Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves Narrator: Jack Holden
Series: Two Rivers #4
Published by MacMillan Audio, Minotaur Books on September 29, 2026
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 384
Length: 10 hours, 33 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
A scorching heatwave marks the start of the summer in Devon. Detective Matthew Venn is called in to investigate a puzzling death, when the body of a young woman, Lottie, is found in the swimming pool of a luxurious holiday home. The girl’s best friend, Hannah, whose family owns the house, is missing. The girls had arrived in Devon a few days ahead of the family to celebrate the end of their school exams, and had managed to make waves during their short time there; they disrupted the folk music festival at the neighboring farm, with Lottie posting incendiary videos on social media mocking what she snobbishly considered to be a parochial community.
When further tragedy strikes, Venn and his team begin questioning a community filled with secrets. Hannah’s father, Paul Armstrong, is a rising political star, a fact that quickly draws intense media scrutiny to the case, not least because there are many who would want to take him down. With the summer heat come holidaymakers, and it emerges that some of them may have more connections with the Armstrong family than first thought.
The Two Rivers series continues with a murdered girl Lottie on holiday and her friend Hannah missing. The head of the team in Matthew, and his husband, Jonathon runs an art centre.  There’s Jen who is a single parent of two teens. There’s Ross who is a favorite of Matthew’s boss, and is bucking to move up, but needs more skills; he thinks he’s better than he is. Vicky does a lot of computer research and camera review work.
There’s the search for Hannah and the overall history of the girls. Their friendship, along with an American girl, who was badly injured back at school. Does it have to do with that? Or is it Lottie’s social media posts running down the farm with its glamping site, which is run by Hannah’s boyfriend and his family. Or maybe it has to do with Hannah’s father who is a politician. There’s a lot of information and it feels like they are chasing around but catching nothing for awhile.
There was a lot of police work to track down the histories, their parents, their friends, and locals who might be angry with the girls for some reason. Matthew is under pressure also because Hannah is the daughter of a politician. The American family turns out to have been at the farm. Lottie’s mother seems to have been in the area as well.
Matthew also has personal concerns. Jonathon is consumed by the search for his biological mother who he has discovered.  The father of Lucy who works at the center has died, and she will need their emotional support. Matthew runs into his own estranged mother and realizes some things. He wants to go with Jonathon to meet his mother but is worried about being gone during developments in his case.
I enjoyed both the murder mystery with its complex possibilities and the work of the case. There was personal growth for Matthew. Jonathon struggled with meeting and learning more about his bio mother. Ross, on his other team, seems to be improving his work skills. The Dying Light is a great read with good pacing and plot lines.
Narration:
Jack Holden has narrated the whole series. He is Matthew for me. His voice was very clear and had some distinct character voices. I was comfortable with the tones and accents. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Ann Cleeves
Ann grew up in the country, first in Herefordshire, then in North Devon. Her father was a village school teacher. After dropping out of university she took a number of temporary jobs – child care officer, women’s refuge leader, bird observatory cook, auxiliary coastguard – before going back to college and training to be a probation officer.
While she was cooking in the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, she met her husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist. She was attracted less by the ornithology than the bottle of malt whisky she saw in his rucksack when she showed him his room. Soon after they married, Tim was appointed as warden of Hilbre, a tiny tidal island nature reserve in the Dee Estuary. They were the only residents, there was no mains electricity or water and access to the mainland was at low tide across the shore. If a person’s not heavily into birds – and Ann isn’t – there’s not much to do on Hilbre and that was when she started writing. Her first series of crime novels features the elderly naturalist, George Palmer-Jones. A couple of these books are seriously dreadful.
In 1987 Tim, Ann and their two daughters moved to Northumberland and the north east provides the inspiration for many of her subsequent titles. The girls have both taken up with Geordie lads. In the autumn of 2006, Ann and Tim finally achieved their ambition of moving back to the North East.
For the National Year of Reading, Ann was made reader-in-residence for three library authorities. It came as a revelation that it was possible to get paid for talking to readers about books! She went on to set up reading groups in prisons as part of the Inside Books project, became Cheltenham Literature Festival’s first reader-in-residence and still enjoys working with libraries.
| Rating Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Plot |
|
| Writing |
 |
| Characters |
|
| Narration (Audio) |
|
| Overall: | |
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
- 🎧 The Dying Light by Ann Cleeves @anncleeves.bsky.social #JackHolden @macmillanaudio.bsky.social @minotaurbooks.bsky.social @AnnCleeves @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress - September 29, 2026
- Sunday Series:Rizzoli & Isles series by Tess Gerritsen @tessgerritsen.bsky.social @tanyaeby.bsky.social #BrillianceAudio #LoveAudiobooks #SundaySeries - September 27, 2026
- Sunday Post – 27 September 2026 @caffeinatedreviewer.com @readingreality.bsky.social @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - September 27, 2026
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 26-Audio
- 26-COYER
I think I’d really enjoy this series. Thanks for putting it on my radar.
I just finished this one on the plane (out to Texas, again!) and enjoyed it. I thought the ending was kind of sad, though.
Sounds like this was a compelling case. Great review Anne.
Another author I still want to read. Wonderful review, Anne💜