Ann Cleeves, New York Times bestselling author and creator of the Shetland and Vera series, returns to North Devon in The Heron's Cry, the second book in the Two Rivers series featuring Detective Matthew Venn, following The Long Call. 

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 finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community and a case that is dangerously close to home.

The Long Call and The Heron's Cry are part of Ann Cleeves' Two Rivers series and have been recently commissioned for ITV.

Author Bio:

Ann Cleeves is the author of over thirty critically acclaimed novels, and in 2017 was awarded the highest accolade in crime writing, the CWA Diamond Dagger. She is the creator of popular detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez, who can now be found on television in ITV's Vera and BBC One's Shetland. The TV series and the books they are based on have become international sensations, capturing the minds of millions worldwide. The Heron's Cry is book two in the Two Rivers series, featuring Detective Matthew Venn. The first book in the series, The Long Call was published to critical acclaim. It is currently being adapted for television.

Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before she started writing. She is a member of 'Murder Squad', working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. She lives in North Tyneside, England, near where the Vera books are set.