🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

Atmospheric and evocative, Book 3 in the Two Rivers (Inspector Matthew Venn) series, this author (and this series) can be counted on for all the elements of a top-notch police procedural, with the bonus of a team of detectives, led by Inspector Matthew Venn, as well-developed, multi-layered and interesting as any characters you will meet between the pages, in any genre.

Beginning with Matthew himself, a victim of a stifling religious-cultlike upbringing, (now a self-chosen outcast), not so successfully battling the leftover shame, guilt and self-judgement threatening his peace-of-mind, as he attempts to find a way to finally enjoy life with his lovely husband Jonathan. Along with single mom DS Jen Rafferty, whose struggles to manage her own chaotic career, while somehow also caring for her two teenagers, carries its own burden of guilt. And finally, DS Ross May, whose raw ambition and somewhat juvenile competitiveness with his partner Jen can be seen to stem from his own unhappy and somewhat shabby childhood.

When the team is called to Greystone, a bleak and oppressive coastal North Devon town, the raging sea provides a powerful backdrop for murder. A body found in an anchored dinghy – the victim, a visitor to the town, known for both his sailing prowess and his cocky arrogance – proves to be a tricky homicidal puzzle to solve. As the plot weaves and waves its way through the village and its inhabitants, Matthew and his team encounter suspects, context, and danger as the storm intensifies and the body count grows – right up to a dramatic ending this reader came nowhere near to guessing.

A wonderful read, this is a perfect choice to sink into on a day when reading takes top of the agenda (you will not want to put this one down).

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author or an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.