The Cuttlebone Clue - A Charming Cozy Whodunit of a Curious Newcomer and Village Secrets, and the Secret Worth Killing For

A dead man's hand held a bone. Not a weapon. Not a note. A cuttlebone — etched with markings no one alive could read. Dr. Iris Harrow came to Tidewell for three days. A cottage to clear. A nephew to dispatch to the Royal Navy. A clean, clinical task with a clean end. Then Elias stumbled onto the body of Bartholomew Finch, reclusive shell collector, and the three days became something else entirely. Iris is a woman of science. She does not believe in curses, village whispers, or the kind of convenient guilt that lands on young sailors with quick tempers. The constabulary has already made up their minds. Elias is the obvious suspect. And if Iris does not prove otherwise — fast — his future sinks with the morning tide. The only person in Tidewell who seems to share her eye for detail is Silas Black. Magician. Archivist. Infuriatingly unreadable. He knows more than he says, and he says it in riddles. Together — reluctantly, uneasily — they begin to trace the cuttlebone's markings back through tidepool caves, defunct smuggling ledgers, and the great storm of 1945. The etchings are not decoration. They are a map. A map to a cache of silver coins that vanished generations ago, and to a secret someone in this village has spent decades burying. Friendly faces curdle into warnings the moment Iris asks the right questions. Elias's crewmates close ranks. And Silas, with his card tricks and his vault of town loyalties, seems to know exactly who is guilty — and exactly why he cannot name them aloud. Every tide that rolls in brings her closer to the truth. Every tide that rolls out reminds her how much she has to lose. The Cuttlebone Clue is a charming, atmospheric cozy mystery about buried secrets, uneasy alliances, a village that protects its own, and one woman's refusal to let an innocent man pay for someone else's sins. Perfect for readers who love amateur sleuth mysteries, seaside village whodunits, slow-burn investigative partnerships, brainy heroines, and fans of Deirdre Oliver and Peter Boland. A twisty, cozy whodunit you'll devour in one sitting.