The Dying Light: A Detective Matthew Venn Novel by Cleeves, Ann

"Everything Ann Cleeves writes is incredible."--Richard Osman

DI Matthew Venn peels back layer upon layer to discover the dark secrets one family is keeping in this searing new novel, brimming with energy and taut with claustrophobic tension.

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 a few days earlier to celebrate the end of their school exams, quickly stirring unrest in the small community with incendiary social media videos mocking the place as parochial.

When further tragedy strikes, Venn and his team begin questioning a community filled with secrets. The fact that Hannah's father, Paul Armstrong, is a rising political star with powerful enemies draws intense media scrutiny to the case.

With the summer heat come holidaymakers, and it emerges that some of them may have stronger connections with the Armstrong family than first thought. Venn knows all too well that the real answers lie not in what people say, but in the silences that they keep.

Taut, atmospheric, and brimming with suspense, this searing new novel finds DI Matthew Venn caught between a powerful family's secrets and a powder keg of local tensions.

Author: Ann Cleeves
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 09/29/2026
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.29lbs
Size: 9.49h x 6.44w x 1.27d
ISBN: 9781250836809

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 07/01/2026
Publishers Weekly 07/20/2026
Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2026

About the Author

ANN CLEEVES is the multi-million copy bestselling author behind three hit television series--Shetland, Vera, and The Long Call--all of which are watched and loved in the United States. All three are available on BritBox.

The first Shetland novel, Raven Black, won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for best crime novel, and Ann was awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger in 2017. She was awarded the OBE in 2022 for services to reading and libraries. Ann lives in the United Kingdom.