If someone had told me that I’d be a widow at age 36 and heading off to spend a weekend with my glamorous big sister in a hotel on a remote island that I’d never heard of but now apparently belonged to me, I would have thought them mad.
For a start, my beloved Robert had been in excellent health and passed his recent medical with flying colors and secondly, Margot lived five thousand miles away in California. The minute I called her and broke the news, she took a flight to Heathrow that very same night.
As siblings growing up we couldn’t have been closer. In our early twenties we practically lived next door to each other in London, but then, as often happens, she married a man who whisked her off to Hollywood to work in movies, and I married a man who everyone said was far too old for me, put away my camera, and retreated happily to a quiet corner in Kent.
You could say I was the voice of reason in our sisterly relationship. I was the anchor to Margot’s sense of adventure. She saw intrigue wherever we went. To Margot, the old lady running the post office had been a Russian spy during the Cold War whereas I knew for a fact that Miss Page had lived in the village all her life and only ventured to London once to watch the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. But then that’s Margot. She made life fun.
When Robert’s Will mentioned the Tregarrick Rock hotel in the Isles of Scilly—an archipelago twenty-eight miles off the southwest coast of England—I was surprised. I was even more surprised when Margot suggested that we went “on surveillance” to see what the hotel was like. She thought we should pose as location scouts for a movie and pretend it would star Johnny Depp. I thought it was a bad idea especially since the hotel wasn’t officially mine yet.
I really didn’t want to go but Margot insisted it would be good to take my mind off things and do some “sisterly bonding.” When I pointed out that it was November and anywhere in the British Isles would be miserable out of season, she just laughed.
Having done her research on Tregarrick she told me all about the tiny island with its dramatic rocky outcrops and dazzling white sandy beaches, the Bronze Age burial sites, romantic castle ruins and the exotic gardens peppered with figureheads of galleons salvaged from the many shipwrecks that littered the ocean floor—53 protected sites, to be exact. I had to admit I was intrigued.
So here we are having just disembarked from a two and three-quarter hour ferry ride from Penzance to the main island of St. Mary’s on a flat bottom boat known by the locals as the “Great White Stomach Pump.” I have never felt so seasick in my entire life. I hate boats at the best of times but this . . . I spent the entire journey lying flat on a banquette on the top deck. I didn’t even care about the drizzle—or mizzle as they call it here that is a mixture of drizzle and mist. And even worse, we hadn’t even reached our final destination! We still had one more boat ride to go.
As Margot joked with the ferryman and supervised the transfer of our luggage—she’d brought two enormous Gucci suitcases to my one small bag—I realized just how much I had missed her, although her green-tinted contact lenses that gave off an Exorcist-Linda Blair type vibe would take some getting used to.
Moments later Margot joined me with something wrapped in a paper tissue. “It’s crystallized ginger for nausea,” she said. “The ferryman told me it would help and don’t worry, my hands are clean and it was a new bag.”
I unwrapped the tissue, popped the ginger into my mouth and felt better straight away. “Thanks for looking after me, sis.”
“Don’t be silly. You’d do the same for me. We always look out for each other Evie.” She smiled. “You’ll be fine when we get there. I have a feeling that this is the beginning of a very exciting adventure. There’s no turning back now.”
Little did we know just how prophetic those words would turn out to be!
Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win one (1) print copy of Death at High Tide, open to everyone. Giveaway ends August 21, 2020.
Death at High Tide is the first book in the NEW “Island Sisters” cozy mystery series, released August 18, 2020.
Death at High Tide is the delightful first installment in the Island Sisters series by Hannah Dennison, featuring two sisters who inherit an old hotel in the remote Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall and find it full of intrigue, danger, and romance.
When Evie Mead’s husband, Robert, suddenly drops dead of a heart attack, a mysterious note is found among his possessions. It indicates that Evie may own the rights to an old hotel on Tregarrick Rock, one of the Isles of Scilly.
Still grieving, Evie is inclined to leave the matter to the accountant to sort out. Her sister Margot, however, flown in from her glamorous career in LA, has other plans. Envisioning a luxurious weekend getaway, she goes right ahead and buys two tickets—one way—to Tregarrick.
Once at the hotel—used in its heyday to house detective novelists, and more fixer-upper than spa resort, after all—Evie and Margot attempt to get to the bottom of things. But the foul-tempered hotel owner claims he’s never met the late Robert, even after Evie finds framed photos of them—alongside Robert’s first wife—in his office. The rest of the island inhabitants, ranging from an ex-con receptionist to a vicar who communicates with cats, aren’t any easier to read.
But when a murder occurs at the hotel, and then another soon follows, frustration turns to desperation. There’s no getting off the island at high tide. And Evie and Margot, the only current visitors to Tregarrick, are suspects one and two. It falls to them to unravel secrets spanning generations—and several of their own—if they want to make it back alive.
Purchase Link
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About the author
Hannah Dennison was born and raised in Hampshire but spent more than two decades living in California. She has been an obituary reporter, antique dealer, private jet flight attendant and Hollywood story analyst. For many years Hannah taught mystery writing workshops at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program in Los Angeles. In addition to the Island Sisters series, Hannah writes the Honeychurch Hall Mysteries and the Vicky Hill Mysteries both set in the wilds of the Devonshire countryside where she now lives with her two high-spirited Hungarian Vizslas. Visit Hannah’s website at hannahdennison.com.
All comments are welcomed.
This new series sounds like fantastic fun. I’d love to read this one. Heading to Amazon now to add this to my wish list.
FIRST BOOK!!!!
I am literally just finishing up book 2 … Danger at the Cove!
Sounds like a fun read!
Oh wonderful! I hope that you like it 🙂
Sounds like a very interesting book. I love books with intrigue and danger. The first book in the Island mystery series. Would love to win and start this series. I like sisters are trying to unravel the secrets.
Well done, Hannah. Fantastic “day in the life” post! Can’t wait for my copy to arrive!!
Congrats on the new release! The novel sounds wonderful, with an amazing setting. 🙂
Thank you! It was a lot of fun to write … and research too!
sounds so good!
Thank you Joyce. I hope you enjoy it!
Sounds like an excellent new series. Adding this one to my wishlist.
That makes me happy!
would love to read this!
Sounds intriguing!
I have to admit setting it on an island was a bit of a challenge!!
Nice cover. It sounds like a really interesting book, very intriguing. Thank you for sharing.
I love the cover! I thought the designers really captured the island. Thanks for commenting Diana.
This sounds like a good read; my kind of story! If Rhys Bowen recommends it, I’ll be reading this! 🤩
WOW 😳! This sounds like a really super duper thrilling book! Can’t wait to read it! And being the absolute first book 📚 in a new series is always so exciting to me knowing there will be more to come! I love 💕 Hannah Dennison’s other books 📚 so know this one will be awesome! And I love ❤️ the awesome cover! Sure would love to win! Thank you so much dear Dru and Hannah for the chance! 💜😊😻🌈💕📚🤗
I love hearing that you have read my other series. The pressure is ON for this new adventure. I hope you enjoy this one too!
I am sure I will sweet Hannah! Thank you so much for responding to me! Hugs 🤗
Captivating and intriguing story which interests me greatly. Thanks.
Oh I love hearing that Laini!
Wonderful book and great setting. Sounds unforgettable.
Thanks April … the setting is a bit of a mash-up between an island in the Scillies and Burgh Island (where And There Was None was filmed) in south Devon.
What a great new series! I’d be excited to win this book.
I’m excited to do a giveaway 🙂 Fingers crossed!
I love the cover. Thank you for the chance to win this book. I would love to read it.
I love the colours too. My publisher just sent me the second cover in the series and it’s lovely too! Good luck!
Nice! I can’t wait to see it.
I love the cover, my sister went through a wearing green contact lenses phase ( she’s also very glamorous to my solidly sensible) so I have a feeling I might really enjoy this book!
Ha ha – that is really funny! When I was younger I really wanted green contacts! It sounds like you and your sister are a bit like me and mine (although I tell her she isn’t in the book!)
This sounds like a “must” read! Already on my TBR list , can’t wait to read.
Thanks for the introduction to a new series!
I hope you give it a try Mary 🙂
Sounds like a really good read! The cover art is great too!
That’s my real cat on the cover – Mister Tig. He’s no longer around but I am so happy he’s immortalised on paper!
I’ve had this on my wish list for a while
I love hearing that. I hope you like it. Thanks so much Sandy.
Sounds like a great read about sisters investigating murder.
Although I do have a sister I am very close to, the two sisters in the book are both sides of me. Honest.
This sounds like a great read! Can’t wait to get my hands on it! Thanks for a chance to win!
Good luck Lori!!
Me! Me! I want to win this one!
ha ha … good luck !!!!!
I am intrigued- I’d like to read it! (Thanks to Rhys Bowen for passing along the info!)
I LOVE Rhys – she is not only a friend but she’s an amazing writer. I am thanking her too!
What an atmospheric location for a story! I have no doubt this will be a fun, engaging series.
It was a lot of fun to research, Pat. I actually went to Tresco (one of the islands) with my own sister … she’s nothing like either of the characters though. Truly!
Sounds like a wonderful read!
I hope you like it. It’s always a little unnerving launching a brand new series.
This sounds wonderful and I love the cover. Thanks for the contest!
I love the cover too … it’s definitely my favourite out of all my book covers! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Thank you for the contest. Sounds like a really good read. I am new to alot of the authors here. I am looking forward to reading more
Hi Marion – you have found a great resource in Dru’s website. She knows EVERYTHING and everyone. There are some terrific authors out there. Welcome!!
This sounds great! Am just looking for my next book to read so this might be it!
There are so many great books out there to choose from … I’d love this one to join your pile!
Always love hearing about new cozies! Sounds good!
Hi Linda – It was fun to write 🙂
I’m intrigued by the hotel & island.
I have based the fictional island on Tresco in the Isles of Scilly — which I have visited a few times. It’s so pretty there!!
I love anything written by Hannah Dennison and can’t wait to start a new series.
Oh Rochelle – thank you. That’s so great to hear! I hope you enjoy the new series (always a bit unnerving to write something new!)
This sounds wonderful! A new series is always a treat.
I love reading new series too. My to read pile is getting very high!
New series for me, sounds good!
Fingers crossed you like it Teresa!
**** WINNER ****
Death at High Tide Linda Farabaugh
Congratulations!
CONGRATULATIONS Linda!! I hope you will enjoy it!
Thanks to everyone who left a comment.