Review: The Long Call (Two Rivers #1)
Gaby Meares
This is the first book in a new series from [a:Ann Cleeves|56067|Ann Cleeves|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1262915904p2/56067.jpg], introducing Detective Matthew Venn and his team. As they investigate a murder, Cleeves reveals the backgrounds of the main characters. Venn, ‘a man who never opened his mouth unless he had something useful to say’; DS Jen Rafferty, who struggles to juggle her work with single-parenting two teenage children; and Constable Ross May who is keen on self-promotion but not so keen on hard graft.
I love a book with a strong sense of place. Like [a:Elly Griffiths|2541526|Elly Griffiths|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1263313152p2/2541526.jpg]’ Norfolk in her Ruth Galloway series, Cleeves describes the Devon landscape and its sounds and smells so vividly you feel immersed.
It is refreshing that The Long Call’s cast of characters is diverse, truly reflecting contemporary English life, without any skerrick of tokenism.
I read this book after reading the second instalment,[b:The Heron’s Cry|56269063|The Heron’s Cry (Two Rivers, #2)|Ann Cleeves|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1623116403l/56269063.SY75.jpg|87659623], but it made no difference at all. I’m looking forward to further investigations with Venn and his team, in the beautiful Devon countryside.