When Jem Rosco - sailor, adventurer and local legend - blows into town in the middle of an autumn gale, the residents of Greystone, Devon, are delighted to have a celebrity in their midst. The residents think nothing of it when Rosco disappears again; that's the sort of man he is.
Until the lifeboat is launched to a hoax call-out during a raging storm and his body is found in a dinghy, anchored off Scully Cove, a place with legends of its own.
This is an uncomfortable case for DI Matthew Venn. He came to the remote village as a child, its community populated by the Barum Brethren that he parted ways with, so when superstition and rumour mix and another body is found in the cove, Matthew soon finds his judgement clouded.
As the stormy winds howl and the village is cut off, Venn and his team start their investigation, little realizing their own lives might be in danger...
***
The man blew into Greystone at the height of a September gale.- CHAPTER ONE
***
(@panmacmillan, 31 August 2023, e-galley, 400 pages, ARC from @NetGalley)
***
***
I've read the other books in the series and really enjoyed The Raging Storm. Many aspects of this book are similar to the rest of the series and police procedurals in general. Like other books by the author, this stands out because of the setting of the book which serves as the perfect backdrop for the murders and the fantastic characters. I'm growing to love Venn and his colleagues as much as I love Vera and her colleagues. Venn's past as a member of the religious order, the Barum Brethren touches on events in this book as the crimes take place on a remote village he visited as a child and a member. I enjoyed the twists, turns and misdirection and the gradual revelation of the murderer.
