The Raging Storm

The third in the Two Rivers series has DI Matthew Venn and colleagues off to the tiny town of Greystone on the Devon coast. While much of Devon is popular as a vacation spot, Greystone’s color palette (gray, grayer, and grayest) combined with the dark, turbulent sea makes for a forbidding destination. To the locals’ delight, Greystone’s only celebrity, Jem Rosco, a famous sailor and adventurer, has returned. He spends his nights in the local pub, where he lets it be known that he’s back in town to meet up with someone special. A former lover? Perhaps. Except Rosco suddenly disappears before we find out, his body found naked, curled up in the bottom of a dinghy that’s anchored in a cove. A cove with a superstitious history. With her usual brilliance, Cleeves balances Venn and Co. as they spread out across the town seeking information while also drilling deeply into the lives of a handful of leading suspects. Personal tensions arise. Matthew’s team members compete with one another. Matthew himself is uncomfortable in Greystone, having spent part of his cult-ridden childhood in the town. And Jonathan, Matthew’s husband, has a secret he’s not ready to share. When this novel ends, it’s with a bang, not a whimper, sure to delight readers of what is one of the very best series being written today.