Friday, September 4, 2026

Audiobook Review: The Heron's Cry by Ann Cleaves

The Heron's Cry

Author:
Ann Cleaves
Narrator: Jack Holden
Series: Detective Matthew Venn (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur (September 7, 2021)
Length: 10 hours and 16 minutes

Description: North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. 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 with a shard of one of his glassblower daughter's 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 she is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband.

Then another body is found--killed in a similar way. Matthew soon finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home.

DI Matthew Venn returns in The Heron's Cry, in Ann Cleeves powerful next novel, proving once again that she is a master of her craft.

My Thoughts: The second Matthew Venn mystery begins with the death of a retired doctor now working as an investigator associated with National Health. Dr. Yeo is stabbed with a piece of glass from his daughter's studio at the art colony where his daughter lives. 

Dr. Yeo is connected to Venn's team in a couple of ways. Venn's sergeant Jen had met him at a party the night before he died. He wanted to speak with her about a problem he was having but she had had too much to drink to talk to him them. Also, Venn's husband Jonathan is a friend of the glassblowing daughter. 

As the team investigate to discover what Dr. Yeo had stumbled into, another resident of the art colony is also murdered in the same way and a third person associated with the art colony commits suicide. Suicide is the central theme around which this story revolves. Dr. Yeo was investigating the National Health's culpability in releasing a suicidal young man from hospital only to have him take his own life. They also discover a website which encourages people to commit suicide and wonder if their suicides are related. 

This was another engaging and twisty mystery. I liked learning more about Jen and more about some other members of Venn's team. I liked the way Matthew is rebuilding his relationship with his long-estranged mother. 

I bought this one May 28. You can buy your copy here.

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