The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves | Book Review

The Raging Storm

by Ann Cleeves

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.

My review of The Raging Storm

I love Ann Cleeves’s books! The Raging Storm is the third in the Two Rivers (Matthew Venn) series and can be read as a standalone. I’ve read all three in the series now and highly recommend them! The Raging Storm takes Venn to Greystone, a place Matthew remembers visiting as a child, when the body of a famous adventurer is found off the coast.

I love how much of a part the atmosphere “plays” in Cleeves’s books. The Raging Storm actually has a raging storm that greets Venn and his team when they arrive to investigate. Her descriptive writing makes you feel as if you’re in that storm. You’re cold and drenched through. The wind is whipping your wet hair into your face. Your shoes are squishing in the wet sand. It’s unpleasant, and it’s the perfect backdrop for this book. The small village makes the setting even more unpleasant for Venn since almost all of the villagers are members of the almost cult-like religion in which Matthew was brought up.

Though Cleeves’s books aren’t technically cozy mystery books they often feel like it to me. They’re clean and set in smaller villages or towns. The books are more traditional detective books since they’re solved by the police rather than amateurs, but who cares?! They’re amazing! I highly recommend The Raging Storm!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.