The Dying Light

The fourth installment in the Detective Matthew Venn series opens as two 17-year-old girls, Hannah Armstrong and Lottie Cauldwell, arrive at Tide House, a white holiday bungalow with a swimming pool overlooking the sea near the hamlet of Millscombe in North Devon. They have just finished their A-level exams and driven overnight from London, arriving days before Hannah's family is expected. Hannah, the daughter of Paul Armstrong, a junior government minister, has come early partly to attend MillsFest, a music festival at the neighboring farm, and partly to see Jake Brennan, a local boy she has been involved with since the previous winter.

On Monday morning, Detective Inspector Matthew Venn receives a call from his sergeant, Jen Rafferty. The Armstrongs have arrived at Tide House with their two young sons and found Lottie's body in the swimming pool and Hannah missing. Paul insists Lottie was a strong competitive swimmer, making accidental drowning unlikely. The involvement of a minister's family triggers special protocol; Chief Constable Christopher Appleyard confirms Matthew as senior investigating officer with a small core team to prevent leaks.

At Tide House, Matthew speaks with the Armstrongs while Jen follows Cath Armstrong to the private beach below the house. Cath reveals that Hannah had severe anxiety after the Covid lockdowns and was moved to a small private girls' school, where Lottie took her under her wing. Cath describes Lottie as entitled, someone who chose Hannah rather than the other way around. At Millscombe Farm, Jake tells Matthew that Hannah spent Sunday night with him and was still asleep when he rose at five in the morning. Jake's mother, Tessa Brennan, reveals Jake previously experienced a mental health crisis after dropping out of university. Matthew also learns about Geoff and Karen Kinzalow, an American couple glamping in one of the farm's pods.

Before Matthew can relay Hannah's whereabouts, Jen texts him: A second body has been found. Cath discovered Hannah near the ruins of an old watermill in the combe, a narrow wooded valley between the house and beach. A wound on the back of Hannah's head suggests blunt force trauma, and pathologist Sal Pengelly believes Lottie may have been killed the same way before being placed in the pool. The case is now a double murder. Appleyard classifies it as category A, the designation reserved for the most serious cases, and allocates full resources.

The investigation fans out across the small community. At the Fisherman's Arms pub, Jen meets Marigold Hooper, known as Mag, the Cornish landlady and former social worker, and her husband Jim, a large, tattooed chef who resents wealthy outsiders buying local properties. When Jen and Ross May, the team's third detective, interview the Kinzalows, Karen reveals that Geoff is a retired journalist who once profiled Armstrong for The Washington Post and is writing a book featuring the politician. The team's researcher, Vicki Robb, discovers that the Kinzalows' younger daughter Elizabeth attended the same school as Hannah and Lottie. When Matthew returns to the farm the next day, the couple has fled, leaving behind a wood-burning stove used despite the heatwave. From the ashes he retrieves a scrap of bevelled card with the letters "VP" visible.

At a hotel in the nearby seaside town of Torr, Jen interviews the Armstrongs and Elaine Cauldwell, Lottie's mother, a glamorous single parent who runs a theatrical agency in London. Elaine admits to numbing herself with antidepressants and alcohol. Paul vaguely recalls a girl named Kinzalow among Hannah's friends and mentions an evening Hannah went missing in London, which he dismisses. Cath confirms Elizabeth was in the girls' friend group but becomes evasive when questioned further. Elaine reveals that Lottie sent videos from MillsFest that were deliberately cruel, mocking the festival and its attendees. After the interview, Jen spots the Kinzalows on a Torr street but cannot reach them.

In London, Matthew visits Elaine's agency, where her PA Kitty Westwood describes Lottie as spoiled and manipulative. At the girls' school, headteacher Sylvia James grows markedly uncomfortable when asked about Elizabeth Kinzalow. The post-mortem reveals excessive alcohol and traces of cocaine in Lottie's system; while she died by drowning, a head wound suggests she may have been struck before entering the pool. Back in Devon, Mag confirms that Elaine dined with the Kinzalows at the pub the week before the murders, and the conversation appeared hostile. Mag also confesses that Lottie blackmailed her on Sunday, threatening to orchestrate bad online reviews unless served alcohol.

Appleyard provides the pivotal revelation: Elizabeth Kinzalow suffered a severe fall down a railway embankment on Hampstead Heath in north London, resulting in life-changing head injuries. Lottie called emergency services and claimed it was an accident; Hannah corroborated the story. All three girls had been drinking heavily. The Kinzalows blamed Lottie, but police found no evidence of a crime. The school, Elaine, and the Armstrongs all had reasons to suppress the story, protecting reputations and, in Armstrong's case, his political career. Elizabeth is now in supported living in the US, and her parents came to North Devon to uncover the truth before their return flight on Monday.

Several discoveries tighten the focus. Tessa reveals Hannah called Lottie a "poisonous person" and said it was "time for the truth to come out." In Jake's bedroom, Matthew finds a note from Hannah that had fallen behind a piece of furniture: "Gone to sort out Lottie, once and for all. I'll catch up with you later this morning. Love you!" After Jen is hospitalized with a broken arm sustained while pursuing Karen Kinzalow through Torr, Ross conducts a solo interview with Daniel Miller, the seasonal barman at the Fisherman's Arms. Daniel confesses he spent Sunday night at Tide House with Lottie, holding her as she cried about Hannah's rejection. He left at dawn; Lottie was still alive. His timestamped parking payment at Baggy Point corroborates his departure.

Karen Kinzalow voluntarily comes to the police station and explains that the three girls formed a secret club called "the Three Furies," led by Lottie, who organized meetings using printed postcards. The burned card from the stove was one such invitation. Karen confirms the Kinzalows drove to Tide House on Saturday night but retreated upon finding the girls swimming. Geoff later confronted Lottie at the festival, but she threatened to accuse him of being a sexual predator. In a separate interview, Geoff reveals rumors that Armstrong accepted bribes while on Newcastle City Council, intelligence Elizabeth may have shared with Lottie, who was capable of using it as leverage.

The case takes a final turn when Alex, the Armstrongs' eldest son, goes missing from outside the Fisherman's Arms. Matthew deduces that Jake drove a tractor from the farm and took Alex for a ride after finding the boy alone in Cath's car. Late that night, the detectives find Jake by a firepit outside a glamping pod, with Alex asleep inside, unharmed. Jake explains that Alex discovered Hannah's phone in his room, and Jake panicked about being linked to the crime.

In his formal interview, Jake provides a full account. He followed Hannah to Tide House and overheard the girls screaming at each other near the old mill. Hannah had realized Lottie did not cover for her after Elizabeth's accident out of friendship but to maintain power, keeping a video she had filmed of the incident as leverage. Hannah declared she would find the Kinzalows and tell them the truth. As Hannah walked past, Lottie picked up a rock and hurled it at her head, killing her. Jake, consumed by rage, pushed Lottie into the pool, where she hit her head and drowned. The video reveals Elizabeth daring Hannah to jump, then jumping herself, with Hannah accidentally causing the fall while trying to pull Elizabeth back. Lottie's narration framed Hannah as responsible. Jake's solicitor plans to enter a plea of manslaughter.

Jen delivers the news to the Armstrongs. Cath pledges to help Jake and refuses to press charges for Alex's disappearance. At home, Matthew reflects on his misjudgments and discusses the case with his husband Jonathan Venn, who is grappling with his own turmoil after meeting his birth mother, Ellen, for the first time. Jonathan is angry that Ellen gave him up by choice rather than necessity. Matthew advises him to invite Ellen to their home and to be generous.