The Heron’s Cry By Ann Cleeves

Now a major ITV series, The Long Call, adapted for television by screenwriter Kelly Jones and starring Ben Aldridge. ‘Matthew Venn is a keeper . . . stunning’ – David Baldacci The number one Sunday Times series featuring Detective Matthew Venn, from author and creator of the Vera and Shetland series, Ann Cleeves – soon to be a major TV series. North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coast-line. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder – Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed. His daughter, Eve, is a glassblower, and the murder weapon is a shard of one of her broken vases. Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He’s a good man, a public servant, beloved by his daughter. Matthew is unnerved though to find that Eve is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband. Then another body is found – killed in a similar way. Matthew finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home . . . The Heron’s Cry is the second novel in Ann Cleeves’ Two Rivers series following her Sunday Times bestseller, The Long Call. Praise for The Long Call: ‘Had me hooked . . . a promising beginning to another fine chapter in the Ann Cleeves’ story’ – The Times ‘A triumph that cements Cleeves’ status as one of Britain’s best crime writers’ – Daily Express ‘Clever, compassionate and atmospheric . . . I am already a Matthew Venn fan’ – Elly Griffiths ‘Cleeves combines a flair for evoking sense of place with a thoughtful, complex plot’ – Mail on Sunday ‘A traditional mystery of the best sort’ – Guardian