The Raging Storm (Two Rivers) by Ann Cleeves

The Raging Storm (Two Rivers) by Ann Cleeves
Buy The Raging Storm (Two Rivers) by Ann Cleeves at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: It' the third book in what is looking like a very promising series. Plenty of twists and an ending I wasn't expecting. definitely recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 400	Date: August 2023
Publisher: Macmillan
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1529077698
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It's all bloody peculiar, isn't it, Sir?

Well yes, it is. Jem Rosco blew into the local pub one evening in the middle of an autumn gale, stayed for about a month and then turned up, naked and dead, in a small boat, anchored in Scully Cove close to the village of Greystone, in Devon. Rosco had the status of a national treasure: a renowned adventurer, round the world sailor and all round celebrity. I nearly said 'all-round good egg' but as we'll find out, he could be more than a little bit close with money and his background isn't exactly an open book. Where did he get the money for his first boat? How did he finance the trip?

The main point, though, is 'who would want him dead?' This problem has dropped on the toes of DI Matthew Venn. Venn is married to Jonathan Church - and (unusually in fiction) it's a happy marriage. They genuinely care about making each other's lives better. Venn is still emerging from the effects of his childhood in the Barum Brethren from whom he was expelled as a teenager when he explained to the assembled Brethren how ridiculous their beliefs were. There will be positives and negatives arising from this in the present case. Many of the villagers are members of the church and some must remember him from his teenage years. It won't be easy for him to keep a clear view of what's happening.

Venn's in Greystone with DS Jen Rafferty and DS Ross May. May's calmed down from when we first met him but he's still overly competitive with Rafferty, whilst Rafferty's got other things on her mind. She's a scouser who's escaped an abusive relationship back in Liverpool and she's mainly concerned with seeing that her teenage children - Ben and Ella - don't suffer too much from the demands of her job. There's a good mixture of supporting staff and they all come off the page well but this is Ann Cleeves, so we expect no less.

In Greystone, the lifeboat helm is a woman (much mumbling of incantations particularly when they're heading into Scully Cove) and she has her problems with a seriously ill child. She can only make herself available for the lifeboat when her father can look after her son - but out on the boat is where she feels herself come alive.

As well as reading the copy made available to me by the publishers, I bought an audio download, narrated by Jack Holden. His pacing is perfect and he has an impressive range of voices. He says that the switch of accents between North Devon and Brummie was difficult - but I found the transitions seamless. He's a narrator I'd happily listen to time and time again.

For more from Cleeves, we can recommend her Vera Stanhope and Shetland novels.

Ann Cleeves Two Rivers Series in Chronological Order

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