The Long Call Summary
Ann Cleeves

The Long Call Overview

Ann Cleeves’s, mystery/crime narrative, The Long Call, is the story of Matthew Venn, a man whose past and present converge to create a character filled with the pain of self-doubt and guilt in spite of being an accomplished detective who is happily married to his husband, Jonathan. However, Matthew begins to reconcile his past with his present when a murder case forces him to interact with his mother and other members of the religious group that defined his childhood. Told from the third-person perspective of Matthew, a member of his team, and other characters involved in the investigation, the narrative explores themes related to perception, guilt, family, secrets, boundaries, and community.