In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his estranged father’s funeral takes place. On the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family too.

Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.

The case calls Matthew back to the people and places of his past, as deadly secrets hidden at their hearts are revealed, and his new life is forced into a collision course with the world he thought he’d left behind.

Matthew Venn investigates the stabbing death of a recovering drunk and then the disappearance of young woman with Down’s. As the investigation continues another young woman with Down’s disappears and it seems that the cases may be intertwined with both the dead man and the charity with which Matthew’s husband works.

The plot moves steadily, but slowly, to a satisfying conclusion that left me waiting eagerly to learn more of all the characters. Matthew has many internal doubts about himself due to his upbringing. His two assistants are quite different from each other and not the chummy buddies of most police procedurals. Jonathan, Matthew’s husband, is an integral part of Matthew’s life without interfering in his work. This is the beginning of a new series for Ann Cleeves who already writes the popular Vera and Shetland series that are both books and popular British TV series. This series has also been made into a TV series which I intend to look up while I track down book two in the series. ~~ Stephanie L Bannon

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