Judith L. (jlautner) reviewed on + 105 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Having devoured both the Shetland and the Vera series, I was excited about this new one. Matthew Venn leads a detective team in North Devon, and we get to meet many members of that team, along with Matthew. As unassuming man, Venn gives in to self-doubts many times and does not trumpet his successes. He is plagued by his relationship with his parents, and attends his father's funeral only at the outside of the church. He wasn't invited.
But he is conscientious and does not let personal troubles get in the way of his work. When a body is found on the beach, he leads his team into the center of the dead man's life, a community gathering place called The Woodyard that is headed by Matthew's husband, Jonathan. More than once Venn considers transferring the case because of this personal tie, but his captain says no.
There are more than enough possible killers here, many motives. Thus it takes until the very end for Venn to sift through enough to make sense of it. As is typical in Cleeves' novels, the plot is complex and the solution unexpected.
I wasn't enthralled by Venn or by any of his co-workers. I hope that future entries in this series brings me closer. For some reason I didn't feel as emotionally attached as I usually do.
But he is conscientious and does not let personal troubles get in the way of his work. When a body is found on the beach, he leads his team into the center of the dead man's life, a community gathering place called The Woodyard that is headed by Matthew's husband, Jonathan. More than once Venn considers transferring the case because of this personal tie, but his captain says no.
There are more than enough possible killers here, many motives. Thus it takes until the very end for Venn to sift through enough to make sense of it. As is typical in Cleeves' novels, the plot is complex and the solution unexpected.
I wasn't enthralled by Venn or by any of his co-workers. I hope that future entries in this series brings me closer. For some reason I didn't feel as emotionally attached as I usually do.
