A typical day in Porth Merryn is considerably quieter than the life I left behind in London.
At least, that is what I keep telling myself.
These days, mornings generally begin at Seaward Grange with tea, five Buff Orpington hens demanding breakfast as though they have never been fed before, and Watson supervising everything from whichever position causes the greatest inconvenience.
Then, on certain days, I go to work. I use the word work somewhat generously. I help a few hours each week at the village library, where Florence Hughes maintains a shelving system so precise that I suspect altering it without permission may be punishable under local law.
I rather like it. The library is quiet. Orderly. Predictable.
Or it was until DCI Thomas Rowe walked through the door.
“Inspector.”
“Mrs. Penrose.”
DCI Rowe and I have developed what I would describe as an understanding. He might describe it differently.
He informed me that he had come to the library to consult with me. This was suspicious in itself.
“You notice things,” he said.
There are compliments one should accept gracefully.
Unfortunately, I knew the Inspector well enough to recognize that this one came with consequences. He told me there had been two suspicious deaths in Truro. The victims appeared unrelated, but something unusual had been found at both scenes.
Books. Not merely books, either. Specific passages had been marked in each one. Different authors. Different circumstances. Words about broken vows, waiting, hope. Someone had chosen them. And the Inspector wanted to know why.
Once upon a time, my days involved conference rooms, commuter trains and phones that never stopped ringing. I moved to Cornwall because I wanted something different. I certainly got it.
Now I shelve books, cycle through a village where everyone knows everyone else’s business, keep chickens, attempt to prevent Seaward Grange from collapsing around me, and occasionally find myself discussing suspicious deaths with a DCI who has developed an inconvenient habit of asking for my opinion.
By evening, I am usually back on the porch with Watson, a cup of tea beside me and the lighthouse sweeping steadily across the water.
Porth Merryn looks peaceful from there. Most evenings, it even is. But once someone starts leaving messages between the pages of books, it becomes rather difficult to mind one’s own business.
And I have never been especially good at that.
THE MARKED PAGE
Series: A Maggie Penrose Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Amateur Sleuth, Cozy Mystery
Release: October 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Maggie Penrose came to Porth Merryn looking for a quieter life. Instead, the village keeps asking difficult questions.
When a respected local man is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Maggie can’t ignore the uneasy feeling that something doesn’t fit. As more deaths follow, each accompanied by a carefully chosen literary quotation, it becomes clear that someone is leaving a message—and expects Maggie to understand it.
With the help of DCI Thomas Rowe, her irrepressible Aunt Bea, and a village that rarely keeps anything secret for long, Maggie follows a trail through forgotten archives, old parish records, and long-buried decisions that still cast shadows over the present.
But some pages were marked for a reason.
And not everyone wants the past to be read.
Set against the windswept Cornish coast, The Marked Page is a warm, character-driven cozy mystery filled with memorable villagers, quiet humor, loyal friendships, and the comforting promise that even after loss, there is always hope to be found.
Meet the author
Tracy O’Shields is the author of The Secrets of Seaward Grange, the first book in the Maggie Penrose Mystery series. A lifelong lover of mysteries and stories, she created the fictional Cornish village of Porth Merryn as the sort of place she’d happily disappear to—murders notwithstanding. When she isn’t writing, Tracy works in public-sector consulting, handles digital communications for her church, and spends time with her family and dogs. She lives in Upstate South Carolina, where she is usually surrounded by books, half-finished projects, and something caffeinated. The Marked Page, the second Maggie Penrose mystery, will be released in October 2026.