The Raging Storm

I have not read any of Ann Cleeves books previously--at least any that I have written down--but I have watched multiple episodes of two TV series based on her Vera and Shetland books. Not familiar with the protagonist in this series, Detective Matthew Venn.  I'm relying on Library Journal's review for a plot summary:

"Greystone, in England's North Devon, is a remote, forbidding, stormy coastal community where lifeboats are essential. When Jeremy Roscoe walks into the Maiden's Prayer, he's welcomed as a local legend, an adventurer who attended Greystone schools and left to sail the world, becoming a TV star and celebrity. Now he's right there, renting a cottage, buying rounds in the bar every night. He slyly hints he's waiting for someone. But when he fails to show up one night, the locals feel cheated. Then the lifeboat is called out for a rescue, but it's too late--national treasure Roscoe is dead, in a stolen dinghy. Detective Matthew Venn and his small team report to Greystone, and it's a bitter return for Venn, who was there as a child with his parents' religious group, the Barum Brethren; some of the locals still belong to the group that Venn left. When another body is found, Venn realizes he's not the only one with bitter memories of Greystone. The third... in Cleeves's award-winning series is an atmospheric police procedural that builds on the other books while introducing fascinating suspects." This novel can easily be appreciated on its own without reading the previous two.

Booklist closes their review by saying, "Quiet tension, a moody atmosphere, and engaging characters heighten the mystery." There is also a nice summary of the story in Kirkus' review which closes with this high praise, "A surprising denouement moves this character-based mystery to the top tier." The New York Journal of Books rightly notes that the novel "includes the weather as a factor so strong as to qualify as a character—in this case, gray, cold, and wet, a ferociously windy antagonist that influences almost every character’s attitude." Their overall review is more lengthy and nuanced, starting by saying, "...for mystery readers who like boots-on-the-ground British police procedurals, book three in the Two Rivers series delivers." And they conclude their review, "...for readers who want a brainteaser to unravel by following the characters through the procedures of investigation—including coaxing needed information out of a recalcitrant, oftimes hostile community—The Raging Storm will keep them plenty intrigued." Publishers Weekly lands on the positive side, closing with "Cleeves crafts a devilishly intricate mystery that will surprise even seasoned genre fans, and Venn remains an appealing lead every bit as memorable as the author’s Vera Stanhope or Jimmy Perez."