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Demelza Pascoe & St Merryn's Cove
Cosy Mystery Series
Welcome to St Merryn’s Cove, a small Cornish village where secrets travel faster than the tide — and Demelza Pascoe somehow keeps stumbling over bodies on her way to work at the family bookshop.
With sharp humour, heartfelt friendships, and a talent for uncovering the truth whether she means to or not, Demelza navigates murder, gossip, and seaside scandal in a series of warm, witty, traditional whodunnits.
If you enjoy cosy crime with charm, community, and just the right amount of chaos, you’ll feel right at home here.
Demelza Betrayed
Book 0.5 in the series
(Only available to subscribers to my newsletter)
FREE
Betrayed, bankrupt, and heartbroken—Demelza Pascoe’s dream is in ruins. But when she returns home to St Merryn’s Cove, she finds that fresh starts can be just as thrilling as revenge.
Demelza Pascoe had a thriving catering business, a glamorous London life, and a charming fiancé—until she discovered Simon had been stealing from her. Betrayed and broke, she has no choice but to shut down and start over.
Leaving the city behind, she returns to St Merryn’s Cove, the picturesque Cornish village she once called home. But a quiet retreat is the last thing she gets.
Can she rebuild her life, uncover the truth, and prove that revenge is best served with a side of cream tea?
Demelza Betrayed is a gripping prequel to the Demelza Pascoe & St Merryn’s Cove Cozy Mystery Series, perfect for fans of M.C. Beaton and Richard Osman.
Murder In The Library
Book 1 in the series
A rare book collector is murdered at a library event, and days later, a book restorer is found dead. Can Demelza Pascoe unravel a deadly web of deception before the killer strikes again?
Returning to her Cornish hometown after a devastating betrayal, Demelza Pascoe is looking for a fresh start. But when a rare book collector is found murdered during a library event, her plans are quickly overshadowed by a chilling mystery. Days later, a respected book restorer is also killed—both deaths tied to a sinister scheme involving forged literary treasures.
As Demelza is drawn deeper into the case, her grandfather’s antiquarian expertise and her own sharp instincts become invaluable. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous the game becomes. With the trusted head librarian hiding secrets and old tensions resurfacing in the town, Demelza must untangle the clues before the next page in this deadly tale is turned—to her.
Perfect for fans of classic whodunits and modern cozy mysteries, Murder by the Book is a gripping blend of small-town charm, literary intrigue, and deadly deception.
Murder On The Beach
Book 2 in the series
When Demelza Pascoe’s grandfather is murdered on a Cornish beach, she must untangle long-buried secrets, hidden rivalries, and a deadly deception—before the killer strikes again.
The picturesque shores of St Merryn’s Cove hide a deadly secret. When Demelza Pascoe’s beloved grandfather, Bill, is found murdered on the beach, the small town is shaken to its core. As a bookshop owner and respected historian, Bill had no enemies—or so it seemed.
Determined to uncover the truth, Demelza, along with her loyal friends Jess and Harry, begins to investigate. What she finds is a tangled web of old grudges, hidden motives, and a mystery that stretches back further than she imagined. As she digs deeper, Demelza learns that Bill’s latest research—an explosive revelation about a local pasty recipe—may have made him a target.
With her brother, DS Adam Pascoe, warning her to stay out of police business, and a community full of whispers and half-truths, Demelza must trust her instincts. But as the clues mount and tensions rise, she realizes the killer is watching—and they won’t hesitate to silence anyone who gets too close to the truth.
For fans of classic whodunits and coastal mysteries, Murder on the Beach is a gripping tale of betrayal, small-town intrigue, and a sleuth who refuses to back down.
Murder At The Lighthouse
Book 3 in the series
A ghost hunter falls to her death at a haunted lighthouse—but was it really the spirits, or something far more sinister? Demelza Pascoe must uncover the truth before the killer strikes again.
When paranormal investigator Edith Wills arrives in St Merryn’s Cove, she’s determined to prove that the town’s lighthouse is one of the most haunted places in Cornwall. But when she’s found dead at the base of the lighthouse, rumours swirl—was it a tragic accident, or had she uncovered something someone was desperate to keep hidden?
Demelza Pascoe doesn’t believe in ghosts, but she does believe in murder. With her best friend Jess and her ever-curious sidekick Harry, she sets out to unravel the mystery. As she digs deeper, she uncovers a decades-old secret about the lighthouse’s past—one that local historian Robert Prisk would rather keep buried.
When another chilling discovery comes to light, Demelza realizes she’s not just chasing shadows. The killer is watching, and if she’s not careful, she might be the next one to take a deadly fall.
Perfect for fans of Miss Marple and The Thursday Murder Club, The Lightkeeper’s Curse is a gripping cozy mystery filled with small-town secrets, eerie legends, and a determined sleuth who won’t stop until justice is served.
Murder At The Regatta
Book 4 in the series
A deadly explosion at the St Merryn’s Cove regatta shatters the town’s peace. Was it sabotage, jealousy, or revenge? Demelza Pascoe must navigate treacherous waters to unmask a killer.
The annual sailing regatta in St Merryn’s Cove should be a celebration—until a yacht explodes mid-race, killing bestselling author Stephen Hawthorne and shipyard mogul Simon Penhaligon. Was it a tragic accident, or something far more sinister?
Amateur sleuth Demelza Pascoe isn’t convinced the deaths were random. As she digs into the victims’ pasts, she uncovers a tangled web of betrayal, old grudges, and a scandalous affair that may have led to murder. With the town reeling from the tragedy and secrets surfacing at every turn, Demelza must follow the clues before the killer disappears into the tide.
Perfect for fans of Miss Marple and The Thursday Murder Club, Murder at the Regatta is a gripping cozy mystery packed with seaside charm, small-town secrets, and a sleuth who won’t rest until justice is served.
Murder At The Studio
Book 5 in the series
A secluded writer’s retreat, a poisoned meal, and a killer hiding in plain sight. Demelza Pascoe must unravel literary rivalries before the murderer strikes again.
A quiet writing retreat in the countryside should be the perfect escape—until bestselling author Cassandra Tate drops dead at the dinner table. The remote location means the killer is still among them.
Amateur sleuth Demelza Pascoe wasn’t expecting to solve a murder between writing sessions, but as tensions rise and secrets surface, she quickly realizes that everyone had a reason to want Cassandra silenced. Was it a bitter rival, a jealous protégé, or someone closer than they appeared?
With a storm rolling in and no way out, Demelza must piece together the clues before the murderer writes their next chapter—one where she’s the victim.
Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and The Thursday Murder Club, Murder at the Studio is a gripping cozy mystery filled with literary intrigue, small-town charm, and a sleuth who won’t rest until the final page is turned.
A Body In The Mobile Library
Book 6 in the series
One death, one drizzle cake, and a town full of secrets.
When beloved baker Elspeth Mawnan dies in a mysterious van crash, bookseller Demelza Pascoe suspects it wasn’t just dodgy brakes. Between suspicious scones, missing almanacs, and a community unwilling to talk, Demelza digs deep into the secrets St Merryn’s Cove has tried to sugarcoat. With help from her ever-sarcastic assistant Jess, a retired gardener with an illegal green thumb, and a police sergeant who wishes she’d mind her own shelves, Demelza uncovers more than just motives—she uncovers a quiet revolution.
Witty, warm, and laced with lemon drizzle and danger, this is the sixth in a sharp new cosy mystery series for fans of Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club, and anyone who’s ever suspected the jam wasn’t just jam.
The CaseOf The Broken Quill
Book 7 in the series
When a celebrated author dies before revealing her final scandalous chapter, Demelza Pascoe must untangle truth from fiction—before the next story ends in blood.
When literary legend Octavia Glyn is found dead in her St Merryn’s Cove cottage, it seems her final edit may have been fatal. Her long-awaited memoir promised to reveal decades of scandal from Cornwall’s creative elite—but someone ensured the last chapter stayed unwritten.
For local bookseller-turned-sleuth Demelza Pascoe, curiosity proves impossible to resist. A missing manuscript, a red-inked threat, and a trail of bruised egos lead her deep into the tangled lives of poets, painters, and ghosts of a writers’ retreat long past.
As secrets resurface and reputations crumble, Demelza and her irrepressible assistant Jess must separate art from artifice before the truth is lost to history—and before another pen turns deadly.
Witty, atmospheric, and irresistibly Cornish, The Case of the Broken Quill (or your chosen title) proves that in St Merryn’s Cove, the deadliest stories are the ones people still want to tell.
Death In The Orchard
Book 8 in the series
When an orchard keeper is crushed in his own cider press, Demelza Pascoe uncovers secrets rooted deeper than the trees—and a killer devoted to tradition at any cost.
When orchard owner Ellis Trewarthen is found dead inside his own cider press, the town of St Merryn’s Cove blames tragedy, bad luck… or one of the orchard’s many whispered curses. Demelza Pascoe, bookshop owner and reluctant sleuth, isn’t so convinced.
Ellis wasn’t the type to make careless mistakes—and the orchard’s ghostly elder trees have been at the heart of more than one town dispute. As Demelza digs deeper, she uncovers missing ledgers, strange charms buried at the roots, and a folklorist whose devotion to the land borders on obsession.
With the community divided, her brother DS Adam chasing hard evidence, and rumours rising faster than a batch of scrumpy, Demelza must untangle secrets woven through generations of cider-making, superstition, and grief. But the truth is knotted tight—and someone has gone to great lengths to silence it.
Warm, witty, and steeped in Cornish lore, Death in the Orchard is a cosy mystery about tradition, obsession, and the quiet power of the stories we choose to believe.