April 2020 New Mystery Releases!

How are all of you faring with social distancing? It's been the status quo for me for several months, so I'm not feeling that much difference. I've been much more concerned about Denis, who continues to work at the airport.

I may be used to social distancing, but I'm sick and tired of it. You would think that I'd be reading up a storm, but lately I've been spending a lot of time reorganizing several areas of the house and trying a new knitting pattern that's trying its best to defeat me.

But it doesn't matter what my mental state is, I will always be on the lookout for new books to read. The following are my picks of the new crime fiction being released throughout the month of April. I have them grouped according to release dates, and book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. Let's take a look at this list of mine, shall we?

=== April 1 ===

Title: The Driftwood Girls

Author: Mark Douglas-Home

Series: #4 in the Sea Detective series set in Scotland and the Netherlands.

400 pages

*See my review of the UK edition. 

Synopsis: "Twenty-three years ago, Christina Tolmie vanished without a trace from northern France, leaving her young daughters Kate and Flora orphaned and alone. Now Flora is also missing. In desperation, Kate searches her Edinburgh house, and finds a piece of notepaper with just one name: Cal McGill. Cal is a so-called sea detective, an expert on the winds and the tides, and consequently an exceptionally gifted finder of lost things - and lost people. Kate hopes that Cal might not only find her sister but also unlock the mystery that has overshadowed both women's lives: what happened to their beloved mother all those years before? Unfortunately, Cal doesn't think he can help. But that's only because he hasn't yet realized that the dark undercurrents of the case will ultimately lead him back dangerously close to home..."

=== April 6 ===

Title: Death in Delft

Author: Graham Brack

Series: #1 in the Master Mercurius historical series set in 17th-century Delft

229 pages

Synopsis: "1671, Delft  

Three young girls have been abducted from their homes.

The body of one has been found in a shallow grave. The other two are still missing.

The murder has shocked everyone in the peaceful city of Delft and the mayor is desperate to catch the perpetrator before panic can spread any further.

With the bitterly cold January weather intensifying it is doubtful that the other two girls are still alive.

But whoever took them is still at large.

The mayor requests the help of Master Mercurius, a gifted cleric from a nearby university, and local artist Vermeer, who uses his skills to sketch the crime scenes.

Can they find the missing girls before it’s too late? Will Mercurius be able to track down the killer?

Or will more victims succumb to Death in Delft…?

Death in Delft is the first historical murder investigation in the Master Mercurius Mystery series: atmospheric crime thrillers set in seventeenth-century Europe."

=== April 7 ===

Title: Three Hours in Paris

Author: Cara Black

Standalone thriller set in World War II Paris.

360 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Kate Rees, a young American markswoman, has been recruited by British intelligence to drop into Paris with a dangerous assignment: assassinate the Führer. Wrecked by grief after a Luftwaffe bombing killed her husband and infant daughter, she is armed with a rifle, a vendetta, and a fierce resolve. But other than rushed and rudimentary instruction, she has no formal spy training. Thrust into the red-hot center of the war, a country girl from rural Oregon finds herself holding the fate of the world in her hands. When Kate misses her mark and the plan unravels, Kate is on the run for her life—all the time wrestling with the suspicion that the whole operation was a set-up.

Cara Black, doyenne of the Parisian crime novel, is at her best as she brings Occupation-era France to vivid life in this gripping story about one young woman with the temerity—and drive—to take on Hitler himself."

Title: Hid from Our Eyes

Author: Julia Spencer-Fleming

Series: #9 in the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series set in upstate New York

352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "1952. Millers Kill Police Chief Harry McNeil is called to a crime scene where a woman in a party dress has been murdered with no obvious cause of death.

1972. Millers Kill Police Chief Jack Liddle is called to a murder scene of a woman that's very similar to one he worked as a trooper in the 50s. The only difference is this time, they have a suspect. Young Vietnam War veteran Russ van Alstyne found the body while riding his motorcycle and is quickly pegged as the prime focus of the investigation.

Present-day. Millers Kill Police Chief Russ van Alstyne gets a 911 call that a young woman has been found dead in a party dress, the same MO as the crime he was accused of in the 70s. The pressure is on for Russ to solve the murder before he's removed from the case.

Russ will enlist the help of his police squad and Reverend Clare Fergusson, who is already juggling the tasks of being a new mother to her and Russ's baby and running St. Alban's Church, to finally solve these crimes.

Readers have waited years for this newest book and Julia Spencer-Fleming delivers with the exquisite skill and craftsmanship that have made her such a success."

Title: The Stolen Letter

Author: Paige Shelton

Series: #5 in the Scottish Bookshop cozy series set in Scotland.

304 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Delaney Nichols is confident she’s doing what she loves―case in point, just one day after returning from her fabulous European honeymoon, she’s eager to get back to the Cracked Spine, the bookstore where she works. But as she disembarks her bus and hurries toward the shop she and another woman collide, sending a stack of books the woman is carrying to the ground. 

Delaney’s hapless victim’s name is Mary and the two women can’t help but notice that they bear an uncanny resemblance to one another. According to Mary, they both also look like the long-beheaded Mary Queen of Scots. Even stranger, Mary believes she is the reincarnation of the Scottish queen. But peculiar as Delaney’s doppelganger is, she doesn’t have time to dwell on it: on her arrival to the bookshop, she learns the Edinburgh city council wants to close the Cracked Spine, citing code violations, and she’s determined to stop them.

But when Mary’s husband dies in a car explosion―and Delaney learns he was the very member of city council who proposed that the city take a closer look at the bookshop’s construction―she starts to wonder if her meeting with Mary wasn’t an accident. Edinburgh has become as filled with intrigue and deception as any European court, and Delaney is determined to get to the bottom of this royal mystery."

=== April 21 ===

Title: Dead Land

Author: Sara Paretsky

Series: #21 in the V.I. Warshawski private investigator series set in Chicago

416 pages

Synopsis: "Chicago may be the city of broad shoulders, but its political law is “Pay to Play.” Money changes hands in the middle of the night, and by morning, buildings and parks are replaced by billion-dollar projects.

Chicago PI V.I. Warshawski gets pulled into one of these clandestine deals through her impetuous goddaughter, Bernie Fouchard. Bernie tries to rescue Lydia Zamir, a famed singer-songwriter now living on the streets; Zamir’s life fell apart when her lover was murdered next to her in a mass shooting at an outdoor concert. Not only does Bernie plunge her and V.I. headlong into the path of some ruthless developers, they lead to the murder of the young man Bernie is dating. He’s a computer geek working for a community group called SLICK.

V.I. is desperate to find a mysterious man named Coop, who roams the lakefront in the middle of the night with his dog. She’s sure he holds the key to the mounting body count within SLICK. Coop may even know why an international law firm is representing the mass murderer responsible for Lydia’s lover’s death. Instead, the detective finds a terrifying conspiracy stretching from Chicago’s parks to a cover-up of the dark chapters in America’s meddling in South American politics. Before she finds answers, this electrifying novel pushes V.I. close to the breaking point: People who pay to play take no prisoners."

=== April 28 ===

Title: The Split

Author: Sharon Bolton

Standalone thriller set in Antarctica

400 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "The remote Antarctic island of South Georgia is about to send off its last boat of the summer – which signifies safety to resident glaciologist Felicity Lloyd. 

Felicity lives in fear – fear that her ex-husband Freddie will find her, even out here. She took a job on this isolated island to hide from him, but now that he's out of prison, having served a term for murder, she knows he won’t give up until he finds her. 

But a doctor delving into the background of Felicity and Freddie's relationship, back in Cambridge, learns that Felicity has been on the edge for a long time. Heading to South Georgia himself to try and get to her first is the only way he can think of to help her." 

Title: Murder in the Wine Country

Author: Janet Finsilver

Series: #6 in the Kelly Jackson cozy series set in northern California coast

178 pages

Synopsis: "Kelly Jackson, manager of the Redwood Cove Bed and Breakfast, is excited to participate in an event to raise awareness for the plight of struggling veterans in their Northern California coastal community. Local wineries are sponsoring tastings, and to prepare for a culinary competition, professional chefs will forage for wild edible greens. Kelly plans to come along, despite a warning to beware of poachers, who have been stealing the highly valued succulent Dudleya farinosa. The senior sleuths who call themselves the Silver Sentinels join forces with environmental activists known as the Succulent Saviors to thwart the poaching operation. When a consultant for the sale of a local winery is murdered, the poachers are suspected—but so is a wine merchant, Kelly's friend Phil. As Kelly and the Silver Sentinels attempt to root out the real killer, what she digs up might just put her permanently underground . . . " 

Title: Pumpkin Spice Peril

Author: Jenn McKinlay

Series: #12 in the Cupcake Bakery cozy series set in Scottsdale, Arizona.

272 pages

Synopsis: "Life is all sugar and spice for the Fairy Tale Cupcake bakers--Melanie Cooper is engaged to the delectable Joe DeLaura, Angie Harper and her husband Tate are savoring married life, and the bakery is bustling with happy customers. Until one of their most valued cupcake connoisseurs ends up dead.

Local glass artist and cupcake lover Rene Fischer-Klein has always suffered from a wide variety of health issues. In an effort to cheer her up, her doting husband, Peter, brings her a four-pack of her favorite cupcakes every week. But when the police discover that Rene has been poisoned, there's no sugarcoating the fact that the last things she ate were the bakery's signature pumpkin spice cupcakes! With their lives and bakery at stake, it's up to Mel and Angie to find out who poisoned their artist friend and why, before their future is frosted for good."

Title: Murder in Galway

Author: Carlene O'Connor

Series: #1 in the Home to Ireland cozy series set in Galway, Ireland.

336 pages

Synopsis: "New Yorker Tara Meehan's first trip to Galway may be her last...

Tara never imagined her introduction to Ireland like this--carrying her mam's ashes to honor her final request: "Tell Johnny I'm sorry...Take me home." She's never met her mam's estranged brother, Johnny Meehan, who owns an architectural salvage business in Galway. Although Tara is immediately charmed by the medieval city, the locals seem wary of strangers and a gypsy warns her that death is all around.

When Tara arrives at her uncle's stone cottage, the prophecy seems true. A dead man lies sprawled over the threshold in a pool of blood. The victim turns out to be Johnny's wealthiest client, and her missing uncle is the garda's number-one suspect. In trying to find Johnny and solve the crime, Tara uncovers her mam and uncle's troubled past. But with a desperate killer about, she had better mind herself, or they'll be tossing her ashes in Galway Bay..."

Well, how did I do? Did any of these titles make it to your own wishlists? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!

The Driftwood Girls by Mark Douglas-Home

First Line: Her glower was as scornful as any sixteen-year-old girl had directed at a boy all that long summer.

Twenty-three years ago, Christina Tolmie vanished without a trace, leaving her young daughters Kate and Flora orphaned. Now Flora is missing, too. When a desperate Kate searches Flora's home, she finds a slip of paper with one name on it: Cal McGill. Cal is known as the Sea Detective, an expert on the winds and the tides, and consequently a gifted finder of lost things-- and lost people.

Cal doesn't think he can help, but he has unexpected time on his hands, so he begins a cursory search. What he finds may not only reunite the sisters, but it may also shed light on their mother's disappearance all those years ago.

Cal McGill's full first name is Caladh which is Gaelic for a harbor or haven, and many people have come to him hoping he will end their nightmares and find their missing loved ones. With his exhaustive knowledge of winds and tides and his far-flung network of contacts, he's been very successful, and I hope he continues to be because Mark Douglas-Home's series is one of my very favorites.

As Cal begins his search for Kate's missing sister, he's also faced with the death of his best friend, Alex, and this leads to much introspection. Cal has always been a loner: he "experienced the closest he ever came to elation. He was on a wild coast alone and no one knew where he was." I can identify with this aspect of his nature, but I'm also aware of its downside. "Was he becoming more solitary in his habits, too comfortable in his own company and silence?" Cal has to work this through while he searches for Flora.

The Driftwood Girls is several stories woven skillfully together. There's Cal's soul-searching after the death of his friend. There's the search for Flora Tolmie. There's the rather strange story of three people living on an island off the coast of the Netherlands. And there's the slowly unfolding story of what happened to Kate and Flora's mother twenty-three years ago. The book could actually be considered a study in the different ways people respond to grief and this overlying sadness-- as well as Cal's feeling of being cut off from the world-- may make it a bit difficult for readers to be drawn into the story.

The knowledge that goes into making Cal the sea detective is fascinating but never overwhelms the story, and the author's descriptions of coastal areas of Scotland and the Netherlands can have even the most hardened landlubber smelling the salt air, hearing the cry of gulls, and wanting to set sail. The only thing that I can quibble over is how neatly the story of Kate and Flora's mother was wrapped up. It all seemed a bit too convenient, just a bit contrived, but it certainly didn't keep me from enjoying the book.

The oceans, tides, and winds, the atmospheric descriptions of land and sea, the characters, and the stories all mesh perfectly into mysteries that I love to sink into. If you love stories like this, then you need to become acquainted with Cal McGill. Start with The Sea Detective, and be prepared to get your hands on all the others.

The Driftwood Girls by Mark Douglas-Home

ISBN: 9781405923637

Penguin © 2020

Paperback, 330 pages

Private Investigator, #4 Sea Detective mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon UK.

On My Radar: Mark Douglas-Home's The Driftwood Girls

Mark Douglas-Home's Sea Detective series is one of my favorites. This author was recommended by Cath on her blog, Read_Warbler, and once I read the first book (The Sea Detective), it was full steam ahead. I just love the idea of a detective who knows about the sea and the winds and the tides and who uses that information to find lost people and lost things. Of course to my mind, having the series set in Scotland certainly doesn't hurt either!

So... you can imagine my happy dance when I learned that his next book will be released in January 2020. (That's a UK release date, by the way.) Let's take a look because I know several of you are also fans of the series.

Available in the UK 9 January 2020!

Synopsis: "Two missing women. Two decades apart. A gripping and atmospheric mystery that journeys from the dramatic lochs of Scotland to the icy depths of the North Sea...

Kate and Flora Tolmie have always lived with a mystery: what happened to their mother, Christina? Twenty-three years ago, she vanished without a trace from coastal northern France, leaving her young daughters orphaned and alone.

Now Flora is also missing. In desperation, Kate searches her Edinburgh house and finds a piece of notepaper with just one name: Cal McGill.

Cal is a so-called sea detective, an expert on the winds and the tides, and consequently an exceptionally gifted finder of lost things - and lost people.
Kate hopes that Cal might not only find her sister but also unlock the mystery that has overshadowed both women's lives: what happened to their beloved mother all those years before?

Unfortunately, Cal doesn't think he can help. But that's only because he hasn't yet realised that the dark undercurrents of the case will ultimately lead him back dangerously close to home..."


It's been over three years since the author's last book in this series, so I am very happy to learn about The Driftwood Girls. If you're not familiar with the series, I highly recommend it!

The Malice of Waves by Mark Douglas-Home

First Line: A few hours: wasn't that what Dr. Lipman said?

It's been five years since fourteen-year-old Max Wheeler disappeared, and his grief-stricken father is still searching for the truth. That's why Cal McGill is in the small community of Priest's Island-- he's come to see if his knowledge of the ocean and its currents can bring new clues to light.

Wheeler is not the only one reeling from his son's death. The small island community has also been torn apart by the tragedy, and by the whispers that insinuate that at least one of the villagers has to know what happened to the boy. With emotions running high, it's up to Cal to find the truth.

I love this series. Unless lightning strikes twice, it will be my "find of 2016."  Although I didn't find The Malice of Waves to be quite as mesmerizing as the first two books, it's still an excellent read and not to be missed.  

Douglas-Home changes it up a bit for this third book, and it's all to do with the villagers on Priest's Island. The settings for the author's books are wonderful. You can hear and watch the sea birds wheeling in the sky overhead. You can smell the salt air and be hypnotized by the crashing of the waves. The locations come to life, but they are fictional, and I like Douglas-Home's reasons for making them so: "My reason for inventing places is to avoid imposing a fictional plot on an island community that has a rich and interesting history of its own."  Fictional or not, the landscape is breathtaking and an important part of the books. 

While Cal's work with the tides does help to prove (or disprove) various theories as to what happened to the young boy's body, once again there is an environmental element to the story in the character of Pinkie Wise, a man who is obsessed with collecting rare birds' eggs. Pinkie has a small but pivotal role in The Malice of Waves. One of my favorite characters, Detective Sergeant Helen Jamieson, makes her second appearance in the series, and it was a welcome one. I hope to see more of this intelligent, fierce young woman. Both Helen and Cal are unconventional, complex characters-- one of the reasons why I like these books so much.

A strong theme throughout the book is how grief affects different people, and how it can rip families apart. I think I was so strongly opposed to the elder Wheeler's behavior that I completely forgot to keep track of the clues planted all along the way as to the killer's identity. I noticed them, but the lure of the story was too strong for me to put them all together. (Hopefully I won't have to turn in my amateur sleuth badge.)

If you love strong characters teamed with engrossing mysteries and evocative settings, Mark Douglas-Home's the Sea Detective novels are perfect for you.  They are best read in order, so please begin with The Sea Detective-- one of my Best Reads of 2016.      
 

The Malice of Waves by Mark Douglas-Home

ISBN: 9780718182762

Michael Joseph © 2016

Paperback, 290 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #3 Sea Detective mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from The Book Depository   


 

The Woman Who Walked into the Sea by Mark Douglas-Home

First Line: A vase of blue African lilies, Diana's favourites, filled the church alcove.

Does Cal McGill really want to be the "Sea Detective"? Soul-weary from unceasing requests from bereaved parents begging him to locate the bodies of their children lost at sea, Cal has come to a remote area on the northwest coast of Scotland to reevaluate his life. There he sees a young woman standing on the beach, staring out to sea. 

Soon he is compelled to investigate the twenty-six-year-old mystery of another young woman who stood on that very same beach, then walked into the sea and was never seen again. Cal's going to be brought face-to-face with a tight-knit coastal community that's hellbent on keeping its secrets.

I'm glad to report that The Woman Who Walked into the Sea did not meet my expectations-- it exceeded them. Expecting to read the second book in a mystery series featuring the same cast and location as in the book before it, I found something new. Yes, Cal McGill is still with us, thank goodness, but he's set down in the midst of a brand-new locale and a secondary cast filled with memorable characters. 

The author brings his setting to life, so much so that I could almost smell the sea air and hear the crash of the waves and the cry of the birds. With the village being promised new life due to a proposed offshore wind farm, there's an ecological element to this second mystery, too, reminding those of us who have read The Sea Detective of Cal's strong beliefs on the subject. 

Douglas-Home is so very adept at weaving together a complex story without bogging down the pace or the readability. He explores many questions relating to a complicit village whose residents always seem willing to believe the worst. He shows how secrets can twist in upon themselves and fester, and with surgical precision, he shows how love can be unbelievably cruel. 

This complicated tale is carried on the strong shoulders of a vivid cast of characters: the heartsick Cal, Violet who wants an end to secrets, Mr. Anwar who only wants to do what's right, the malevolent Mrs. Anderson, the vibrant little Anna, and Ross Turnbull-- perhaps the most surprising character of them all. The setting, the story, the characters, are all woven together so tightly and so beautifully... definitely one of my best reading experiences so far this year. 

Since the author seems to be avoiding any real kind of formula for writing his books, I can't wait to see what he's done with book number three: The Malice of Waves. How lucky I am to have found these books!
    

The Woman Who Walked into the Sea by Mark Douglas-Home

ISBN: 9781405923583

International Edition

Penguin Books © 2016

Paperback, 384 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #2 Sea Detective mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from the Book Depository.

I Have Mark Douglas-Home Covered!

I had a completely different author lined up, but then I thought I would put some more emphasis on the book I reviewed yesterday. Mark Douglas-Home's The Sea Detective is indeed one of the best books I've read so far this year, and if I had to rank those "best of the best" books, I'd probably put it at either #1 or #2. It breaks new ground and has the combination of character and story that I just can't resist.

I'm also doing something a bit different today. The two covers you're going to see are both from the UK. One cover is from a large publishing house (Penguin), and the other is from a small publishing house (Sandstone Press) based in the Highlands of Scotland. Ah-- now you know why I changed things around a bit! Not that I'm fond of the Highlands or anything.... 

I'll stop blathering so we can take a look at the covers--

  

Let's face it: Penguin is going to have a lot more money to spend on a book cover than a small press in the Highlands. Both of them use the same blurb-- in various incarnations-- from The Scotsman.  Having read the book, I agree with the blurb, but its presence wouldn't make me spend my hard-earned money on either copy.

Penguin's cover does look "slicker," more professional, and it focuses on the detective part of the book's title. Personally I think those gulls are up there laughing at the guy because if he keeps walking to the end of the pier where that raging sea is beating against it, he's an idiot (or he enjoys being drenched in ice cold sea water). I like the font that is used for both the title and the author's name, but to be honest, the whole thing looks a bit generic to me. This is definitely the time that I'm glad that what always grabs me first about a book is its title. The title of The Sea Detective certainly intrigues me, and that's what would make me pick up the book-- not the guy taking a long walk off a short pier.

By contrast, the small press's cover emphasizes the sea part of the book's title, although I find it only partially successful. The ocean waves look like a bit of stylized Japanese art, and they really don't fit in with the top half of the cover. I like the fonts used for both title and author's name, but I do think Douglas-Home's name should be a shade or two lighter to show up better. What grabs my attention is the top half. The ghostly figure of a young woman can be seen. Is she drowning? Is she trying to tell us something? Is she just a ghost? I think the cover would've been much more successful if the stylized waves had not been used... just the continuation of the young woman's body seen through many feet of murky sea water. What do you think?

To be honest, neither cover won me over. As I said earlier, the thing that would make me buy this book is the title and the synopsis on the back. Using my perfect hindsight, I would be tempted to buy the Sandstone Press copy simply because I believe in supporting small presses, but that's got nothing to do with any book cover appeal.

What say all of you? Which cover do you prefer? Large press? Small press? Neither one? Inquiring minds would love to know!

  

  

The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home

First Line: The cold wind made the girl shiver.

If you pay a call on Cal McGill, you'll find a sign stating "Flotsam and Jetsam Investigations." Cal is an Edinburgh-based oceanographer, environmentalist, and one-of-a-kind investigator. Using his knowledge of ocean currents, prevailing winds, and shipping records, McGill can track where objects have come from-- or where they've gone. He's beginning to make a bit of a name for himself in this unlikely occupation.

He's going to need all his skill to solve a mystery that has police stumped. Severed feet have begun washing up on islands off the coast of Scotland. Two of the feet belong to the same person, yet they turned up on beaches many, many miles apart. 

Little does McGill realize that when he starts to investigate this particular case, he'll unravel a powder keg of corruption, exploitation, and violence. As a result, many lives will be threatened across the globe-- including his own.

Within the space of a week, two of my most trusted sources for book recommendations raved about Mark Douglas-Home's The Sea Detective. When I looked it up online and read the synopsis, I immediately ordered a copy. (Actually I ordered it and the second book in the series because I trusted those recommendations so much.) My friends did not steer me wrong. Now I'm joining my voice with theirs to say that if you enjoy well-written crime fiction with an unusual focus and quirky characters, you need to get your hands on this book, too. The setting of the Scottish Highlands is mere icing on the cake.

Cal McGill is a prickly sort of character who seems much more at home with his oceanography studies than he does with people. As an environmentalist, he's been known to put his reputation on the line to prove a point. Helen Jamieson is a rising star in the local police force. She's overweight and plain-- a fact that her obnoxious superior Detective Inspector David Ryan never misses a chance to point out. But when it comes to investigating crimes, her force of will and creative thinking know no bounds. The Edinburgh police believe Cal McGill is nothing but a nutcase and a scofflaw. Only Helen can see how perfectly suited he is to find out what's going on with these severed feet.

If severed feet wearing shoes washing ashore in various locations sounds vaguely familiar, it should. Douglas-Home's plot is based on fact, and his conclusions are not only plausible, they're downright chilling. As a bonus, we're also brought along on an investigation that McGill has carried close to his heart since he was a small boy: the loss at sea of his grandfather during World War II. Both mysteries are absolutely compelling, with the "cold case" highlighting to perfection how insular tiny villages in the remote areas of Scotland can be.

Two engrossing mysteries, a unique way of solving them, a pitch perfect setting, and vividly drawn characters all combined to create a story that I didn't want to see end. Fortunately, I have the next book in the series, The Woman Who Walked into the Sea, to prevent any symptoms of withdrawal.
   

The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home

ISBN: 9781405923569

Penguin Books © 2015

Paperback, 400 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #1 Sea Detective mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from The Book Depository.