ARC Review: The Dying Light by Ann Cleaves

The Dying Light
Author: Ann Cleaves
Series: Detective Matthew Venn (Book 4)
Publication: Minotaur Books (September 29, 2026)

Description: DI Matthew Venn peels back layer upon layer to discover the dark secrets one family is keeping in this searing new novel, brimming with energy and taut with claustrophobic tension.

A scorching heatwave marks the start of the summer in Devon. Detective Matthew Venn is called in to investigate a puzzling death, when the body of a young woman, Lottie, is found in the swimming pool of a luxurious holiday home. The girl’s best friend, Hannah, whose family owns the house, is missing. The girls had arrived a few days earlier to celebrate the end of their school exams, quickly stirring unrest in the small community with incendiary social media videos mocking the place as parochial.

When further tragedy strikes, Venn and his team begin questioning a community filled with secrets. The fact that Hannah’s father, Paul Armstrong, is a rising political star with powerful enemies draws intense media scrutiny to the case.

With the summer heat come holidaymakers, and it emerges that some of them may have stronger connections with the Armstrong family than first thought. Venn knows all too well that the real answers lie not in what people say, but in the silences that they keep.

Taut, atmospheric, and brimming with suspense, this searing new novel finds DI Matthew Venn caught between a powerful family’s secrets and a powder keg of local tensions.

My Thoughts: The fourth Matthew Venn mystery begins on a hot summer day when he's called to investigate a murder or perhaps an accidental drowning at the vacation home of a rising political figure. Lottie is dead and the politician's daughter Hannah is missing. The two seventeen-year-olds had come down ahead of Hannah's parents to celebrate the end of the school year. 

Lottie's body is discovered when the Armstrongs arrive to meet the girls. Hoping to be able to save her, they manage to really mess up the crime scene. A search begins for Hannah, and her dead body is also soon discovered. 

Now, Venn and his team have to discover what happened to Lottie and Hannah while facing pressure from Armstrong's political superiors. It also doesn't help that both Hannah and Lottie's families are keeping some sort of secret that may have something to do with the couple glamping at the farm next door.

The farm is the home of Hannah's boyfriend and also the site of a local music festival that Lottie had posted unkind videos of during the weekend. And the girls had had a run-in with the proprietors of the local gastropub who refused to serve alcohol to the underage girls. 

While Matthew is trying to unravel all the complicated relationships, he is also dealing with his husband Jonathan's up-coming visit with his birth mother. Matthew is trying to be supportive but his own insecurities about their relationship is leaving him with feelings of jealousy. 

I enjoyed this twisty mystery. I like Matthew's investigative style and the way he interacts with his subordinates Jen and Ross who are also intriguing characters. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.