The deadliest truths are those in the shadows...
Detective Matthew Venn is called in to investigate a puzzling death. The body of a young woman has been found in the swimming pool of Tide House, a luxurious holiday home in North Devon, and her best friend is missing. The property belongs to rising political star Paul Armstrong and the case quickly draws intense media scrutiny.
As a scorching heat wave rages and further tragedy strikes, Venn and his team begin questioning a community brimming with secrets. The dead woman and her friend had been spotted at a nearby music festival the day before, an event which brought locals and outsiders together - some of whom may have been more connected with the Armstrongs than first thought.
Caught between a powerful family's secrets and a powder keg of local tensions, Venn must navigate a treacherous path. Knowing that the real answers lie not in what people say, but in the silence that they keep ...
"Everything Ann Cleeves writes is incredible."
Richard Osman
The Dying Light will be published in the US by Minotaur Bools on September 29th 2026 (ISBN: 978-1-2508-3681-6): order now, using this link;
and in the UK by Pan MacMillan on October 8th (ISBN: 978-1-5290-7781-0): also available for pre-order now.
The Long Call | The Heron's Cry | The Raging Storm | This page: The Dying Light