Publication date September 5, 2023
About a year and a half ago, I gave five (well deserved) stars to The Heron’s Cry, which was the second in a series featuring Detective Matthew Venn (following 2019’s The Long Call, where we first met Matthew). I was eager to read the next in this series (even though I’d not been a fan of Ms Cleeves, Vera, etc.), so I was pleased to receive a copy of Matthew’s latest adventure, The Raging Storm, from St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.
Although this is the third in a series, each one can be read as a standalone, and despite the fact there is a regular cast of characters who grow and develop, it isn’t like a major beloved character is killed which affects the subsequent books in the series (I’m looking at you, Elizabeth George, but you are still my favorite author!). So, Matthew is still a detective, working to solve a murder on the Devon coast, alongside people who are fully developed characters, including Jen Rafferty, “…the best detective he’d ever worked with.” who “…knew that she tried too hard with the men she met, was too desperate and she scared them off.” There is also the overeager Ross, an ambitious young member of the squad who aspires to have Matthew’s job.
Greystone is a small town that once again takes Matthew back to his painful past as he “lost his faith” and married a terrific guy named Jonathan. As a lapsed member of The Brethren, Matthew gets the nuances of religious differences and cult membership as he investigates the death of celebrity Jem Rosco, whose lifeless body was discovered “in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.”
Greystone is a place Matthew visited as a child, and things get uncomfortable for him when another body is found, and he finds his judgment clouded due to his past association.
Once again, I’m a fan of Ms. Cleeves (and looking forward to seeing her at this summer’s Bouchercon!) and look forward to more from Detective Venn. Four stars (only lower than five because I found myself checking to see how much of the book was left, rather than getting lost in the story and thinking “already?” when I reached the end, as is often the case for me when reading favorite authors).