Mystery By The Sea

A magnificent seaside hotel, striped deckchairs, strawberry ice cream... and a rather familiar dead body? Lady Swift is on the case! Spring, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift, explorer extraordinaire and accidental sleuth, hasn't had a vacation since she arrived in England a year ago. Being an amateur detective can be a rather tiring business and she is determined to escape any more murder and mysteries. So she books into the Grand Hotel in the fashionable resort of Brighton for some fresh air, fish and chips and, of course, a dip in the ocean. Eleanor is enjoying her view of the waves and trying to find her bathing suit when calamity strikes: a guest has been found dead at her beautiful hotel. The distraught manager, who can't afford a scandal, asks Eleanor to solve the case as swiftly as possible. Thank goodness she has her partner in crime - Gladstone the bulldog - to help her sniff out the dastardly culprit. But when Eleanor enters the dead man's room, she receives a shock big enough to make her forget even the finest ice cream sundae. The body is that of her husband, who supposedly died six years ago on the other side of the world. Has he been alive all these years? Why does he have a copy of their wedding photograph with a cryptic message written on the back? If Eleanor can keep herself safe long enough to find her husband's killer, she might discover that everything is not quite as it seems beside the seaside... A warm and witty whodunnit! Fans of Agatha Christie, T E Kinsey and L.B. Hathaway will be utterly charmed by this addictive and absolutely gripping page-turner. Readers are totally addicted to Verity Bright! 'Can I give it six stars please?... Pretty much perfect... Bright has the amazing gift of bringing the reader into that world where the characters are alive.' Goodreads Reviewer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'I was literally on the edge of my seat until the last page trying to figure out the mystery. It's an adorable, captivating book.' Washington Life Magazine

The Mystery of the Sea (1902) is a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. Combining occult elements with historical events involving the Spanish-American War and the 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada, The Mystery of the Sea is an informed mystery and political thriller that helped to establish the Irish master of Gothic horror’s reputation as a leading writer of the early-twentieth century. On his first trip to Cruden Bay, a seaside village near Aberdeen, Scotland, a young Englishman named Archibald Hunter discovers his gift for second sight. This strange power grants him the ability to predict future events, as well as to see spirits. Trained by a local woman named Gormala MacNeil, who shares his powers, Hunter learns to control his second sight. When he returns to Cruden Bay a year later to live their permanently, he unwittingly purchases a trunk containing letters and documents dating back to the 16th century. With the help of Marjory Drake, a secretive American, he deciphers the letters to discover clues leading to the location of a secret treasure. Hidden by a Spaniard named Don Bernadino de Escoban following the English defeat of the Spanish Armada, the treasure has long been forgotten to all but Don Bernadino’s descendants. Enveloped in layers of mystery, pulled into events involving ancient piracy and the Spanish-American War, Hunter must rely on his hidden powers and uncommon courage to save not only the woman he loves, but his life. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Bram Stoker’s The Mystery of the Sea is a classic of Irish literature reimagined for modern readers.

Mary Celeste is an iconic mystery - a perfectly seaworthy ship found wandering aimlessly at sea, her crew strangely and inexplicably missing. Paul Begg tells the story of the discovery of Mary Celeste and the people who vanished, and investigates over a century’s worth of speculation and survivors’ tales, searching for the facts behind one of the world’s great mysteries.

Anne Perry’s spellbinding Victorian mysteries, especially those featuring William Monk, have enthralled readers for a generation. The Plain Dealer calls Monk “a marvelously dark, brooding creation”—and, true to form, this masterpiece is as deceptively deep and twisty as the Thames. As commander of the River Police, Monk is accustomed to violent death, but the mutilated female body found on Limehouse Pier one chilly December morning moves him with horror and pity. The victim’s name is Zenia Gadney. Her waterfront neighbors can tell him little—only that the same unknown gentleman had visited her once a month for many years. She must be a prostitute, but—described as quiet and kempt—she doesn’t appear to be a fallen woman. What sinister secrets could have made poor Zenia worth killing? And why does the government keep interfering in Monk’s investigation? While the public cries out for blood, Monk, his spirited wife, Hester, and their brilliant barrister friend, Oliver Rathbone, search for answers. From dank waterfront alleys to London’s fabulously wealthy West End, the three trail an ice-blooded murderer toward the unbelievable, possibly unprovable truth—and ultimately engage their adversaries in an electric courtroom duel. But unless they can work a miracle, a monumental evil will go unpunished and an innocent person will hang. Anne Perry has never worn her literary colors with greater distinction than in A Sunless Sea, a heart-pounding novel of intrigue and suspense in which Monk is driven to make the hardest decision of his life. Includes an excerpt from Anne Perry’s next William Monk novel, Blind Justice Praise for A Sunless Sea “Anne Perry’s Victorian mysteries are marvels.”—The New York Times Book Review “Unexpected twists and revelations keep the plot humming with typical Anne Perry deception and wit.”—Bookreporter “Much more than a whodunit, this book [is] possibly the author’s best yet.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

In this charming new cozy mystery series from national bestselling author Vicki Delany, a New York City expat-turned-Cape Cod tea shop owner must solve the murder of a local real estate developer to help her feisty grandmother out of a jam . . . As the proud proprietor and head pastry chef of Tea by the Sea, a traditional English tearoom on the picturesque bluffs of Cape Cod, Lily Roberts has her hands full, often literally. But nothing keeps her busier than steering her sassy grandmother, Rose, away from trouble. Rose operates the grand old Victorian B & B adjacent to Lily’s tea shop. But an aggressive real estate developer, Jack Ford, is pushing hard to rezone nearby land, with an eye toward building a sprawling golf resort, which would drive Rose and Lily out of business. Tempers are already steaming, but things really get sticky when Ford is found dead at the foot of Rose’s property and the police think she had something to do with his dramatic demise. So Lily starts her own investigation and discovers Ford’s been brewing bad blood all over town. Now, it’s down to Lily to stir up some clues, sift through the suspects, and uncover the real killer before Rose is left holding the tea bag. “A satisfying cozy with a beautifully described setting and a cast of charming, small-town characters. Share this new series with fans of Laura Childs’ Tea Shop mysteries.” —Booklist

In the third mysterious tale of Eerie-on-Sea, it’s almost Ghastly Night, and the Shadowghast—an ancient spirit in a lantern—lurks in wait for the power to enslave the town. In this third adventure, shipwrecked orphan Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, must square off with a creature of town lore as he confronts a shadow from his past. While other towns celebrate Halloween, in Eerie-on-Sea it’s Ghastly Night, and a grim spirit in a lantern awaits its moment. Legend has it that if people fail to light manglewick candles on Ghastly Night, and if no showman conjures shadow puppets on the pier as an offering, the insulted Shadowghast will seize and devour the shadows of the living. This year, a professional theater troupe has been summoned, including a raven-haired magician named Caliastra with startling news of Herbie’s origins. No sooner have the players checked into the hotel than townspeople start vanishing into thin air, including the guardian of Herbie’s best friend, Violet Parma. It’s up to Herbie and Violet to separate truth from sleight of hand and solve the mystery of the Shadowghast lantern before darkness swallows them all.

In this mystery series debut by the national bestselling author, a Florida island hotel offers bright sun, colorful guests, and dark deeds. On the barrier island of Melbourne Beach, Florida, The Indialantic by the Sea hotel has a hundred-year-old history—and more than a few guests seem to have been there from the start. When Liz Holt returns home after a decade in New York, she’s happy to be surrounded by the eccentric clientele and loving relatives at her family-run inn. And she’s grateful that business is staying afloat thanks to a few wealthy patrons. But that patronage decreases by one when a filthy rich guest is discovered dead in her oceanfront suite. Police suspect a simple jewel theft gone wrong, but Liz wonders if the prosperous guest was marked for murder. One thing is sure: there’s a killer at the Indialantic, and if Liz lets gets distracted—by her troubled past or the handsome man tempting her to dredge it back up—her next reservation could be at the cemetery.

This “fast-paced, thoughtful true-crime” examines the cultural shifts of Jazz Age America through a beautiful dancer’s mysterious and scandalous death (Kirkus, starred review). In January 1923, twenty-year-old Fritzie Mann left home for a remote cottage by the sea to meet a man whose identity she had revealed to no one. The next morning, the dancer’s barely clad body washed up on Torrey Pines beach, her party dress and possessions strewn about the sand. The scene baffled investigators, and abotched autopsy created more questions than it answered. However, the investigation revealed a scandalous secret. When a Hollywood A-lister was arrested for Fritzie’s murder, it led to the most sensational trial in San Diego’s history. Set against the backdrop of yellow journalism, Prohibition Era corruption, and a lively culture war, Mystery At The Blue Sea Cottage tells the intriguing story of a beautiful dancer, a playboy actor, a debonair doctor, and a tragic mystery that remains unsolved to this day.