Emylia Hall lives in Bristol with her husband and son where she writes from a hut in the garden and dreams of the sea. The Shell House Detectives is the first novel in her new crime series, following the exploits of sleuthing duo Ally and Jayden and the people in and around the fictional village of Porthpella. The Harbour Lights Mystery – the second book in The Shell House Mystery series – will be published in October 2023, with the third to follow in Spring 2024. Described as Contemporary Cosy Crime, the series is inspired by her love of Cornwall’s wild landscape.
At the Guardian Hall tagged ten top books set in Cornwall, including:
The Lighthouse by PD JamesRead about the other entries on the list.
Combe – a make-believe island off the Cornish coast – offers a secluded retreat for VIPs and the perfect setting for a locked-room mystery. While the crime here is far from cosy, I find this classy piece of detective fiction very comforting. James’s prose is cool and crisp, with the topography of the island as exactingly described as the interiors of the scattered cottages or the psychology of the suspects. The coastal stay proves transformational for Commander Dalgliesh and his city-dwelling team, despite the horrors that unfold: “gently and quietly Combe exerted its mysterious power.”
--Marshal Zeringue
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