Escape to places where every secret has a story
Cosy mysteries set in unforgettable landscapes and crafted by a small independent press
Dead in the Water
A Lighthouse Inn Series
Microbiologist Maris Thorn is nearing 40 when – newly divorced – she returns to Thorn Point on the Cornish coast, to take over the running of the lighthouse lodge left to her by her late grandmother. She has been away nearly 20 years and expects her return to produce the change of pace she is craving.
However, a famous London-based food critic, well-known for his nasty reviews, has booked out the entire lodge for a celebratory dinner with six guests, each one of whom has suffered badly at his hands over the years.
When he is found the next morning, face-down in one of the nearby rock pools, Maris feels compelled to assist with investigation into his death, led by Detective-Sergeant Callum Pryce, a recently transplanted Welshman.
Also involved are Maris’s three-legged greyhound, her septuagenarian chef Hettie Nancarrow and a local teenager with insatiable curiosity and an amazing grasp of all things technical and digital.
Every guest is a suspect, and as more of the victim’s sordid past is laid bare the team has to sort through a mass of conflicting evidence, which leads to a dramatic confrontation on the path to the rock pools.
Murder at Misty Ridge
A Haunted Highway Mystery Series
Stall holders at the weekly farmers’ market find a body just below the lookout point at Misty Ridge on the road between Trekkersburg and Zand River in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
The police identify the body and announce a finding of accidental death, but two of the stallholders, Annie Lomax and Priya Naidoo, disagree. They team up with their friend Lindiwe Khumalo and former policeman Dan Mokoena to investigate.
Dan’s experience as a detective is pivotal, and when Annie’s little Jack Russell turns up a crucial piece of evidence the story takes an unexpected turn.
Not only does the victim turn out not to be who the police said he was, but it becomes obvious that his death was no accident. However, was it the result of a personal vendetta, a business deal gone wrong, or part of something much larger, something unspoken that stretches the length of the road they call “The Haunted Highway”?
The three ladies join forces with local garage owner and mechanic Jacques “Jakes” van der Merwe and the foursome find their investigation leads them down some dangerous side roads, where the swirling mist makes everything uncertain.