The Tidecombe Bay Mysteries
By Rowan J Harcourt.
Welcome to Tidecombe Bay, a peaceful seaside village where every painting tells a tale—and some secrets are deadly enough to kill for.
I’m Rowan J. Harcourt, author of The Tidecombe Bay Mysteries — a series of atmospheric, character-driven tales where art, deception, and small-town secrets intertwine against the backdrop of England’s rugged coast.
My stories blend cosy mystery with a brush of gothic elegance: sea mist and candlelight, hidden letters and forged canvases, truth revealed one brushstroke at a time.
If you love mysteries with intelligent heroines, a touch of romance, and settings that breathe with history, you’re in the right place.
What Is a Cosy Mystery?
People often ask me: "What exactly is a cosy mystery?"
A cosy mystery is crime fiction wrapped in warmth and wit. The murders may be serious, but the tone is never grim. Instead of graphic violence or relentless pace, these stories invite readers into communities they’d like to visit — quaint villages, bookshops, tearooms, art galleries, and coastal towns where curiosity and courage matter more than confrontation.
At the heart of every cosy lies an amateur sleuth: a librarian, baker, teacher, or curator who notices what others overlook. They solve puzzles not with forensics, but with observation, empathy, and intuition. The pleasure for readers comes as much from the setting, friendships, and gentle humour as from the crime itself.
Cosy mysteries promise justice without despair. The world may wobble, but by the final chapter order is restored — the wrongs righted, the secrets revealed, and the kettle quietly boiling in the background.
In recent years, the genre has expanded to include literary and atmospheric variations: coastal mysteries, historical cosies, and art-themed tales like The Tidecombe Bay Mysteries, where the puzzle is enriched by setting, emotion, and style. Whether the crime unfolds in a Cornish cottage or a seaside gallery, a cosy mystery always offers the same reward — the comforting knowledge that truth, however hidden, can still be found.
Why Readers Love Cosy Mysteries
Readers return to cosy mysteries because they offer escape with purpose — a puzzle to solve, a community to care about, and the reassurance that even in the darkest moments, clarity and kindness will prevail.
They remind us that courage can be quiet, justice can be gentle, and truth often arrives not with a shout, but a whisper.
In a world that rarely pauses, a cosy mystery gives us permission to slow down, observe, and believe again in the power of ordinary people to uncover extraordinary truths.
Step Into the World of Cosy Mysteries
Every cosy mystery begins with a question — not just who did it, but why it matters. These are stories of small communities and quiet courage, where sharp minds and kind hearts uncover the truth hidden in everyday life. Part comfort, part curiosity, and entirely captivating, the cosy mystery reminds us that even the gentlest of tales can hold the sharpest of secrets.
The Tidecombe Bay Mysteries
Murder, art, and secrets by the edge of the sea.
On England’s south-west coast lies Tidecombe Bay — a picturesque harbour village where the gulls cry over slate rooftops, salt wind rattles old gallery windows, and every painting seems to whisper a story of its own.
But beneath the charm and candlelit studios runs a tide of deceit.
Here, art and ambition intertwine, the past refuses to rest, and even the quietest corners of the bay hide secrets worth killing for.
Each novel in The Tidecombe Bay Mysteries stands alone but shares the same world of shifting light and long-kept confidences — mysteries where truth is uncovered one brushstroke at a time.
Expect atmospheric coastal settings, intelligent heroines, and plots woven through the art world — for readers who prefer subtle chills, elegant prose, and the thrill of discovery over gore or shock.
The Forger’s Palette - Book 1 of The Tidecombe Bay Mysteries
After leaving Oxford in disgrace, Dr Serena Penrose retreats to the coastal village of Tidemouth Bay, hoping that a quiet life running a bookshop will help her forget the past she can no longer defend.
But when a painting with a dubious provenance appears in a local estate sale — and its former owner turns up dead — Serena is drawn into a web of forgery, betrayal, and long-buried secrets that threaten to ruin more than reputations.
As storm clouds gather over the Devon coast, Serena must use the skills she swore she’d left behind to uncover the truth hidden beneath layers of paint — before the same brush that created beauty becomes an instrument of destruction.
Set against the windswept cliffs and candlelit studios of Tidemouth Bay, The Forger’s Palette is a haunting cosy mystery about second chances, deception, and the fine line between truth and illusion.
🖤 For readers who love:
- Atmospheric coastal mysteries
- Intelligent, character-driven whodunits
- A touch of gothic elegance amid seaside charm
The Forger’s Palette is available now on Amazon in eBook and paperback.
Click Here to go to my Amazon Page....
Get Your Exclusive Preview of "The Eleventh Frame"
A Tidecombe Bay Mystery – Book Two
When a rain-soaked delivery arrives at Brushstroke Books, Serena Penrose expects nothing more than a batch of ten old Victorian frames. What she unpacks instead is an eleventh, unlisted frame—larger, heavier, and hiding a portrait that was never meant to resurface .
The painting depicts a beautiful young woman in a high-backed chair, her hands knotted tightly in her lap, her eyes filled with a sorrow the artist tried—and failed—to conceal. From the moment Serena touches the frame, she feels a sharp echo of fear that isn't hers. Even Milton, the bookshop’s enigmatic resident cat, reacts as though recognising an old, unwelcome memory.
Driven by curiosity and a growing sense that the woman is somehow reaching out to her, Serena begins tracing the portrait’s origins. Her search leads to 1879, where governess Sarah Penrose—isolated, intelligent, and increasingly afraid—was coerced into sitting for celebrated portraitist Richard Colefax with dire consequences .
As strange occurrences deepen and the painting’s hidden layers reveal evidence of a long-covered crime, Serena realises she is not the only one interested in the portrait. A present-day descendant of one of the families involved has been waiting for the painting to surface…and will do anything to reclaim it before the truth comes to light.
Rich with coastal atmosphere, shifting shadows, and the quiet power of forgotten women, The Eleventh Frame weaves past and present into a mystery where art remembers everything—even when people do not.
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What You’ll Receive
- A beautifully formatted downloadable sample (PDF) of the upcoming Tidecombe Bay Mystery.
- Early-bird updates on new releases, cover reveals, and behind-the-scenes glimpses from Rowan J. Harcourt.
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