The Raging Storm

When a local celebrity, Jem Rosco, wanders into the Maiden's Arms in Greystone, Devon, the locals are thrilled. Rosco's presence is a mystery; he's waiting for someone but gives no more details. Few pay much heed when he suddenly vanishes until his body is recovered from a dingy anchored in a nearby cove after a massive storm.

The Raging Storm is the third entry in Ann Cleeves' DI Venn series. Like all Cleeves' novels, it is character driven; we learn much more of Ross and Jenn and their backgrounds, which Cleeves contrasts nicely. Venn remains a flawed and insecure person but is intriguingly so.

The cast of characters, as befits a small village, are all connected. There past loom large with grudges and secrets. As Cleeves excels at characterisation, she manages to make each one unique, meaning you cannot confuse them. I also like how Cleeves includes past characters — even if they’re just small cameos.

Cleeves creates a strong sense of tension which pushes you on. The plot is a true mystery, littered with clues and red herrings, and the end is a brilliant revelation.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entry and strongly recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for the eARC.

I’ve only just started reading Ann Cleeves books and her detective Matthew Venn (this is book 3) isn’t a very dynamic detective and very different to Ann’s other detective Vera as he has a more quiet, introverted way about him and the Devon coast in raging storm seems to fit right in with him, here he has to find out who killed a local celebrity who has quite a few enemies that would of wanted him dead. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing to the end.

Ann Cleeves in the Raging Storm manages to evoke the North Devon I knew as a boy before the 'smart set' moved in (her words not mine). However, unlike where I lived when winters were as closed off and tight knit as Greystone (in the novel), Greystone never seemed to have the summer influx we did. It's a novel of atmosphere, brooding, intrigue, allegiances (friendship, romantic and religious) and the ever-changing sea as a backdrop. The lead detective Matthew Venn is brought in to solve the murder of a former celebrity found in a dinghy near Scully Point. A place the locals were superstitious of. Weirdly, the dinghy was at anchor and Jem Rosco, the victim was naked.and lying in the bottom of the boat. Jem had arrived in Greystone some days previously and was welcomed as the national treasure he was. He rented a small property with the intention of meeting up with someone special who was to join him, sadly his death intervened and no one subsequently turned up.

A lengthy and very entertaining novel, best read when there's rain lashing at your window and a howling gale outside, July 2023 was perfect. The lack of forensic evidence at the scene of the first murder was the only thing that let it down but I'll forgive that.

Though I hadn't read the previous books in this series it did not spoil my enjoyment of it .Ann Cleeves is such a brilliant writer of good mysteries and great characters.The story is set in the town of Greystone on the Devon Coast.A body is found drifting on a boat in a cove and Matthew Venn and his Sergeant Jen Rafferty are called to investigate and thus begins a great story with mysteries galore and twists and turns and a very surprising ending .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC .

I have been loving the Matthew Venn, Two Rivers, series and with The Raging Storm, Ann Cleeves has served up another atmospheric, mystery filled read that leads Venn and his team to the coastal town of Greystone after local hero and celebrity sailor, Jeremy Rosco, is found dead in a boat that is moored at an isolated cove. Venn knows Greystone from his childhood, from a meetings held by the Barum Brethren, and whilst not all of his memories are bad ones, it is enough to set him on edge. Finding out who would want to kill Rosco and why takes leads the team into an investigation where it is impossible to know who to trust, and with a killer who will stop at nothing to protect their secrets.

The Raging Storm, is laced with so much misdirection that it really does make a near perfect mystery. There are several people that Venn and the team encounter who could have been capable of committing murder, and suspicion moves between fleetingly between them, all while the killer remains in plain sight. It is fair to say that Venn's connection to the Brethren, who still have a thriving community in Greystone, does seem to cloud his judgment and distract him a touch, and he is uncharacteristically off form as a result. He's not the only one though, and news of a personal nature sets of a gamut of conflicting emotions for Jen Rafferty too. And with Ross May trying to do his best to outshine Jen, it's no wonder that it takes some time for the real picture to unfurl.

I love how Ann Cleeves takes the setting, this time a small, isolated coastal town, and makes it an integral part of the story in its own right. It is very clear the love that the author has for the setting, being able to recreate the scene so vividly that I could almost feel the fog rolling in off the sea, sense the sights and sounds of the raging wages crashing against the rocks that edge the town. Featuring a Lifeguard station is a canny move, allowing her to not only highlight the important work of such teams, all invariably volunteers, but also to make best use of the area's greatest asset, the sea. taking the cast of characters out onto the water in a brief lull in a storm, or to an isolated cove that will be cut off from everywhere by the tides, automatically adds a kind of jeopardy which feeds itself through the pages, creating a tension as strong as the tides themselves. Anything could happen and that extra sense of anticipation kept me glued to the pages.

I really like the characters in this series, Venn and his husband Jonathan especially. They are so different in personality, but compliment each other perfectly, and you can feel the strength of their bond even when apart. Jonathan once again plays a key part in discovering some of the hidden truths in this mystery, a touch ironic given that it is clear there is something he is keep from Venn. And the almost sibling like rivalry between Jen and Ross always brings a smile to my face, even though this time it boils over into a situation which proves highly perilous to one of them. But I appreciate the variety they bring to the story, the way in which they balance each other out but, as a team, all have the drive and determination to see the job done and a killer brought to justice.

I think this may have been my favourite book in the series so far. Perhaps because the characters are more established, or perhaps just because of the setting - I do love a bit of isolation and the eerie, stormy setting that can create an almost locked-room style mystery even in the great outdoors. It is not a fast paced story, although there are moments of great jeopardy, and scenes of confrontation where the stakes are raised that do drive the action onward. But I love the more contemplative pace of the investigation, they way in which we are privy to the inner thoughts of the team, and the way in which Ann Cleeves cleverly balances story with character. That enduring mystery, the how and why of the murder, as well as the brilliant team I love spending time with, made this a completely compelling read. I cannot wait to see what comes next for them all.

An enjoyable read, a mixture of a whodunnit and a complex detective lead plot. Although this is book 3 in a series about the lead detective Venn it works well as a stand alone novel. Recommended.
Thank you to NetGalley and PanMacmillan for the advance copy of this book.

Reading books by Anne Cleeves is to me, quite comforting, you know you’re in for a really good story! I love the sense of community her stories imbue, from the village around the crime to the police team investigating. A real character-driven police procedural drama, with the added atmosphere of being set in an austere Devon village, cut off from the surrounding countryside.

Reacquainting myself with Matthew Venn, his troubled background and upbringing within the Barum Brethren and breaking away, which made him who he is today, was thoroughly enjoyable; Jen Rafferty and Ross May, his team, both equally keen to solve the crime.

I love the way the book is written with skill and clarity, I found myself placed so easily at Greystone, seeing the same sights, hearing and smelling the sea, feeling the atmosphere in the pub. The ‘Raging Storm’ keeps the team fighting the elements as well as the confusion surrounding the case. I found it more realistic that the team couldn’t solve the case quickly and felt their frustration with seemingly random facts, which refuse to hang together with any coherence.

Solving the case feels such a hard task, the deeper they investigate, the more complex the plot seems and the further back in local history it goes. The twists and turns, challenging relationships within the community, mixed with a huge dose of superstitions surrounding routines around the sea, makes for a brilliant novel.

A thoroughly enjoyable read which will keep the reader deep in thought, trying to solve the case.