"The Heron's Cry" and "The Long Call"--from international bestselling author author Ann Cleeves--"Two Rivers Series"--gripping police procedural mysteries set in North Devon, England featuring Detective Matthew Venn

 

The Heron's Cry

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 extraordinary follow-up to The Long Call, in the Two Rivers series, soon to be a major TV series too.

North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder--Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed with a shard of one of his glassblower daughter's broken vases.

Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He's a good man, a public servant, beloved by his daughter. Matthew is unnerved, though, to find that she is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband.

Then another body is found--killed in a similar way. Matthew soon finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home.

DI Matthew Venn returns in The Heron's Cry, in Ann Cleeves powerful next novel, proving once again that she is a master of her craft

Praise for Ann Cleeves
 

“Ann Cleeves is one of my favorite mystery writers.”―Louise Penny

“Gripping from start to finish.”―Booklist

“Chilling . . . enough to freeze the blood.”―Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

“Cleeves’ taut, atmospheric thriller will keep readers guessing until the last page.”―Publishers Weekly

 

 

The Long Call

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 a gripping new series, told with deep compassion and searing insight.

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.

Reviews

"Cleeves's true strength lies in her descriptions of the natural world, gorgeously captured."―New York Times Book Review

"Cleeves' acclaimed Shetland series may be history, but her newest detective―buttoned-up, gay, married, ex-evangelical Matthew Venn―is a righteous successor."―People

"The plotting is complex and intriguing, the location comes alive, and the resolution satisfies... fans of Cleeves lamenting the end of the 'Shetland' series will find much to love in her new characters and setting."―Library Journal (starred)

"Fans missing detective Jimmy Perez (Wild Fire, 2018, etc.) will find a worthy successor in the equally complex Venn, who presides over an excellent mystery in this series kickoff."―Kirkus

"Cleeves makes good use of Devon local color and populates this subtle, expertly paced mystery with distinctive supporting characters."―Publishers Weekly

"As usual with this talented author, the key is relationships, and the murder is an occasion to examine them and then, finally, to expose what rips them apart."―Booklist

"Cleeves' new series is as nuanced, compassionate and compelling as her bestsellers starring two other gifted cops, Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez."―Seattle Times

"This is a perfect opening chapter that promises to be another phenomenally successful Cleeves series."―Globe and Mail

"Cleeves shows her usual mastery at creating fully fleshed characters, as well as a plot that keeps readers rapt, and ready for the next installment."―Cleveland Plain Dealer

"The Long Call . . . is driven by strong characters who are deep, likeable and presented in great detail. Cleeves is also adept in providing a good sense of place. Although the story is rife with twists and surprises, the end comes together nicely."―The Missourian

"Matthew is immediately engaging. So, especially, is Jonathan, and so are Matthew's two sidekicks, colorful single mother Jen and straitlaced and ambitious Ross."―St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"As a huge fan of both the Shetland and Vera series of books, I had high expectations for Cleeves’ latest. She easily exceeded those expectations with The Long Call. Matthew Venn is a keeper. A stunning debut for Cleeves’ latest crimefighter."―David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Brilliant, thoughtful and deeply engaging."―Sara Paretsky, New York Times bestselling author of the V.I. Warshawski series

"Ann Cleeves is a phenomenal talent. With unfailing skill, gorgeous setting, flawless plot and seamless voice, she brilliantly conjures new worlds in crime fiction. Her instantly iconic Detective Matthew Venn is a treasure―and we will all follow him anywhere."―Hank Phillippi Ryan, Nationally bestselling and award-winning author of The Murder List

“Fans of Ann Cleeves' Vera and Shetland novels won't be disappointed with this unputdownable series debut! With an evocative setting, a gripping plot, and beautifully drawn characters, The Long Call is a terrific read―and Matthew Venn is my new favorite detective.”―Deborah Crombie, New York Times bestselling author of Garden of Lamentations

“A new series from Ann Cleeves had hopes raised sky-high but The Long Call exceeded them. Of course, the setting is sumptuously realised, as Cleeves moves without apparent effort from painting the sweep of wild landscapes to skewering the tiniest domestic vanity. Matthew Venn is a triumph of Cleeves’ particular blend of compassion and toughness and I already love him.”―Catriona McPherson, national bestselling author of Strangers at the Gate

“Ann Cleeves has done it again! A new detective, a new series, another terrific puzzle of a story that won’t let you go until the very end. Matthew Venn quickly earns his place beside Vera and Jimmy in a debut you don’t want to miss: The Long Call.”―Charles Todd, bestselling author of The Black Ascot

"In The Long Call, Ann Cleeves builds a prism of a world, multi-faceted, complex, and as brilliant as a diamond. Fans of Vera and Jimmy will love Matthew Venn."―Lori Rader-Day

"Clever, compassionate, and atmospheric, with a great cast of new characters to love. I am already a Matthew Venn fan."―Elly Griffiths, award-winning author of the Ruth Galloway series

"Ann Cleeves has a special gift for making it seem as if she has been writing about a new character or new location for years. The Long Call is brilliant--a page-turning and sensitively told tale, with a vividly evoked North Devon setting, a powerful emotional heft and a new detective hero in Matthew Venn who you will want to follow for book after book. Wonderful!”―Chris Ewan, award-winning author of the Good Thief's Guide series

"Ann Cleeves’ new series gets off to a terrific start with The Long Call―her native Devon is wonderfully evoked, and Matthew Venn is a very appealing new detective. Another sure-fire hit."―Martin Edwards, author of Gallows Court

"Cleeves excels at creating believable, flawed characters in dramatic settings. Moody and tense, The Long Call will more than satisfy Cleeves's many existing fans and new readers alike."―Shelf Awareness

"[The Long Call] introduces us to an unexpectedly splendid new hero, Detective Matthew Venn. In this book we have fleshed-out characters, as well as an engaging plot, with lots of twisting contemplations and complications."―The Regulator Bookshop

"[An] intelligent and complex police procedural of which Ann Cleeves is a master. This has all the Cleeves' hallmarks―beautiful writing, intelligent plotting, thoughtful social explication, and wonderfully memorable characters. Great debut to a new series."―Aunt Agatha's

"Cleeves evokes the local landscape as if it were a character in its own right. The plot moves at a healthy pace, and there is at least one surprise in store. By the end, The Long Call had me hooked―a promising beginning to another fine chapter in the Ann Cleeves story.”―The Times UK

“With a series of ingenious twists and an endearing cast of characters, The Long Call is a triumph that cements Cleeves’ status as one of Britain’s best crime writers.”―Daily Express (UK)

“Splendid stuff, with Cleeves’ characteristic gift for locale (here north Devon).”―Financial Times (UK)

Ann Cleeves

Ann is the author of the books behind ITV's VERA, now in it's third series, and the BBC's SHETLAND, which will be aired in December 2012. Ann's DI Vera Stanhope series of books is set in Northumberland and features the well loved detective along with her partner Joe Ashworth. Ann's Shetland series bring us DI Jimmy Perez, investigating in the mysterious, dark, and beautiful Shetland Islands...

Ann grew up in the country, first in Herefordshire, then in North Devon. Her father was a village school teacher. After dropping out of university she took a number of temporary jobs - child care officer, women's refuge leader, bird observatory cook, auxiliary coastguard - before going back to college and training to be a probation officer.

While she was cooking in the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, she met her husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist. She was attracted less by the ornithology than the bottle of malt whisky she saw in his rucksack when she showed him his room. Soon after they married, Tim was appointed as warden of Hilbre, a tiny tidal island nature reserve in the Dee Estuary. They were the only residents, there was no mains electricity or water and access to the mainland was at low tide across the shore. If a person's not heavily into birds - and Ann isn't - there's not much to do on Hilbre and that was when she started writing. Her first series of crime novels features the elderly naturalist, George Palmer-Jones. A couple of these books are seriously dreadful.

In 1987 Tim, Ann and their two daughters moved to Northumberland and the north east provides the inspiration for many of her subsequent titles. The girls have both taken up with Geordie lads. In the autumn of 2006, Ann and Tim finally achieved their ambition of moving back to the North East.

For the National Year of Reading, Ann was made reader-in-residence for three library authorities. It came as a revelation that it was possible to get paid for talking to readers about books! She went on to set up reading groups in prisons as part of the Inside Books project, became Cheltenham Literature Festival's first reader-in-residence and still enjoys working with libraries.
Ann Cleeves on stage at the Duncan Lawrie Dagger awards ceremony

Ann's short film for Border TV, Catching Birds, won a Royal Television Society Award. She has twice been short listed for a CWA Dagger Award - once for her short story The Plater, and the following year for the Dagger in the Library award.

In 2006 Ann Cleeves was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award of the Crime Writers' Association for Raven Black, the first volume of her Shetland Quartet. The Duncan Lawrie Dagger replaces the CWA's Gold Dagger award, and the winner receives £20,000, making it the world's largest award for crime fiction.

Ann's success was announced at the 2006 Dagger Awards ceremony at the Waldorf Hilton, in London's Aldwych, on Thursday 29 June 2006. She said: "I have never won anything before in my life, so it was a complete shock - but lovely of course.. The evening was relatively relaxing because I'd lost my voice and knew that even if the unexpected happened there was physically no way I could utter a word. So I wouldn't have to give a speech. My editor was deputed to do it!"

The judging panel consisted of Geoff Bradley (non-voting Chair), Lyn Brown MP (a committee member on the London Libraries service), Frances Gray (an academic who writes about and teaches courses on modern crime fiction), Heather O'Donoghue (academic, linguist, crime fiction reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, and keen reader of all crime fiction) and Barry Forshaw (reviewer and editor of Crime Time magazine).

Ann's books have been translated into sixteen languages. She's a bestseller in Scandinavia and Germany. Her novels sell widely and to critical acclaim in the United States. 

http://www.anncleeves.com/