Review: The Long Call

 

Mystery is not my usual genre and I've never read an Ann Cleeves book before (even though she has oodles of them). But when PGC Books sent a list of titles they had for review and said, "hey, your reading tastes may have changed during this whole pandemic thing" (I'm paraphrasing), I thought, "yes, you are correct. I don't know what I like anymore." Even though I had seen the title before, it had published in February of this year, it hadn't caught my eye. But in the spring after (finally) bingeing Broadchurch? I was so in for another mystery set in England. The Long Call delivered.

Here's the synopsis:

In North Devon, where the rivers Taw and Torridge converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father's funeral takes place. The day Matthew turned his back on the strict evangelical community in which he grew up, he lost his family too.
Now he's back, not just to mourn his father at a distance, but to take charge of his first major case in the Two Rivers region; a complex place not quite as idyllic as tourists suppose.
A body has been found on the beach near to Matthew's new home: a man with the tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.
Finding the killer is Venn’s only focus, and his team’s investigation will take him straight back into the community he left behind, and the deadly secrets that lurk there.

This was a really intriguing mystery. I had absolutely no idea who was responsible for the murder on the beach and really couldn't seen the connections between the dead man and the other crimes that take place later in the novel. Everything was so intertwined that I was a bit in awe of the way Venn worked and how he was able to puzzle everything out. I actually ended up staying up well past my bedtime to finish the book (oops) because I couldn't go to sleep without knowing who committed all the various crimes.

Matthew was a really interesting protagonist. His family history is super rocky and we first meet him while he's standing outside his dad's funeral as he's not welcome inside. He's really closed off plus is more calm than you'd expect a detective to be. He's a good man and not blustery or controlling, which is sometimes rare in a leader. The reader doesn't get a complete, full sense of him which I think really works for both the story and for where, I imagine, the series might go. 

One of the things that sort of irked me, and kept me from swooning over this book, was the way some of it was written. It's hard to explain as it was written well but there were some sections that just didn't seem to flow. There was a scene with the two female roommates of the dead man and the father of one of the women and I have absolutely no idea what the point of it was supposed to be. There were a few things like that that didn't move the plot at all (which I kind of expect in a mystery) nor did they really build up the characters (though some character background was a teeny bit boring). It didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the book and I'd still recommend it.

I'm also super into the cover of this edition. It's so moody and perfect for the setting of the novel.

As I said, The Long Call was my first Ann Cleeves book but I don't think it's going to be my last. I enjoyed the story she put together and the mystery kept me guessing. I really like the characters she's created with this new series so I'm definitely excited to read the next book in the Two Rivers series, whenever it may be released. I'll have to check out her backlist and then start watching the TV shows based on those books. What else is there to do during a pandemic?

*A copy of this novel was provided by PGC Books in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*