Today is our stop on the blog tour for The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves.
Once again DI Matthew Venn has a brush with his roots as a member of the Sect called the Barum Bretheren in the village of Greystone, Devon - a place he visited as a child. One stormy and gale-ridden night a famous sailor, Jem Roscoe, suddenly appears in the pub saying that he will be renting a small house. He does not know how long he will be staying....that will depend upon his secret visitor!
The village boasts an established sailing club but a club which humbly born Roscoe detests. He has never been accepted as a member by the President, Bartholomew Lawson, erstwhile son of wealthy landowners ,even though they were schoolfriends and love rivals over the third member of the group, Eleanor.
The bad weather sets in.. Jem Roscoe`s body is found in a dinghy by Jen and her Lifeboat crew in Scully Cove, a cove with a scary legend of its own. This sets in motion Venn`s investigation. He uncovers family and class hatred dating back many years and which encompasses not only the ownership of land, money and rivalry but also the tenants by which the Barum Bretheren live. Then another body is discovered. Venn and his team have a tangled net to unravel before the truth is uncovered.
Once again Ann Cleeves takes us on a a stormy, atmospheric and twisted journey through the lanes and coves of Devon, leaving us open-mouthed at a denouement which we would never expect. Brilliant as ever.
Reviewed by Liz.
Thank you to Random Things Tours for including us. Check out the banner below to follow the other stops on the tour.
About the Author
Ann Cleeves is the author of more than thirty-five critically acclaimed novels, and in 2017 was awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger. She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn, who can be found on television in ITV’s Vera, BBC One’s Shetland and ITV's The Long Call respectively. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide.
Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary
coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’,
working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. Ann also
spends her time advocating for reading to improve health and
wellbeing and supporting access to books. In 2021 her Reading for Wellbeing
project launched with local authorities across the North East, and in 2022 she
was awarded an OBE for her services to reading and libraries. She lives in
Northumberland where the Vera books are set. You can find Ann on
Twitter and Facebook @AnnCleeves.
