This was one of the worst police procedurals I have had the misfortune to read! Detective Mathew Venn must surely be one of the most boring individuals in the Devon and Cornwall police. He returns to Barnstaple from a posting in Bristol, going back to his roots....why bother? to return to this strict evangelical community who showed nothing but contempt for him and his husband Jonathan....So whats the story.....you say...yawn....zzzzzz...there is a murder..yikes you say.....yes a murder!...and a child with special needs has gone missing.! Enter the super boring detective and his classy side kicks Jen and the ever so enthusiastic Ross......who plunges headlong at 100mph into every situation .....like a dog chasing a ball........without a brain cell in his head....
I stuck with this drivel, although I did speed read the last 10% (I would not have made it otherwise :) and fortified with numerous cups of tea to fight the constant tiredness that engulfed me everytime I started to read....I shall never read another Ann Cleeves, I suspect they don't get any better (I use that word loosely) Avoid at all costs, go and count sheep...it's much more exciting :) ( )

Excellent first book in new series with main character Matthew Venn. KIRKUS REVIEWA clever police officer in Devon, England, confronts anger and sorrow from his early life.DI Matthew Venn was brought up by parents who were members of the Barum Brethren, a small religious sect. When he renounced his religion, he was shunned by his parents and the sect members, became a police officer, and married the love of his life, Jonathan Church, a sunny optimist who manages the Woodyard Centre, a restored factory that?s home to a covey of counseling services, artists, and charitable organizations. Venn is called from his father?s funeral by PC Ross May to investigate a corpse on the beach near Venn?s home. It?s been stripped of all ID but an envelope bearing an address in a nearby town. DS Jen Rafferty and May find a house owned by Caroline, daughter of Woodyard trustee Christopher Preece, who shares it with Gaby Henry and a short-time lodger whom Gaby identifies as Simon Walden, the body on the beach. Caroline, who works for her father?s mental health charity, felt sorry for Walden, who was living with crushing guilt from a drunken driving accident that killed a young girl, and offered him a place to stay. To Venn?s dismay, many of the suspects are involved with the Woodyard Centre. Caroline, Gaby, and Walden all worked there, Caroline?s father?s charity is housed there, and her boyfriend, Edward, is a curate who sometimes helps out. Whenever Walden rode on a bus, he always sat next to Lucy Braddick, a woman with Down syndrome who attended classes at the Centre. Walden had plenty of money, even if they can?t find it, so why was he scrimping on lodgings and transportation? A call from Venn?s mother returns him to the orbit of the Brethren after another member?s daughter with Down syndrome vanishes from the home of sect leader Dennis Salter. The search continues even as Venn ponders recusing himself from a case that hits so close to home.Fans missing detective Jimmy Perez (Wild Fire, 2018, etc.) will find a worthy successor in the equally complex Venn, who presides over an excellent mystery in this series kickoff.

(2019) A new protagonist and series from a pretty good writer. Matthew Venn is a police detective in North Devon whose next case involves the murder of a homeless man taken in by a local organization run by his husband Jonathon. It also involves the abuse of Downs women. Turns out that the murder and subsequent abuses were orchestrated by the locals who didn't want a rape by the local priest disclosed. One of the group manipulated his wife, also mentally challenged, to carry out the abuse to help cover up the crimes.KIRKUS REVIEWA clever police officer in Devon, England, confronts anger and sorrow from his early life.DI Matthew Venn was brought up by parents who were members of the Barum Brethren, a small religious sect. When he renounced his religion, he was shunned by his parents and the sect members, became a police officer, and married the love of his life, Jonathan Church, a sunny optimist who manages the Woodyard Centre, a restored factory that's home to a covey of counseling services, artists, and charitable organizations. Venn is called from his father's funeral by PC Ross May to investigate a corpse on the beach near Venn's home. It's been stripped of all ID but an envelope bearing an address in a nearby town. DS Jen Rafferty and May find a house owned by Caroline, daughter of Woodyard trustee Christopher Preece, who shares it with Gaby Henry and a short-time lodger whom Gaby identifies as Simon Walden, the body on the beach. Caroline, who works for her father's mental health charity, felt sorry for Walden, who was living with crushing guilt from a drunken driving accident that killed a young girl, and offered him a place to stay. To Venn's dismay, many of the suspects are involved with the Woodyard Centre. Caroline, Gaby, and Walden all worked there, Caroline's father's charity is housed there, and her boyfriend, Edward, is a curate who sometimes helps out. Whenever Walden rode on a bus, he always sat next to Lucy Braddick, a woman with Down syndrome who attended classes at the Centre. Walden had plenty of money, even if they can't find it, so why was he scrimping on lodgings and transportation? A call from Venn's mother returns him to the orbit of the Brethren after another member's daughter with Down syndrome vanishes from the home of sect leader Dennis Salter. The search continues even as Venn ponders recusing himself from a case that hits so close to home.Fans missing detective Jimmy Perez (Wild Fire, 2018, etc.) will find a worthy successor in the equally complex Venn, who presides over an excellent mystery in this series kickoff.Pub Date: Sept. 3rd, 2019ISBN: 978-1-250-20444-8Page count: 384ppPublisher: MinotaurReview Posted Online: June 17th, 2019Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1st, 2019

Detective is conflicted when murder case involves a community center that his husband manages and the religious group that he left as a young man.

As a long time fan of the series Vera, I was eager to read my first Ann Cleeves mystery! I deliberately chose this newer series (Two Rivers) with a new sleuth (Matthew Venn) because I didn't want to run into a story that I've already seen in the series Vera, and I wanted an untainted introduction to Cleeves's latest detective.

It took awhile to engage with it, although I recognize it is a difficult thing to introduce all new characters. Everything picks up speed in the last 15% of the book, but it is more procedural than thriller or suspense otherwise. Matthew is a troubled male detective with baggage and trauma and self-esteem issues, but is quietly competent. It is a shame that he has to get hit over the head for everything to become clear. Refreshing, on the other hand, is that he is a married gay man.

Some of the characters were a bit uneven and cloying. Cleeves offers some strong commentary on the power of abuse, and we even see how that abuse can be internalized. Some characters have an uneven presence--we meet Gaby early on, who seems so important as a flatmate of the victim, and then there's a big reveal, and then? Nothing. A final scene with Matthew and Gaby would have come full circle.

There are some interesting themes: parental relationships (Maurice and Lucy, Matthew and his dead father, Matthew and his mother, Jonathan and his folks, Caroline and her father), and bird imagery plays a significant role (the title of the book, for example).

There's an editing error wherein a character is given the wrong last name in one instance, which I'd have more tolerance for if it weren't such a procedural where one needs to keep track of all the various dramatis personae.

I'm intrigued enough to venture forth in the series, but I don't see myself following Matthew Venn for long unless he gets a bit more chutzpah, not just when confronting his own demons and traumas. ( )