With its hidden gems and wild countryside, Cornwall is the perfect backdrop for a mystery. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that plenty of authors agree.
From private islands to the South-West Coast Path, we inspect some of the fantastic detective novels set in Cornwall that are bound to get your blood pumping.
The Lighthouse by P. D. James
While Combe Island in Cornwall is known to have a dark and sordid history, it has since become a privately owned respite for those of high status and authority in need of both a break and guaranteed security. So, it comes as quite the shock when one of those visitors is murdered.
Adam Dalgliesh and his team, including Detective Inspector Kate Miskin and Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith, are called in to solve the mystery as quickly as possible. But, the team is struggling with issues of their own that could jeopardise the entire investigation.
Especially after they find the second body…
The Cove: A Summer Suspense Mystery by L. J. Ross
After almost being another victim of the ‘Tube Killer’ – a man who takes his victims from the platform of the London Underground – Gabrielle Adams realises it is far harder being a survivor than being a victim. To escape her trauma, Gabrielle retreats to run a small bookshop in quiet and rural Cornwall.
But Gabrielle’s picturesque escape is shattered as she wonders if she’s just swapped one nightmare for another.
Careless in Red by Elizabeth George
Thomas Lynley, still reeling from the murder of his wife, takes to the South-West Coastal Path on a mission to walk its entire length to keep himself distracted. But after witnessing a climber plummet to his death and meeting a young woman from Bristol with no memory before her thirteenth year, Lyndley finds himself thrust into a brand new mystery.
With the help of Barbara Havers from London, the two detectives work to sift through the possible motives to identify the killer.
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
No list of detective stories could ever be complete without mention of the Queen of Mystery herself, Dame Agatha Christie.
In Peril at End House, Hercule Poirot finds himself offering protection to a young woman called Nick Buckley, who seems to keep dodging tragic deaths by the skin of her teeth. First, the brakes on her car fail as she drives down a Cornish hillside, and again when a falling boulder narrowly misses her on the coastal path.
All the while, Poirot is starting to unravel the mystery of a murder that hasn’t been committed yet…
With so much mystery and intrigue, how can you resist the allure of putting on your deerstalker and grabbing your smoking pipe to go solve some mysteries of your own?
If you’re thinking of seeing the wonderful setting of these books for yourself, take a look at our luxury cottages set in the Cornish countryside and start planning your trip today!
