This is the Cornwall that inspires Frances Holcombe's mysteries — a place where community runs deep, where everyone knows everyone else's business, and where secrets can remain buried for years before rising unexpectedly to the surface.
The harbour before her is not merely a picturesque view but a stage upon which lives unfold, friendships are tested, and mysteries emerge. Here, amid the rhythm of tides and the enduring presence of the sea, every quiet corner holds the possibility of a story waiting to be told.
A baker's wife goes missing on a Tuesday night. The town has its theories. The new detective from London has hers. Sign up below and the novella is yours to read today — completely free, by email, no catches.
No spam. Roughly one letter a month. Unsubscribe whenever you like.Each book is a complete mystery. Together, they tell a longer story about a town, a friendship, and a number of secrets that take a while to surface.
A property developer is found dead floating in the harbour. The town has its theory — quickly arrived at, firmly held. The Morning Men have another. They have been meeting at the Harbour Café window table for four years, and they know this town, and they know when the story it is telling itself isn't the right one.
Beth Tregaskis swam every morning at Trevone beach, whatever the weather. On a Tuesday in early spring she didn't come back. The coroner will return a verdict of accidental drowning. DI Karen Locke is not certain. She knows three men who are good at finding things.
A woman is found dead on a country road near the Plough. She was a dog walker — the kind of person who says good evening to strangers and means it. The Morning Men have been pulling on a thread. They didn't know, when they started, where it would lead. It has led here.
A woman checks into the Windsor Hotel on a Friday evening and is gone by Saturday morning. No note. No luggage. No obvious explanation. The Morning Men find her before anyone else does — which is fortunate, because she is not missing by accident.
A solicitor walks into the Harbour Café and sits down at Len Finch's table. He has a client who has been in prison for five years for a murder he didn't commit. The man who actually did it is still out there. And he left a trail — not a dramatic one, but the kind that rewards very close attention.
A winter storm brings in a body from the sea — a man connected to something the Morning Men have been circling for years. This is the book where things end. Not all of them cleanly. Pete Pengelly will be carrying something else.
The Morning Men Mystery Series is published by Salt & Anchor Press, exclusively in Kindle and paperback through Amazon. Audiobook editions to follow.
Sign up to receive the novella free, along with occasional letters from Porthaven.
No spam. Roughly one letter a month. Unsubscribe whenever you like.Porthaven is a small working harbour town on the north coast of Cornwall, three miles east of Padstow. It has two pubs, one bakery, a bookshop that has been there since before anyone can remember, and a café on the harbour where three retired men sit at the window table every morning. The boats go out at four and come back at noon. The town watches.
The Morning Men Mysteries are set here. So is The Bakery on Fore Street.
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