Emylia Hall lives in Bristol with her husband and son where she writes from a hut in the garden and dreams of the sea. The Shell House Detectives is the first novel in her new crime series, following the exploits of sleuthing duo Ally and Jayden and the people in and around the fictional village of Porthpella. The Harbour Lights Mystery – the second book in The Shell House Mystery series – will be published in October 2023, with the third to follow in Spring 2024. Described as Contemporary Cosy Crime, the series is inspired by her love of Cornwall’s wild landscape.
At the Guardian Hall tagged ten top books set in Cornwall, including:
"Yoruba Man Walking" by Bernardine EvaristoRead about another entry on the list.
Evaristo’s powerful short story appears in Closure, a collection of Black British short stories. It’s the 1880s and, after 20 years at sea, Lawani heads inland. Passing through the Cornish harbour town he draws stares, but “he had learned to become metal, inside and out”. He finds work at a tin mine and marries a local girl in a vividly drawn romance. As Lawani works underground his mind travels: he contemplates fatherhood and longs for his hometown of Lagos and the freedom of the ocean. An important story about loss of identity and the erasures of history. While it’s perfect in form, I’d have happily stayed with these compelling characters for a novel or more.
--Marshal Zeringue
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