Ann Cleeves | THE LONG CALL

The first in a brand new series from Sunday Times bestseller Ann Cleeves. North Devon - where the rivers Taw and Torridge run to the sea - is an idyllic holiday spot for so many. Ice-cream, sun, surf, it's all there for the taking. But when the holiday makers leave, what is left? For the locals, life is hard when they, and their money, go. Rural poverty abounds and seasonal workers find themselves out of work, desperate to make ends meet. Addicts and offenders arrive, keen to pick the spoils of what remains, but where dissension starts, inevitably crime takes hold. One man knows all of its secrets. He grew up there, a member of the Devon Brethren until he was cast out by his family for something he could, and never would, change; the right to love who he chose. Now he has a husband and a life he loves. Together they live on the water towards Lundy Island and he is a detective, with a team and a mission to keep Devon safe for those who will come again, and again. Meet Matthew Venn. A man destined to be as loved and respected as Ann Cleeves' previous creations, Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez.