspector Matthew Venn and his crew are back for yet another compelling mystery.  Set in a remote village, the killer and the elements battle against one another to keep the truth from coming out.  Will Detective Venn get to the bottom of it before the raging storm washes everything away?

Matthew is a solid character and an excellent detective.  He considers everything and rarely jumps to action without thinking first.  His past still haunts him and, since Greystone is full of the Brethren, it's continually in his face during the course of the investigation.  However, through his internal dialogue, you can see the progress he's making in reconciling his past and his present.  

This third novel in the Two Rivers series is the best to date, in my opinion.  With each book, the characters become more defined and real for me.  Jenn seems to be getting her life together finally, coming closer to having a work/life balance, even though she isn't quite there yet.  Ross is still a giant man child at times, but he's also having moments of clarity as well.  Hopefully he'll figure it out before too long.  Didn't get much of Matthew's husband, Jonathan, in this installment, but his gentle presence was there to help Matthew when needed.

The mystery kept me guessing as well.  Each time I thought I had it figured out, something popped up to prove me wrong.  Which is common with me, I rarely know who the culprit is!  Loved the setting, even though I'd never want to live in a place like Greystone.  Too isolated and too dang cold for my tastes.  Hoping that the author continues with this series as I've been loving every one so far.  Now, with Jonathan making a huge personal decision at the end of this, I'm even more anxious to see what comes next - both for him and Detective Venn and his team as well.

A complex and twisty mystery of long held secrets and murder by a master storyteller. Greystone isn't a tourist town, despite being on the sea. Jem Rosco grew up poor nearby but managed to turn himself into a world famous adventurer but now he's back and dead in the bottom of a dingy anchored off shore in Scully Cove. Matthew Venn spent time in Greystone, a stronghold of his mother's religious sect, as a child and he knows there's something more than a murder here- and then another corpse is found. Venn and his team, as well as his husband Jonathan, find themselves sorting through relationships and all the lies to find the truth. It's very atmospheric, with wind, water, cliffs, and the beach all figuring in the plot. This demands a careful read, not only to keep the characters in the village straight, but also for the nuance in Cleeves' writing. While it's the third in the series and there are references to past cases (and Venn's early life), it will be easily enjoyed and appreciated as a standalone. No spoilers from me but know that there's more to everyone than meets the eye. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Excellent read.

This is the latest in the Matthew Venn series. A body, clearly murdered, is discovered in Greystone, a remote Devon seaside village. Venn and his team get caught there by the successive raging storms of the title. It's not the first time Venn has been in Greystone. He came with his parents when he was young. Greystone is a center for the Brethren, the splinter religious group of his parents. Greystone is hard on Venn's team too. It's a stark and unappealing place of dark rock set against the raging sea.

This is the third Venn story and we get to know him better. This book is less about the bureaucracy and more about ingrown ways of thinking in Greystone, a place where people seem to stay even if they shouldn't.. I think the mystery of this book is a bit clunky. I'm not sure that these characters would react in the way that they do, but I enjoyed reading it because I like Matthew Venn.

Ann Cleeves has not disappointed me yet.
Matthew Venn has been called to the town he spent time in with his parents as a young boy. With mixed feelings he tries to settle in the local overnight accommodations with his team members. The large religious community to which his parents had belonged brings back uncomfortable memories for Matthew Vern. Having broken up with the group he is curious when meeting with old friends to see if they still belong. Not always understanding their logic.
His team ended up been trapped due to the stormy weather. This makes it harder to stay in contact with the outside world.
Ann brings up the following issues:
A woman trying to make her mark in a man’s world.
The world of the rich and the local townspeople.
Buried secrets of the past.
The narrow line been crossed when it comes to Matthew Vern’s husband trying to help. Does Matthew Vern appreciate the help or is he worried that his husband is sticking his nose in the criminal case?
This isn’t a fast read describing the emotions of the various people involved. It will keep you puzzled till the end when everything becomes clear.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin Publishers for providing me a copy of this book for my honest review.
While I understand that this book is a part of a series, the story is a stand-alone.
There is a murder in Greystone, Devon, England. The detective Matt Venn with two Sargeants Jen Raffferty and Ross May come to investigate the death.
Jeremy Roscoe, grew up in Greystone and became a famous sailor cause he took a trip around the world. He came back rented a cottage and disappeared. When the cottage was visited he was not there. The shower curtain was missing and the bathroom had blood. Roscoe was found naked and dead in a dinghy in Scully Cove. An area full of superstition.
Then the story begins with the interviews to find the facts and the guilty. The characters are well developed in this story. However, there're alot of characters and interviews so I recommend keeping track who's
who and related to who. There are rumors, there is money, there are women, and even a religious group all in the mix.
It is not fast paced story but done well and kept me entertained to the end and identify the murderer or murderers! I enjoyed it. If you like a murder mystery go for it!

This book is an installment in a series. I found the multiple characters to be somewhat confusing - hard to keep take of. Made it through but it was a slog. Perhaps if I was acquainted with the author/characters I would have been more used to the format. Perhaps someone else will find this more to their taste than me.

Thanks for the chance to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Arc copy of this book. All opinions are my own. This was a great book. I really enjoyed it. It was a cozy mystery that will be perfect for this fall.

This one just wasn’t for me… I made it a quarter of the way through before abandoning it. The first three chapters focusing on three different characters was too confusing too early on. Then the ultimate POV that the other chapters followed just didn’t speak to me. Just because it wasn’t a story I could get into doesn’t mean someone else won’t enjoy it though.

I loved this book. In fairness, Ann Cleeves is reliably excellent. The Raging Storm did not disappoint. It’’s a sort of complicated story, and personally, I hate reviews that try to complete;y summarize the story. But here’s the briefest rundown.
A hometown boy, Rosco, who has become a famous sailing adventurer returns to town and claims to be waiting for a mysterious person to arrive. Then, he is found dead, posed in a boat. The bodies begin to pile up while the investigation is simultaneously trying to solve the successive murders and understand Rosco’s history both while still living in the town and in the intervening years.
The handful of people who knew him then have all moved on, but nothing about their surface lives explains the undercurrent of complexity and secrecy. Part of the secrecy seems to have something to do with a religious enclave that several of the suspects belong to.
The story actually requires the length of the book to narrate. So no summary will suffice. That’s high praise. The characters are interesting and enigmatic. The atmosphere is rich and conveys both the drama and the restraint of the local culture. And the mystery is deepened by the very well-described subtle clashes of class within the village.
I was mostly surprised by the ending. The solutions is there in the narrative, but it is so well camouflaged that I missed many of the clues and was convinced by the misdirection. All in all, a very engrossing and atmospheric mystery.

"The Raging Storm" by Ann Cleeves is a gripping entry in the Matthew Venn series. When a body is found on a North Devon beach, DI Matthew Venn is tasked with solving the mystery. As he uncovers connections within a local artists' community, he grapples with his own past and personal challenges. Cleeves' skillful storytelling and intricate plotting create an atmospheric and emotionally resonant mystery. "The Raging Storm" captures both the complexities of human relationships and the scenic beauty of the Devon coast, making it a must-read for fans of character-driven crime fiction.

This is the first of the Two Rivers series that I have read but I am familiar with the author's Vera Stanhope and Shetland series. I didn't feel at a loss for not having read the first two in the series and look forward to them.

Jem Roscoe is a famous adventurer who comes back to his hometown of Greystone waiting for a mysterious visitor but just as quickly as he shows up he disappears again and his body is found in Scully's Cove. I found the background characters like Jem and the other suspects to be well developed and not very likeable. Matthew Venn is the lead on the case and was raised in a religious group in town so has insight into some of the goings on. The mystery was pretty good and even though the story felt slow at times the characters and the atmosphere kept it moving along until the end where I must confess I gasped.

I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.

Raging storm, raging disquiet

Matthew Venn is called out to a strange find in a fishing village, Greystone an hour from Barnstaple.
A naked body has been found tethered in a small dinghy with rough seas running, in a dangerous cove, off Scully Point. The fishermen don’t like this area. The body is that of Jem Rosco, adventurer, sailor, national treasure who’d just reappeared in the village. A woman had been seen walking towards his house late at night.
What begins as a troubling investigation becomes even more so as the undercurrents of the village match or surpass the dangerous sea. I must admit to feeling the darkness of the storm brewing outside and inside. I felt the lash of wind and rain. Turbulence of the elements seems to reflect the turmoil Jem’s return has engendered within the village.
Matthew is taken back to his childhood, his parents stance on things given their religious background. The group is active in this village and it’s not comforting to Matthew.
The story has some almost outlandish twists until it all finally comes together, although not peacefully.
I feel Matthew is somewhat adrift despite his positive relations with his husband Jonathan. Something’s brewing here, an feeling of quiet distance. I hope not.
Another superb episode of the in the Mathew Venn, Two Rivers series.

A St. Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Ann Cleeves never misses. The Raging Storm, the third in the detective Matthew Venn series is yet another brilliant mystery which takes place in the location of Greystone and has a riveting plot that arrests our interest from the first page. Venn is essentially a local, and he was raised in a strict, religious sect of which his mother is still a member. Venn lives contentedly with his husband, Jonathan in their comfortable house by the estuary, and we learn that Dorothy, Matthew's mother, is slowly accepting Matthew and Jonathan's relationship.

Jeremy Roscoe, a flamboyant visitor who also grew up in Greystone, has returned just a few weeks before he is murdered and is found naked in a small boat by the sea. As Venn attempts to piece together the murder and who may have committed it, there is yet another murder of a not terribly likeable local man.

Venn, with the help of his fellow constables and crew, eventually identifies the murderer, and as always, it's a complete surprise when the reader realizes who that person is. Cleeve's astute plot making and character development are rather gentle, and on the other hand, are juxtaposed with brutal murder and intolerance of relationships. Like all of Cleeve's books, this one is compelling, fascinating, and hard to put down. It proves that Ann Cleeves is an author to carefully follow from book to book.

Thanks to Net Galley and MacMillan publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

Jem Rosco, famed sailor and adventurer, appears one night during a storm in the seaside village of Greystone. Rosco spends his evenings mingling with the locals in the village pub. But other than saying that he is there waiting for someone, his reasons for being in Greystone remain a mystery. Then, just as abruptly as he appeared, he disappears—until his lifeless body is discovered in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove.

The Two Rivers series has become a favorite of mine, and on the whole, this third installment was an entertaining read—with just a couple of quibbles.

The plot, which builds on the first two books in the series, is well constructed and filled with complexity. But while this is a solid mystery, it didn’t feel as tightly plotted as the first two books. In particular, there was often much too much detail, leading the story to drag somewhat.

One can’t deny that Cleeves is a master with creating atmosphere and this is no exception. Moody, claustrophobic and unsettling are a few of the words that come to mind. Cleeves also provides a cast of characters that adds to the pervading tone. But here’s another but. A brooding lead detective with a complex backstory is interesting. But when his entire team comes along with their own personal baggage to fill the story, it becomes tedious.

So, while in the end, I did enjoy The Raging Storm—and do recommend it, it is my least favorite in this series. My hope is that with the next book, Cleeves will return to the dark, tightly woven tale she’s known for.

Without a doubt, “The Raging Storm” is a cleverly crafted, intricately woven mystery that will leave readers guessing right up until the very end. However, the novel begins with a sluggish start and continues to unfold slowly, so I wasn’t immediately drawn into the story, causing me issues with remaining engaged. While having not read the first two installments in this Matthew Venn series might have put me at a slight disadvantage, not so much so that I couldn’t follow along as it pertains to the police procedural portions of this story. It was the unfamiliar backdrop and numerous characters that tended to muddle things up for me. That said, fans of this Ann Cleeves series will likely enjoy this latest installment very much—certainly a bit more than I did.

Detective Matthew Venn is dispatched to small town Greystone, where he spent time as a child, after the body of a famous explorer is discovered in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place riddled with legends and superstitions. With secrets and rumors flying around, his sergeant and his constable constantly competing against each other, and Brethren church members disapproving of him, Detective Venn has his hands full. To add to the mix, a second body ends up at the bottom of a cliff at Scully Cove, and a third person goes missing! Will he be able to find the killer in time?

Based on my experience with the show, I was not expecting a fast-paced, super suspenseful book, so I wasn’t disappointed with the pace of it.

The first half of the book was pretty slow, but the story still moved forward and kept me interested. I had an inkling of who was involved, however, the reveal was amazing and gave me some of that “oomph” factor that I love. The author also has a way of immersing the reader into the setting; I swear I could feel the cold wind and rain on my face as I was reading the first few chapters!

This is a perfect book to read snuggled up in a blanket, with a fire burning and a raging storm outside.

Jem Roscoe, adventurer and celebrity, blows into Greystone Devon, and the townspeople are thrilled to have him in their midst. When Jem is found dead, Inspector Matthew Venn must return to a place he knew in childhood but has since parted ways with and contend with the community's secrets and superstitions.

I'm a big fan of Ann Cleeves' fantastic writing and her atmospheric, intelligent, and intricately plotted crime novels. I take my time reading her books, as they require a certain amount of attention to pick up on all the clues and subtleties and are a bit of a slow burn. But it's always a slow burn that pays off because Cleeves' writing and character development are excellent. She pulls you in with crime fiction that is almost as character-driven as it is plot-driven. Told in Multiple POV format, we get a deeper look into all three primary detectives' lives, thoughts, and the investigation's different facets. All three are compelling as each is grappling with more than solving the case. Matthew, in particular, is becoming more interesting and complex across the series.

Cleeves writes her settings so vividly that they feel real and become characters in themselves. This storm-battered coastal town's weather, looming cliffs, and rugged landscape sometimes work to impede the investigation. Adding to the danger are the locals' beliefs in superstitions, their suspicions (particularly toward Matthew), their secrets, and thorny relationships. There is no shortage of suspects, though very few leads, which kept me guessing. Another excellent read from Cleeves in a series I hope will be a long one, but this works fine as a stand-alone too!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to review this ARC. I enjoyed it!

So many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of this!

This was such a treat! This pulls you right and will keep you hooked. This is the third of the Matthew Venn Series. I don't want to give away here and ruin for any readers. If you read Ann Cleeves, and have enjoyed her work before, you will love this! Buy without hesitation. So grateful for writers like Ms. Cleeves. Books like this make reading a real pleasure. Highly recommended.

Lots of twists & tense resentment & rivalry🌊🚣

The Raging Storm was not a quick read but it was good. So many underlying conflicts within the small-town seaside community and even a competitive resentment between the police officers investigating a bizarre murder of a famous mariner with sly secrets. It's got good unpredictability with enough suspicious behavior to lead the police team, headed by usually unflappable Detective Matthew Venn, on a complex and hardly merry chase, and the excitement does not stop with just one murder.

I found it I interesting that Venn concentrates so much of his team's effort on building a detailed picture of the dead man's past and his relations with the townfolk from his childhood to his death. I was mostly but not totally surprised when Venn finally puts all of the pieces together.

I read many murder mysteries. My first time reading a book in this series left me content but not bowled over. I felt the brief glimpses into the detectives' private lives were a tad too brief to add much to the plot (though Venn's partner Jonathan and his connections do provide a key piece of information near the end).

Thanks to Minotaur Press and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.