Helpful Score: 2
This new series features a new British detective in the world of detective serials: Matthew Venn. This is the newest of Ann Cleeve's mystery series. I love the detective: he's kind and patience--like Jimmy Perez, but that's where the resemblance ends.
Matthew and his team in Devon are looking for someone who killed a young homeless man. There seems to be no apparent motive until two young women with Down's Syndrome are kidnapped.
Matthew is estranged from his family and has serious doubts as to his ability to solve the crime. He's self-conscious and unsure of himself.
The setting is typical Cleeves--rugged, harsh, beautiful. Water plays an important role in the novel, thus the "Two Rivers" series.
I'm going to read the others when they come out.
Matthew and his team in Devon are looking for someone who killed a young homeless man. There seems to be no apparent motive until two young women with Down's Syndrome are kidnapped.
Matthew is estranged from his family and has serious doubts as to his ability to solve the crime. He's self-conscious and unsure of himself.
The setting is typical Cleeves--rugged, harsh, beautiful. Water plays an important role in the novel, thus the "Two Rivers" series.
I'm going to read the others when they come out.
Helpful Score: 2
For those of you still in mourning for the ending of Ann Cleeves' Shetland series, you have cause to rejoice. This new Two Rivers series featuring Matthew Venn has a powerhouse beginning in The Long Call, and I'm looking forward to more.
Cleeves has chosen another atmospheric setting for her new series, the coastal area of North Devon. This land of water and sky and "...the cry of the herring gull, the sound naturalists named the long call, the cry which always sounded to him like an inarticulate howl of pain" is woven through every inch of the story until it is a character in and of itself.
Matthew Venn is the sort of insightful, compassionate main character that readers should love. Raised by strict evangelical Christians, Venn is a quiet man. Buttoned down. Very self-contained. He's also more than brave enough to stand up for himself and his beliefs, leaving that religious sect and eventually becoming a policeman and marrying Jonathan, an outgoing, caring man who manages the Woodyard, a vital part of the community of Barnstaple. Their chalk-and-cheese personality traits are just what each of them needs to keep themselves on an even keel. One more thing about Matthew Venn? He's so good at listening that he reminds me a bit of Jimmy Perez, you Shetland fans.
Venn also has an interesting team to work with. Constable Ross May is the Detective Chief Inspector's golden boy, and everyone knows that they have to be careful of what they say around him. May is also young and impetuous and has a lot to learn. On the other hand, Venn believes Sergeant Jen Rafferty is probably the best detective he's ever worked with. Rafferty is the single mother of two who escaped an abusive husband. She has guts, spirit, loves to laugh, and can be a lot of fun... when she's not investigating a murder.
Although I didn't find either the crimes or those who committed them to be very surprising, I didn't care. As an introduction to a new series, The Long Call is superb. Ann Cleeves weaves spells when she tells a story. Now all I have to do is wait to be trapped willingly in the web of the next one.
Cleeves has chosen another atmospheric setting for her new series, the coastal area of North Devon. This land of water and sky and "...the cry of the herring gull, the sound naturalists named the long call, the cry which always sounded to him like an inarticulate howl of pain" is woven through every inch of the story until it is a character in and of itself.
Matthew Venn is the sort of insightful, compassionate main character that readers should love. Raised by strict evangelical Christians, Venn is a quiet man. Buttoned down. Very self-contained. He's also more than brave enough to stand up for himself and his beliefs, leaving that religious sect and eventually becoming a policeman and marrying Jonathan, an outgoing, caring man who manages the Woodyard, a vital part of the community of Barnstaple. Their chalk-and-cheese personality traits are just what each of them needs to keep themselves on an even keel. One more thing about Matthew Venn? He's so good at listening that he reminds me a bit of Jimmy Perez, you Shetland fans.
Venn also has an interesting team to work with. Constable Ross May is the Detective Chief Inspector's golden boy, and everyone knows that they have to be careful of what they say around him. May is also young and impetuous and has a lot to learn. On the other hand, Venn believes Sergeant Jen Rafferty is probably the best detective he's ever worked with. Rafferty is the single mother of two who escaped an abusive husband. She has guts, spirit, loves to laugh, and can be a lot of fun... when she's not investigating a murder.
Although I didn't find either the crimes or those who committed them to be very surprising, I didn't care. As an introduction to a new series, The Long Call is superb. Ann Cleeves weaves spells when she tells a story. Now all I have to do is wait to be trapped willingly in the web of the next one.
Helpful Score: 1
Having devoured both the Shetland and the Vera series, I was excited about this new one. Matthew Venn leads a detective team in North Devon, and we get to meet many members of that team, along with Matthew. As unassuming man, Venn gives in to self-doubts many times and does not trumpet his successes. He is plagued by his relationship with his parents, and attends his father's funeral only at the outside of the church. He wasn't invited.
But he is conscientious and does not let personal troubles get in the way of his work. When a body is found on the beach, he leads his team into the center of the dead man's life, a community gathering place called The Woodyard that is headed by Matthew's husband, Jonathan. More than once Venn considers transferring the case because of this personal tie, but his captain says no.
There are more than enough possible killers here, many motives. Thus it takes until the very end for Venn to sift through enough to make sense of it. As is typical in Cleeves' novels, the plot is complex and the solution unexpected.
I wasn't enthralled by Venn or by any of his co-workers. I hope that future entries in this series brings me closer. For some reason I didn't feel as emotionally attached as I usually do.
But he is conscientious and does not let personal troubles get in the way of his work. When a body is found on the beach, he leads his team into the center of the dead man's life, a community gathering place called The Woodyard that is headed by Matthew's husband, Jonathan. More than once Venn considers transferring the case because of this personal tie, but his captain says no.
There are more than enough possible killers here, many motives. Thus it takes until the very end for Venn to sift through enough to make sense of it. As is typical in Cleeves' novels, the plot is complex and the solution unexpected.
I wasn't enthralled by Venn or by any of his co-workers. I hope that future entries in this series brings me closer. For some reason I didn't feel as emotionally attached as I usually do.
Cameron-Ashley H. (BigGreenChair) reviewed The Long Call (Two Rivers, Bk 1) on + 461 more book reviews
I love the Vera mysteries on PBS and I've read quite a few of Ann Cleeves books, which is just to say she's not new to me. I found the new 'Matthew' in this one just poorly developed, by that I mean having just finished the book if I was asked to describe his character I'd have no idea what to say. Boring man devoid of personality? That he was gay was no problem, it just seemed Ann Cleeves hadn't nailed him down yet. The pace was slow, I'd already figured out who had committed the murder, but the sub-characters were also lifeless, all flat and not well-developed so it just plodded along. I hope the next one is better.
