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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
mysterious
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
What an amazing mystery read, my first book by Ann Cleeves and already I'm a fan.
I love a good mystery book and I definitely love this one. A murder of a man in the beach in a small town, a case where everyone has a connection. Oh yeah this is a complicated story.
It might a bit slow at the beginning, but when the mystery kicks in, when suspects are thrown here and there, when victim's personal life getting more complicated and when all the questions start to pouring in, there's no stopping until I found out who's the culprit.
Reading this book is like watching those mystery TV shows, great detectives work with the personal life of each detective mixed in to the story that makes everything more personal and tricky. So yes I really love this book.
If you love mystery read or mystery TV shows, I think you'll love this one too.
I love a good mystery book and I definitely love this one. A murder of a man in the beach in a small town, a case where everyone has a connection. Oh yeah this is a complicated story.
It might a bit slow at the beginning, but when the mystery kicks in, when suspects are thrown here and there, when victim's personal life getting more complicated and when all the questions start to pouring in, there's no stopping until I found out who's the culprit.
Reading this book is like watching those mystery TV shows, great detectives work with the personal life of each detective mixed in to the story that makes everything more personal and tricky. So yes I really love this book.
If you love mystery read or mystery TV shows, I think you'll love this one too.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
I like Ann Cleeves and I really enjoyed her Shetland saga. So when heard she had another series in Cornwall and it became available at the library I jumped at it.
I like that the book had a gay protagonist and that he and his husband were normal-ish. No caricatures, no ticking every rainbow box to be trendy, just two people in love. As normal as it should be.
I liked also how she wrote about the other characters with learning disabilities ( ie Down’s Syndrome ), making them strong and funny and scared and loving, which corresponds to my own experience in real life.
I recommend
I like that the book had a gay protagonist and that he and his husband were normal-ish. No caricatures, no ticking every rainbow box to be trendy, just two people in love. As normal as it should be.
I liked also how she wrote about the other characters with learning disabilities ( ie Down’s Syndrome ), making them strong and funny and scared and loving, which corresponds to my own experience in real life.
I recommend
The Long Call is the first entry in the new Two Rivers Series. It introduces Matthew Venn, a British police officer, in a same sex marriage and estranged from his mother due to being raised in a strict and cruel sect. When a woman walking her dog finds a man stabbed to death on a beach in North Devon, Detective Inspector Matthew Venn goes straight from his father’s funeral to begin the investigation. While the police are searching for motives for the murder, a woman with Downs Syndrome, who attended Woodyard’s day center and helped in the kitchen, like the murdered man, goes missing. As the team searches for the woman and for a possible connection with the murder, Matthew struggles with a possible conflict of interest because of his husband’s connection to Woodyard. When a second woman with Downs disappears Matthew is further conflicted, knowing his husband would never kill anyone.
The Long Call is a very character-driven police procedural, and these are not happy people. The term “long call” refers to the cry of the herring gull, a cry that always sounded to Matthew like “an inarticulate howl of pain”. That sound is very appropriate. Matthew himself has been ostracized by his family since he rejected the small fundamentalist faith in which he had been raised. And although he clearly loves his husband and is loved in return, he is equally clearly very insecure about their relationship. The members of his team also have burdens to deal with. Jen is raising her two children alone after leaving her abusive husband. Their boss, DCI Oldham, has problems of his own that may endanger his career and that I expect to hear of more in future books. Matthew and his team successfully solve the case but not before Matthew himself is endangered. These characters and their lives have not been so easily resolved, though, and Cleeves has made us care about them and assured that we will want to hear more about them in future books.
Ms. Cleeves provides a vivid portrayal of her locations. Her wonderful writing and descriptions make you feel the sea, marshes and atmosphere of North Devon. She wrote a wonderful story, with an intriguing plot and a great development of her characters. I definitely recommend The Long Call to other readers. I hope to see more, much more, of Matthew and his team.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
The Long Call is a very character-driven police procedural, and these are not happy people. The term “long call” refers to the cry of the herring gull, a cry that always sounded to Matthew like “an inarticulate howl of pain”. That sound is very appropriate. Matthew himself has been ostracized by his family since he rejected the small fundamentalist faith in which he had been raised. And although he clearly loves his husband and is loved in return, he is equally clearly very insecure about their relationship. The members of his team also have burdens to deal with. Jen is raising her two children alone after leaving her abusive husband. Their boss, DCI Oldham, has problems of his own that may endanger his career and that I expect to hear of more in future books. Matthew and his team successfully solve the case but not before Matthew himself is endangered. These characters and their lives have not been so easily resolved, though, and Cleeves has made us care about them and assured that we will want to hear more about them in future books.
Ms. Cleeves provides a vivid portrayal of her locations. Her wonderful writing and descriptions make you feel the sea, marshes and atmosphere of North Devon. She wrote a wonderful story, with an intriguing plot and a great development of her characters. I definitely recommend The Long Call to other readers. I hope to see more, much more, of Matthew and his team.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated