The Long Call: A Detective Matthew Venn Novel

Ann Cleeves

Sep 2019 · Matthew Venn series Book 1 · Sold by Minotaur Books

About this ebook

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
NOW A BRITBOX SERIES STARRING BEN ALDRIDGE AND PEARL MACKIE

The Long Call from Ann Cleeves—bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows—introduces the first in the stunning Matthew Venn series.

“In Matthew Venn, Ann has created a complex, daring, subtle character.” —Louise Penny

"Matthew Venn is a keeper. A stunning debut for Cleeves’ latest crimefighter."—David Baldacci

In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his estranged father’s funeral takes place. On the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family too.

Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.

The case calls Matthew back to the people and places of his past, as deadly secrets hidden at their hearts are revealed, and his new life is forced into a collision course with the world he thought he’d left behind.

Ratings and reviews

The Long Call is the first entry in the new Two Rivers Series. It introduces Matthew Venn, a British police officer, in a same sex marriage and estranged from his mother due to being raised in a strict and cruel sect. When a woman walking her dog finds a man stabbed to death on a beach in North Devon, Detective Inspector Matthew Venn goes straight from his father’s funeral to begin the investigation. While the police are searching for motives for the murder, a woman with Downs Syndrome, who attended Woodyard’s day center and helped in the kitchen, like the murdered man, goes missing. As the team searches for the woman and for a possible connection with the murder, Matthew struggles with a possible conflict of interest because of his husband’s connection to Woodyard. When a second woman with Downs disappears Matthew is further conflicted, knowing his husband would never kill anyone. The Long Call is a very character-driven police procedural, and these are not happy people. The term “long call” refers to the cry of the herring gull, a cry that always sounded to Matthew like “an inarticulate howl of pain”. That sound is very appropriate. Matthew himself has been ostracized by his family since he rejected the small fundamentalist faith in which he had been raised. And although he clearly loves his husband and is loved in return, he is equally clearly very insecure about their relationship. The members of his team also have burdens to deal with. Jen is raising her two children alone after leaving her abusive husband. Their boss, DCI Oldham, has problems of his own that may endanger his career and that I expect to hear of more in future books. Matthew and his team successfully solve the case but not before Matthew himself is endangered. These characters and their lives have not been so easily resolved, though, and Cleeves has made us care about them and assured that we will want to hear more about them in future books. Ms. Cleeves provides a vivid portrayal of her locations. Her wonderful writing and descriptions make you feel the sea, marshes and atmosphere of North Devon. She wrote a wonderful story, with an intriguing plot and a great development of her characters. I definitely recommend The Long Call to other readers. I hope to see more, much more, of Matthew and his team. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

The Long Call turned out to be a really long read for me, mostly because I kept setting it aside for something more interesting. The writing is stilted and there are odd phrasings and some out of context sentences here and there that add to that stilted affect. Like one lengthy paragraph about Jen's kids and child minders that ends with a sentence about Jen still having sexy dreams about one child minder and his 'tight bum.' Umm... Ok, maybe that was an attempt at giving the reader some insight about Jen, but it just left me confused about its relevance to anything in the story, including the paragraph it accompanies. This is a police procedural, so I didn't expect much in the way of those edge of your seat moments that make a good thriller, but I found most of this book just plain boring. It did have potential but most of that got lost in the slow pacing of the story. On a positive note, there is a lot of diversity, which is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. That said, this one got a little over the top with the characterizations of people. The protagonists are all open-minded and completely accepting while everyone else needs an attitude adjustment because their beliefs are just wrong. I'm about as open-minded as it gets, but I realize that it's rarely so black and white where people are concerned. This book gives voice to the idea that there is no gray area, and it started to feel more like a soap box than a story. This is my first experience with Ann Cleeves, and I find myself quite underwhelmed. This isn't a story I would recommend and given my feelings about this one, I don't see any reason to continue with the series.

I really tried to enjoy this book, it was really hard for me. For some reason I just was unable to connect with the characters or the story. A lot of people are involved and the author does make it a twisty type of read leaving you guessing at how it all comes together. My problem was it moved to slow to keep me invested in the story. Unfortunately that's my issue and doesn't mean it was a bad story it just didn't work for me. This was my first read by this author and I just don't think we are on the same page.

About the author

ANN CLEEVES is the multi-million copy bestselling author behind three hit television series—Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall, Vera, starring Academy Award Nominee Brenda Blethyn, and The Long Call, starring Ben Aldridge—all of which are watched and loved in the United States. All three are available on BritBox.

The first Shetland novel, Raven Black, won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for best crime novel, and Ann was awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger in 2017. She was awarded the OBE in 2022 for services to reading and libraries. Ann lives in the United Kingdom.