Matthew Venn

Matthew is a detective and the head of a police team that investigates serious crimes in North Devon. In this novel, he and his team become involved in the case after Nigel Yeo is killed, but they learn that Nigel is actually the second murder victim. Matthew is married to Jonathan and struggles in his personal life because he considers rules to be more important than feelings. Jonathan sees the world differently. Matthew is strong, determined, and capable. He tends to be inflexible in his professional life because he believes that is the right thing to do. He demonstrates that he can also be kind by making an effort to be more flexible when he is not governed by the rules of police work.

While Matthew is the ranking officer of his team, he allows others to take the lead when he feels it is appropriate. At...