Occupation: Marine Rescue Volunteer and reluctant amateur sleuth.

Why?

Why would someone knock on the door of my barge at this time in the morning? Ten o’clock, and I haven’t even had my first double-shot skinny latte of the day. And 10:00 a.m., let me tell you, is considerably earlier than I ever rose when I lived in London.

London. Those city days seem so long ago, like they were a different life happening to someone else on a different planet. Which in many ways they were, because since I escaped my vapid existence as a rich man’s arm candy and exchanged it for my volunteer work in the quaint old English fishing town of Redcliff-upon-Sea, everything’s been completely turned upside down.

I mean, wow. All I wanted to do was flee to the only place I felt safe, my childhood holiday resort with so many happy memories. And, on the exceptionally expensive New Year’s Day taxi ride here, funded from my ex-husband’s Amex account, I came to a very important conclusion. I, Shiraz Jones, was no longer a London socialite. No longer a jewel for the paparazzi flashbulbs. No longer my PR company-owning partner’s possession. I would do something meaningful, something for myself, and join the marine rescue volunteers, quite literally saving lives at sea.

Except, no one warned me about Redcliff’s deadly secrets.

No one warned me there’d be murders.

And no one prepared me for having to investigate them.

Although, together with my new friends Emily, the owner of the Wicked Whelk café and Oscar, the retired police sergeant, we’ve successfully solved every single one, even when the local constabulary didn’t have a clue. And, shh… we even uncovered the identity of a ghost haunting a ruined mansion.

And, now, the person knocking at the door of the Dutch barge where I live could be one of my friends, inviting me to have coffee with them.

It could be one of the marine rescue volunteers informing me about something exciting happening on the water.

Or it could be someone I’ve never met before telling me they need my sleuthing skills immediately. I hope not, but anything can happen in Redcliff-upon-Sea.

So, come with me, and let’s find out who it is. Maybe it’s time for another adventure?

A Murderous Clamour at Redcliff Manor: A Shiraz Jones Marine Rescue Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: July 2024
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Shiraz Jones isn’t looking for drama. She definitely isn’t looking to solve a murder.

Newly arrived in the quaint English fishing village of Redcliff-upon-Sea, the trainwreck of her London life lies in her rear view mirror. Now Shiraz is determined to focus on her new marine rescue career.

But when she befriends a young woman moments before her death from a clifftop plunge, Shiraz is the only one who can identify her killer. A pillar of this seemingly peaceful community is harbouring a deadly secret, an innocent person’s about to be framed, and the police believe the case is closed.

With the clock ticking, and the murderer watching her every move, Shiraz races against time to unravel the clues.

Because if she fails, they’ll kill again. And her idyllic new life by the sea will be shipwrecked before it begins.

If you enjoy English small-town mysteries, amateur women sleuths, quirky characters and quaint old seaside locations, the Shiraz Jones Marine Rescue Mysteries series is for you. Check out the other titles in the series: A Deadly Affair in the Pirate’s Lair, A Landslide, a Bride and a Fatal Ride, A Smuggler’s Cave and a Watery Grave, A Spook in the Dark at Alnchurch Park, and A Bloodthirsty Scrape and a Midnight Escape.

Meet the author
Simon Michael Prior experiences constant adventures, hazards and exciting situations as a marine rescue skipper and a commander of rescue operations.

Many of the scenes in the Shiraz Jones Marine Rescue Mysteries are inspired by events he encounters during his duties.

Simon has also lived on two boats and sunk one of them; sold houses, street signs, Indian food and paper bags for a living; visited almost fifty countries and lived in three; qualified as a scuba diving instructor; nearly killed himself learning to wakeboard and built his own house without the benefit of an instruction manual.

He now lives in it by the sea with his wife and twin daughters, where he spends his time regurgitating his experiences on paper before he has so many more that he forgets them.