Yeah,’ Jen said. ‘Sure.’ She thought he might be suggesting a date and was flattered, almost excited, but it seemed he had something more formal in mind.

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. 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 But family drama is always good for a mystery. Put three families under stress and, well...it multiplies. In this book, in most approved Cleevesian fashion, we see Lucy and Maurice from the book before; we visit several beauty spots marred by tragedy; Jonathan goes whole-hearted and unthinking into best-friend mode when he should stop and think a minute; Matthew, well, he thinks himself into many corners and gets out when Jen and Ross need him to fix things for them.Matthew and Ross were standing in the yard, suited and booted like the CSIs, but recognizable, even in their paper suits and masks. Matthew was upright, almost military in stature, and his eyes were as grey as granite. Ross May was as skinny as a whippet and fidgeted like a child. She joined them, took a suit for herself, and while she was climbing into it, spoke to Venn. Cleeves combines a flair for evoking sense of place with a thoughtful, complex plot’ – Mail on Sunday 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. This is the second book in the Two Rivers series, and I enjoyed the first one and liked the detectives so I wanted to read this one. It is set in North Devon and Detective Matthew Venn and his crew are called to the scene of a murder at the home of a group of artists. The man who died, Dr. Nigel Yeo, had been stabbed with a piece of glass from a vase made by the resident glass blower, his daughter, Eve.

Unsurprisingly, Cleeves didn't disappoint. This woman could teach a master class on writing an engaging Police Procedural. Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his father's funeral takes place. Once loved and cherished, the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family too.I guess I should mention a trigger warning that this story centers around the mental health of suicidal people as well as their families who were let down by the mental health services and agencies that were assigned to help. This story depicted the issues that the patients and their families struggled with daily and just how exhausting it was. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review. 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. 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 Read more about The Heron's Cry, the second in Ann Cleeves's Two Rivers series. New readers start here ... Male or female? I’ve been here before and know one of the guys who lives here. Or who used to live here. He might have moved on. It was a couple of years ago.’ It was best to let Venn know how things stood before the investigation developed.

I want to thank the publisher "St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel and any thoughts and opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone! 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 Eve is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband. His daughter Eve is a glassblower, and the murder weapon is a shard of one of her broken vases. Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He's a good man, a public servant, beloved by his daughter. I also enjoyed how this story incorporated a group of artists, randomly thrown together into a sort of communal living situation. That whole subculture feel was quite interesting. 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)

I enjoyed the small community investigation where lines are blurred between friend and job, as everyone knows each other. This isn’t a fast paced story, but has some lovely in depth character development. I appreciated learning more about the various team members and found myself especially invested in Matthew and Jonathan’s relationship.