“The Thursday Murder Club”’s Richard Osman Loves Ann Cleeves’ “The Dying Light” — See the Cover! (Exclusive)

British mystery fans, beware — Ann Cleeves’ latest Matthew Venn mystery novel is coming out this year!

PEOPLE are sharing an exclusive first look at the cover of New York Times bestselling author Ann Cleeves’ mystery novel, The Dying Light — the latest installment in her Matthew Venn detective series.

Set in Devon, England, The Dying Light follows Detective Inspector Venn as he peels back layer upon layer to discover the dark secrets one family is keeping in a novel which “brims with energy and is taut with claustrophobic tension,” according to publisher Minotaur Books.

The mystery is already receiving high praise from fellow mystery writers — including The Thursday Murder Club‘s Richard Osman, whose hit novel about four residents of a U.K. retirement home who solve cold-case murders for fun was recently turned into a Netflix series.

“Everything Ann Cleeves writes is incredible,” Osman said in a statement shared with PEOPLE.

Cleeves is no stranger to the screen, either. Her books have served as inspiration for three hit television series— Shetland, starring Douglas Henshall, Vera, starring Academy Award Nominee Brenda Blethyn, and The Long Call, starring Ben Aldridge.

The author’s Matthew Venn series is known for its atmospheric mystery cases set in English towns with rich histories — and Cleeves tells PEOPLE that this fourth installment may be her best one yet.

“I think this is my favorite Venn book,” Cleeves says. “I loved exploring the relationship between Matthew and his husband Jonathan. In the past, Jonathan has been the rock, seeing Matthew through his anxieties about work and family. Now it’s Matthew’s turn to be the supporter. In The Dying Light, he becomes stronger and more confident.”

The Dying Light is set during a scorching summer heatwave as Detective Venn is called in to investigate a puzzling death after the body of a young woman, Lottie, who was visiting town with her friend to celebrate finishing their school exams is found in the swimming pool of a luxurious holiday home.

To further complicate matters, the girl’s best friend Hannah, whose family owns the house, is reported missing — and Venn learns that the two “had managed to make waves during their short time there; they disrupted the folk music festival at the neighboring farm, with one posting incendiary videos on social media mocking what she snobbishly considered to be a parochial community,” according to the synopsis.

“When further tragedy strikes, Venn and his team begin questioning a community filled with secrets. Hannah’s father, Paul Armstrong, is a rising political star, a fact that quickly draws intense media scrutiny to the case, not least because there are many who would want to take him down,” the synopsis adds.

“Caught between a powerful family’s secrets and a powder keg of local tensions, Venn and his team must navigate a treacherous path. He knows all too well that the real answers lie not in what people say, but in the silence that they keep.”

According to the author, she drew her inspiration for this latest book from a singular image and formed a story from there.

“I started this book with one image — a white house close to a North Devon beach and the body of a teenage girl floating in a bright blue pool,” she says. “In the end, it turned into a story of wealth, privilege and politics, and the corrosive influence of entitlement and power.”

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The Dying Light comes out on Sept. 29 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.