She Treads Softly: The Raging Storm

Saturday, September 2, 2023

The Raging Storm

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves
9/5/23; 400 pages
Minotaur Books
Detective Matthew Venn Novel #3

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves is a highly recommended procedural and the third book in the Matthew Venn series.

Jem Rosco arrives for a visit in Greystone, Devon during a storm and stops in at the local pub, Maiden’s Prayer, for two pints. The famous sailor and adventurer, immediately charms the residents as he stops in for two pints nightly. He is closed mouth about why he is visiting, only saying he is expecting a visitor. This makes it even more shocking when he suddenly disappears and his body is later found in an anchored dinghy. Detective Inspector Matthew Venn and his sergeants, Jen Rafferty and Ross May, are called from Devon to investigate.

Venn is not thrilled to return to Greystone, a place he visited years ago with his parents. The village is home to the Brethren, a religious sect he once belonged to as a youth. Returning to the area brings back memories. It is also an area of plenty of intricate secrets, rumors, and relationships that can be circuitous to figure out the truth from the misinformation. This incorporates plenty of mystery into the investigation.

The Raging Storm is a character driven procedural set in an atmospheric location that adds to the mystery and tension. The investigation has several twists as the team uncovers plenty of secrets. When the body count rises, it becomes clear that the investigation is much more complex. The plot is even paced, although a bit too slow at times. It also might behoove new readers to start with the previous books in the series for even more insight into the characters.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Minotaur Books via NetGalley.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.