This novel wins one of my personal awards for 2022 — THE ABSOLUTE WORST READ OF THE YEAR! If you see it on the bargain table of your favorite bookstore as I did, RUN — don’t walk past it — RUN AWAY! Do not waste your time on this horrible book. It took me 15 days to force myself through the book after a couple of thoughts to just put the book down. I kept hoping that the plot and writing would improve and wanted to give Cleeves the opportunity to change my opinion. It didn’t happen.
The Long Call opens with a murdered man on the beach of a quiet area of the English coast. When you think the novel is going to focus on this mysterious death, the plot takes a turn to focus on the women of a local day center that serves both the general community and adults with special needs, specifically those with Down’s Syndrome. The cast of characters were two-dimensional and challenging to distinguish. The “mystery” is convoluted and confusing. Add to this the role of a religious group that is not adequately explored to give it real significance and you have a recipe for a very bad book.
In case I’ve not made it clear, I absolutely HATED this book — not something I say very often — and don’t plan to read anything else by this author. My reading time is far too valuable to waste on another poorly written book.
Reading for Me 
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