Ann Cleeves—New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland series, both of which are hit TV shows—returns with The Raging Storm, the extraordinary third installment in the Matthew Venn series.
Fierce winds, dark secrets, deadly intentions.
When Jem Rosco—sailor, adventurer, and legend—blows into town in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone, Devon, are delighted to have a celebrity in their midst. But just as abruptly as he arrived, Rosco disappears again, and soon his lifeless body is discovered in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.
This is an uncomfortable case for Detective Inspector Matthew Venn. Greystone is a place he visited as a child, a community he parted ways with. Superstition and rumor mix with fact as another body is found, and Venn finds his judgment clouded.
As the winds howl, and Venn and his team investigate, he realizes that no one, including himself, is safe from Scully Cove’s storm of dark secrets.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.
The Raging Storm is the third book in the Two Rivers series about DI Matthew Venn. Like Ann Cleeves' other main characters, Detective Inspector Matthew Venn is not an easily understood character at first glance, but he quickly grows on the reader. The mystery is nicely plotted and captivating. The murderer took me by surprise.
A famous son, Jem Rosco, returns to Scully Cove on a stormy night, making the town wonder what he is up to now. When they found out that he rented a nearby cottage, there was more speculation about the reason for this visit. When he disappears and is later found dead in a dinghy, DI Venn is called to investigate.
Venn doesn’t have good memories of this area either. The close-minded religious community caused a lot of anguish for him when he admitted that he was gay. I love Venn. He is honest, and he has a routine that he likes to follow when on an investigation. Circumstances don’t allow him to do that sometimes, which makes him a little antsy. It reveals a lot about him when he deals with his frustration. We are learning more about his personal feelings and self-doubts not only on the job but also in his relationship with his husband. There are times that I want to give him a big hug because he is too hard on himself.
Ann Cleeves creates great characters as well as an extremely atmospheric setting. I love how she sets the stage for murder and dread. It is intriguing the way the atmosphere carries over to the residents of the town, which makes the story feel darker and the foreboding grows with each tidbit the author reveals about the town, the people, and the investigators.
I listened to the audio for this book. It is narrated by Jack Holden. I love the way Holden brings Matthew Venn to life. He does an excellent job conveying the gloom and doom of the area and characters. He pulled me into the story totally.
Ann Cleeves has another page-turner here that I thoroughly enjoyed. Jack Holden is the perfect voice for the story and these characters. I will be reading/listening to more in this series.
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