Review: The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves

 

The Raging Storm (Two Rivers #3) by Ann Cleeves

Publication Date: September 5th 2023 by Minotaur Books & Macmillan Audio

Pages: 383

Source: Publisher & Library audio

Rating: ★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Detective Inspector Matthew Venn and his team investigate the murder of a sailing adventurer, his body discovered on a dinghy anchored in an infamous cove in Greystone. The past figures heavily into solving the case and the team interview many of the locals trying to figure out who would want Jem Roscoe dead. Venn has some history with Greystone as a lot from the strict religious organization he was raised in resides there.

I liked Venn and his thought processes, as well as Jen, one of his investigators, who had a knack for getting information out of people. Wasn’t a big fan of Ross, who seemed selfish and immature, always in competition with Jen instead of focusing on the investigation.

The Raging Storm was an entertaining police/crime procedural, but the pacing was a bit slow.  Even so it held my attention enough to want to find out who did it and finish the story. The author excelled at bringing the stark, cold setting of Greystone to life. Very atmospheric.

I didn’t read the previous books, but I didn’t feel like I missed anything crucial, and this was a stand-alone mystery solved in this installment by the end.  

I alternated between an audio and e-copy. Jack Holden’s narration was excellent! I enjoyed his voice/accent and his performance enhanced my enjoyment. I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed.

3.5 Stars

Book Description:

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.