The Long Call

“Matthew stood for a moment, thinking that lack of faith had little to do with choice. Doubt was a cancer that grew unbidden. He pushed away the guilt that still lurked somewhere in his body, physical, like a toothache.”

The idea that doubting one’s faith is equivalent to a cancer illustrates Matthew’s perception of how his doubts have impacted his life. He sees his doubt and subsequent estrangement from his community and family as a disease that has weakened and ravaged him. He also sees the doubt as something out of his control.

“Her accent was pure North Devon, just like his. Warm and thick like the cream his mother used to make.”

All the characters of The Long Call are strongly situated in a sense of place. Here, Cleeves uses the simile of a smile being like thick cream in order to give shape to this rural, agrarian landscape and to position these characters in their historical context. Even for those who have no conception of what the North Devon accent sounds like, Cleeves has provided a concrete image to convey the emotional essence associated with these particular inflections.

“The room was a little untidy. Uncared for. It was as if they were camping out here. Matthew wondered what had brought them to the house.”

This close third-person narration from Matthew’s perspective demonstrates the detective’s powers of observation, which he applies almost unconsciously to any sight that meets his eye. The passage also establishes his ability to build a portrait of the Marstons just by observing how they live. With this approach, Cleeves also implies that Matthew’s observations will have considerable significance as the protagonists work to solve the mystery of Simon’s murder.