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Review: A Killing at Smugglers Cove by Michelle Salter

I'm delighted to share my review today of A Killing at Smugglers Cove by Michelle Salter – the latest instalment in the fabulous Iris Woodmore Mysteries series. 

It's currently on blog tour with Rachel's Random Resources. Do check out the other fabulous tour stops!






A Killing at Smugglers Cove

An Iris Woodmore Mystery

Michelle Salter


In her latest adventure, Iris Woodmore is not at her home in leafy Walden in the south-east of England, but travelling to Devon to attend her father's wedding to Katherine Keats. She's still not able to come to terms with the fact that her father is re-marrying, and she fears her mother's memory will drift further into the background. But unable to talk to him about it, she makes herself miserable with her attitude – which has not gone completely unnoticed by her friends.

Fortunately (for Iris and us), Iris doesn't travel alone – her friends Percy and Millicent are with her, as are her newspaper boss, Elijah, and his wealthy partner, Horace (who, of course, have taken separate rooms in a plush hotel). I'd been concerned about missing those regulars in Iris’ latest murder mystery case, but I needn't have feared.


So when Millicent stumbles across a skeleton in a concealed cave on a small cove belonging to the property of the family of Katherine's late first husband, we know Iris would not be fobbed off easily by the local police's quick assumption as to the dead man's identity. 

Despite the surprisingly quick solution, questions remain, and Iris draws in her network of friends, including Horace's influence, to dig deeper – and discover long-hidden secrets in her new stepmother's family. When she meets old acquaintances from London – exiled Belgian friends who'd remained in Devon – she is delighted, but this encounter also has consequences she'd rather not explore too deeply.

And little does she know the series of dangerous events her snooping triggers...


In A Killing at Smugglers Cove, we see a somewhat sombre Iris to start with. She has concerns about her father's marriage to Katherine, and when she realises the woman is somehow involved in this old murder case, her thoughts verge between relief – that perhaps it was better her father did not marry the woman – and guilt at her frail hope. She is almost unlikeable, which is intentional, as she acts like a spoilt teenager. Deep inside, her fear is real, but she's reluctant to talk to her father about it. 

Elijah (my fave character in the series) warns her about her sometimes foul mood and what he considers unfounded suspicions about Katherine. He's not only her employer, but also a good friend, concerned with the impact her attitude has on her father, in turn an old wartime friend and colleague of his.

A Killing at Smugglers Cove is a gripping new instalment in this fabulous murder mystery series, this time set in beautiful countryside on the Devon coast, with plenty of stories about smugglers and other illegal activities. The author knows the area well, and this shows in the story, with plenty of local details fed nicely into the plot, so we get the full picture of what life at the coast was like 100 years ago. This added to an already riveting reading experience.

Another cleverly intriguing read by Michelle Salter. I'm looking forward to Iris’ next adventure...
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Blurb: 

Wartime secrets, smugglers’ caves, skeletal remains. And the holiday’s only just begun…

July 1923 - Iris Woodmore travels to Devon with her friends Percy Baverstock and Millicent Nightingale for her father’s wedding to Katherine Keats.

But when Millicent uncovers skeletal remains hidden on the private beach of Katherine’s former home, Iris begins to suspect her future stepmother is not what she seems.

The police reveal the dead man is a smuggler who went missing in 1918, and when a new murder occurs, they realise a killer is in their midst. The link between both murders is Katherine. Could Iris’s own father be in danger?

Buy Link: https://mybook.to/Killingsmugglerssocial
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About the Author:

Michelle Salter

Michelle Salter writes historical cosy crime set in Hampshire, where she lives, and inspired by real-life events in 1920s Britain. The first book in her Iris Woodmore series, Death at Crookham Hall, draws on her interest in the aftermath of the Great War and the suffragette movement.





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