This cosy mystery managed to be a little different from the norm, in a very good way.

Ally Bright lives in a house in the dunes in Porthpella on the Cornish coast. She lives alone and is still grieving the death of her husband who was the local policeman. Walking her dog on the beach one morning she discovers the body of a man and her calls for help are answered by a young man who is surfing. He turns out to be Jayden Weston, an ex policeman who left the force after his partner was killed.

Fate must have brought them together because they become friends almost immediately and, when the police make very little progress in the murder investigation, the two of them bring their combined knowledge of police work together and set out to solve the mystery. And what a mystery as turns out to involve a cold case of suicide and another of murder, and new cases of a missing woman and a possible attempted suicide.

Nicely written with interesting characters, beautiful setting and a cute dog. An excellent start to a new series and I will be looking out for book two.

What happens when everything you think you know, really isn't there anymore? For Lewis, coming to his grandmother's after jail finds him with her death, her house gone and a lack of compassion from the new property owner. But did he also kill him? When Ally gets involved accidentally, she soon finds that beach life isn't all peace and quiet, and her home soon delves into chaos as more secrets unfold and makes everyone realize appearances can be deceiving. A fun and quick read,it's be great to have the Shell Beach Detectives back again!

it was cool i guess. the beginning was way too long to set up the story, i like my mysteries to start strong and hook me in but this book didn’t do it for me. i was bored until the 20% mark, then slightly less bored but ended up guessing a lot of things before they were revealed. the characters were the strength of this story and i liked both our main characters equally, as well as how well each perspective fitted with the other. something would happen on ally’s side then jayden would see or learn something and so one which is why I kept reading. overall, 3 stars but i was expecting more from this

I loved Ally and Jayden's story. It was well written. I read it at the recommendation of my friend and I did not regret it. 4 stars from me! Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity!
I just reviewed The Shell House Detectives by Emylia Hall. #TheShellHouseDetectives #NetGalley
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Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of "The Shell House Detectives" by Emylia Hall which is the first of "Shell House Detectives" series. It is very much a first book. It's been a lot of introducing the characters and not as much of the story itself, it felt like. This starts out a bit more reflective and back and forth between characters than I personally like in a cozy mystery. It feels borderline thriller mystery. Hopefully a next book in the series will have more story now that the main characters have been hashed out.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer Publishing for the advanced readers copy of The Shell House Detectives by Emylia Hall. I really enjoyed this cozy mystery. I liked the characters and the setting of this story. Ally Bright is a widow, whose husband was the town’s go to Police Officer. After his death, Ally recievea a visit from a young man her husband had sent to jail. The next morning this man turns up dead. Jayden, a new neighbor in the area finds the dead man on the beach and Ally and Jayden begin to do their own detective work. This is the start to a good series.

Ally lives a life apart from her small beach community until a young man comes asking for help from her deceased husband. Suddenly she is involved with a missing woman and a cold case murder. Wanting for the first time in years to connect with others her life may never be the same

The Shell House Detectives by Emylia Hall is the first book in the The Shell House Detectives series. This is a fascinating who-dun-it. I really enjoyed the twists and turns. Kept me turning the pages. I like the main characters. They are well-developed and quite likable. This storyline kept my attention throughout.

I loved everything about The Shell House Detectives. The book is very well written and engaged me from the first to last page. The main characters, Ally and Jayden, are a great combination and I hope this is the first of a long series of novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

This is one of those books that was a perfectly fine read, but I finished it not really all that bothered that it ended. It was fine in the moment and I thought the plot was great, but there was just this feeling that it lacked potential somewhere along the way. I'm not sure what though. Give it a read and see what you think.

A great little book. Thank you gforbletting me read it. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and characters b

I enjoyed this read a lot more than I thought I would. It was mostly a cozy mystery detective story. I was surprised by the end and didn't find predictable at all.

This is an easy read, set in Cornwall, Quite a typical story ex-police officer, new to the area playing detectives with the locals. I liked the twist at the end

This was a cute cozy mystery. Unlikely partners come together to solve two mysteries, a missing person and a 5 year old murder. I halfway guessed the one result but not the other. I liked the characters and will definitely be looking for more in this series.

I loved this cosy murder mystery story!! I absolutely love any book that's in Cornwall. I really enjoyed this book and really liked the characters especially Ally! I'd highly recommend. I found it hard to get into at the start but loved it when I got stuck in. Definitely potential for a series ☺️

The description and cover of the book caught my attention. It was a gripping and beautiful read as I expected, 4 stars from me! Thanks to Netgalley!!

Great read! Very easy read and a fun read. Would recommend to anyone who loves a cute mystery With a few twists and turns.

Set in Cornwall, a little house overlooking the sea, a grieving widow turns detective after being awoken by a banging at the door, it’s amazing how the characters are all brought together by one character, I enjoyed reading this book, looking forward to more from this author

Cornwall, cozy-mystery, ex-cop, first-in-series, grief, grieving, investigation, law-enforcement, mystery, new-series, pet-dog, read, relationships, senior-sleuths, survivor-s-guilt, widow,****

Great potential for new series!
Ally Bright is the still grieving widow of former Sergeant Bill Bright whose daughter wants her to move to Australia, trying to find her place in life, and can't quite get back to her artistic use of plastic waste from the coast.
Jayden Weston is an ex-cop suffering survivor's guilt from the death of his partner, recently moved to Cornwall to live near the in-laws as he and his wife await their first baby.
Together they begin working together to delve into the mystery of a young man from the town who might have attempted suicide (now in ICU) after his release from Dartmoor prison and find that there are other residents with personal problems and who join them in the investigation and also in finding their own roles in life.
Excellent character development and world building.
I requested and received an EARC from Amazon Publishing UK/Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley. Thank you!

Late one night, a distraught young man knocks on the door of Ally Bright’s remote home on the Cornish coast. But before she can make sense of his confused words, he’s gone—not to be seen again until he’s found the next morning at the foot of the nearby cliffs. Suddenly the peace of Ally’s beachcombing life is shattered. Feeling responsible for the young man’s fate, she wants to help find answers—as does ex-cop Jayden Weston, whom Ally meets at the scene. He shares her certainty that there’s more to the story than attempted suicide. When it emerges that the man is newly released ex-offender Lewis Pascoe, and that Helena, the wealthy new owner of his grandmother’s home, has subsequently disappeared, the tight-knit community of Porthpella is thrown into turmoil. Driven by their need to know more, the duo decide to investigate the mystery together. Is there a connection between the Pascoe family’s tragic history and Helena’s disappearance? And if there is a killer stalking Porthpella, do Ally and Jayden have what it takes to catch them? This started out a bit slow but picked up about 1/4 of the way in and was a solid and well written mystery the rest of the way through. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.