Review of "The Heron's Cry: A Detective Matthew Venn Novel" by Ann Cleeves

 

In this second book in 'The Two Rivers' series, Detective Inspector Matthew Venn investigates murders in an artsy community in North Devon. The book can be read as a standalone.



*****

Wealthy economist Frank Ley has a sizable estate, called Westacombe, in North Devon - with a large house and several outbuildings.





Ley wants to give back to the community, so he rents space to struggling artists for a nominal sum. Thus Westacombe houses glassblower Eve Yeo;



furniture maker/craftsman Wesley Curnow;



and a married couple named Sarah and John Grieve, who manage Ley's farm and run a small dairy. Ley is friendly with his tenants, and occasionally invites them to his home for drinks.



One morning Eve Yeo enters her glassblowing studio at Westacombe and finds her father - Dr. Nigel Yeo - dead, stabbed with a shard of glass from a vase she made.



DI Matthew Venn gets the case, and he and his colleagues - Detective Sergeant Jen Rafferty and Detective Constable Ross May - investigate.





Eve tells the detectives her father worked for North Devon Patients Together (NDPT), an advocacy group that represents patients' interests. At the time of his death Nigel was helping a family called the Mackenzies, whose teenage son had committed suicide. The Mackenzies feel their mentally ill boy was let down by the health trust that oversees North Devon hospitals, and Nigel was looking into the matter.



The police interview the Mackenzies, the health trust administrators, employees of NDPT, Nigel's neighbors, and residents of Westacombe, but no obvious suspect emerges. The situation escalates when another murder occurs - again with a shard of glass from one of Eve's vases. This is followed by a suicide, and Matthew knows he has to stop the carnage. This is easier said than done, because people have secrets, and they withhold information and prevaricate even if they're innocent of the murders.



Like the first book in the series, the detectives are just as interesting as the mystery. DS Jen Rafferty, a single mother with two teenagers, struggles to be a good mom while doing her job and partying after work; DC Ross May, who has lofty ambitions, chafes at being assigned (what he considers) boring, mundane police duties; and DI Matthew Venn struggles with the aftermath of growing up in a religious sect. Matthew left the sect and married his husband Jonathan, which was hard for his parents to accept. A rapprochement with Matthew's mother may be on the horizon however, since Jonathan invited her over for a birthday lunch....and she agreed to come.



I enjoyed the book and recommend it to mystery fans.

Thanks to Netgalley, Ann Cleeves, and Minotaur Books for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars