Written by Ann Cleeves and published in 2019, The Long Call is the first novel in the Two Rivers series and follows Matthew Venn, a detective who is investigating the murder of a man found stabbed to death on the beach. As Matthew begins to investigate, the clues lead him ever closer to the heart of this rural, religious community—and to the local arts center, which happens to be run by his husband. The novel’s narrative structure features the perspectives of multiple characters to highlight the consequences of guilt, the role of faith in shaping community mindsets, and the complex intersection of religion and patriarchy. Like many of Cleeves’s previous novels, The Long Call has been adapted into a television series and first aired on ITV in 2021.

This guide refers to the 2019 hardcover edition published in the US by Minotaur Books.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain descriptions of rape, abduction, domestic violence, anti-gay bias, ableist language and attitudes, sexism, death by suicide, and alcohol use disorder.

Plot Summary

Immediately after standing outside his father’s funeral service—to which he wasn’t invited—Detective Inspector Matthew Venn is called to investigate the murder of Simon Walden, who was found stabbed to death on a nearby beach. Matthew and his two officers, Jen Rafferty and Ross May, discover that Simon had only recently moved to this small Devon community and was living with two women: Caroline Preece and Gaby Henry. Caroline is a social worker who took Simon in when he was discovered, drunk and melancholy at a nearby church, while Gaby Henry is the artist-in-residence at the Woodyard, the local arts center that is run by Matthew’s husband, Jonathan. Neither woman claims to know anything about the circumstances of Simon’s death, but both are aware of the reasons behind Simon’s depression and alcohol use disorder; they reveal that earlier in his life, he operated a vehicle while intoxicated and inadvertently killed a child. He served time in prison for this crime.

Meanwhile, a young woman with Down syndrome, Lucy Braddick, recognizes Simon from the news coverage of his murder. Simon used to sit next to her on her bus ride home from the Woodyard, where she and several other adults with Down syndrome gather and work. Lucy tells Matthew the details of her bus route and the particulars of Simon’s travel routine but grows evasive when asked about Simon himself.

Matthew follows a number of leads and speaks to many members of the small community. He interviews Colin and Hilary Marston, a couple living in the cottage closest to the location in which the body was found; Christopher Preece, Caroline’s father and a trustee at the Woodyard Centre, who was mistrustful of Simon living with his daughter; and Angela Bale, a local woman who claims to have seen Simon dining with a woman in a green jacket on the day of his murder. Matthew decides to take the bus route that Lucy Braddick described to him. He also investigates a pub along the route called The Golden Fleece, and the owner tells him that Simon used to drink Cokes at the bar while seemingly waiting for someone.

Meanwhile, Jen and Ross head out of town to investigate Simon’s past. They speak to Simon’s ex-wife, Kate Dickinson, who informs them that Simon gained access to a great deal of money after their divorce and the sale of their house. Jen and Ross also interview Alan Springer, a former army buddy of Simon’s who left Simon a voicemail asking about money that Simon owed him. Jen and Ross are unable to reconcile what could have happened to the money from the house sale.

Matthew receives a call from his mother, from whom he has been estranged for many years because of his refusal to participate in her church, the Barum Brethren. His mother wants to contact him because Christine, the daughter of her friend Susan Shapland, has gone missing. Christine is a young woman with Down syndrome who spent time at the Woodyard, and Matthew immediately suspects a connection between the cases. Christine was supposed to be picked up from the Woodyard by Dennis Salter, the head of the Barum Brethren (with whom Matthew has a rocky past). Matthew investigates Christine’s disappearance by first questioning Lucy Braddick about her connection to Christine; and then questioning another young woman with Down syndrome—Rosa Holsworthy, who used to go to the Woodyard and was close with Christine before her parents pulled her out of the Centre. Neither woman has any information about Christine. Matthew also questions Dennis Salter, who admits that he was supposed to pick up Christine, his niece, that day, but got distracted. Dennis also divulges the fact that he sits on the board of the Woodyard.

The police discover that Simon was keeping an apartment separate from his living space in Caroline Preece’s house. Matthew investigates this apartment and finds it seemingly ransacked. He finds a piece of mail from a law firm discussing an upcoming appointment. He also receives a call informing him that Christine Shapland was found alive on the outskirts of a small estate by a pond. Jen goes to the hospital and questions Christine, who says that an unidentified man met her at the Woodyard and claimed that her parents had arranged for him to pick her up. This man brought her to an apartment—which Jen quickly ascertains was Simon’s apartment—and kept her there for a few days before driving her to the spot by the pond and letting her go.

Meanwhile, Matthew questions the lawyers at the firm Simon was working with. He discovers that Simon had planned to gift £200,000 to the Woodyard—the exact amount of money he received from the divorce. However, he changed his mind at the last minute and instead mailed the lawyers a £200,000 check made out to the Devonshire Building Society and asked his lawyers to keep it safe for him. Matthew then receives a call from Maurice Braddick, Lucy’s father, who tells Matthew that he knows Dennis Salter abuses his wife, Grace. Matthew now has extra incentive to go back and question the Salters, since he also knows that Dennis sits on the board of the Devonshire Building Society. Grace tacitly confirms Dennis’s abuse but indicates that she will always stand by him, and Dennis continues to deny any connections to Simon.

After the police find Gaby Henry’s fingerprints in Simon’s apartment, Matthew questions Gaby and discovers that she was actually Simon’s lover; she is also the woman with whom he was dining on the day of his murder. Gaby tells Matthew that Simon had a grand plan involving the Woodyard but wouldn’t reveal it. While Matthew and Gaby are talking, Lucy Braddick is abducted while she is out getting a coffee with Maurice. Matthew immediately tries to ascertain the locations of the various suspects. Christopher Preece was at the Woodyard; Caroline and her boyfriend, Edward Craven, a local parish curate, were together; but neither the Marstons nor the Salters could be located.

Meanwhile, Jen is questioning Christine Shapland about the man who abducted her, and she realizes that Christine and Lucy own identical cardigans. Jen theorizes that this might be a case of mistaken identity and that Christine’s abductor wanted Lucy all along. This theory gives Matthew an idea, and he goes back to Janet Holsworthy, Rosa’s mother, and questions her about why she pulled Rosa out of the Woodyard. Janet admits that Rosa was raped at the Woodyard by Edward Craven, and when Janet tried to talk to the men who run the Centre—Christopher Preece and Dennis Salter—they brought their legal counsel—Colin Marston—and told her that she had nothing but unprovable allegations. However, Janet had evidence of the rape in the form of Edward’s semen on Rosa’s skirt, which she kept in a bag at home. The men then offered to pay her off, and she accepted this deal because of her financial troubles. When Matthew asks if she still has the skirt, Janet calls home, and her husband is unable to locate it. Matthew hypothesizes that Rosa might have given the evidence to Lucy, with whom she was very close. This fits with his new theory: Lucy was working with Simon, who had uncovered the abuse at the Woodyard and pulled his financial donation because of it.

The police receive a call from Lucy and trace it to the Marstons’ cottage. Matthew, Jen, and Ross go to investigate, and while they are all separated on the beach, someone knocks Matthew unconscious. He awakens to find himself and Lucy tied up on the beach, with the tide coming in; Jen and Ross have rescued them both. Matthew questions Caroline Preece about Edward Craven; she admits that she knew that Edward raped Rosa but insists that he didn’t murder Simon. Matthew then goes to the Salters and gets the truth from them. They admit that when Simon discovered the truth about Rosa’s rape, he went to the Golden Fleece—near the Salters’ home—to try to get Grace to talk to him. Simon had realized that Dennis was involved in the cover-up and was likely abusive, but he couldn’t get Grace to help. Grace told Dennis about Simon, and Dennis suggested to his wife that it would be convenient if Simon died. Grace, terrified of and brainwashed by her husband, lured Simon to the beach by promising him a copy of the check from the Devonshire Building Society that Christopher and Dennis cut to silence Janet. Grace then murdered Simon. Now, Matthew tells the couple that he has CCTV footage of the two of them working to abduct Lucy, so neither of them will escape justice. Matthew returns home to his husband and decides to invite his estranged mother to dinner.