Cornish Requiem by Merryn Allingham

Cornish Requiem by Merryn Allingham

An idyllic Cornish village-but revenge is in the air and death is always close

Nancy Tremayne has never felt welcome at Penleven, her husband's family home. But when Leo's father falls ill, she is forced to make a rare visit to Port Madron, a sleepy Cornish fishing village where nothing much happens. Or so it seems.

It's not long, though, before Nancy becomes convinced that below the calm surface something truly evil is going on. Her father-in-law's heart attack isn't simply bad luck. His friend's death isn't really accidental. And the threatening letters. are they being sent by a resentful villager to create fear or are the men pushing to buy the Tremayne tin mine, behind the bubbling unrest?

With the help of Archie, Leo's assistant, Nancy gradually finds the answers she's looking for, but not before they face the most dangerous situation of their lives. Together, they uncover a plot of horrific revenge, while becoming more and more deeply entangled in a forbidden love.

Merryn Allingham was born into an army family and spent her childhood on the move. Unsurprisingly, it gave her itchy feet and in her twenties she escaped from an unloved secretarial career to work as cabin crew and see the world. The arrival of marriage, children and cats meant a more settled life in the south of England where she's lived ever since. It also gave her the opportunity to go back to 'school' and eventually teach at university.

Merryn has always loved books that bring the past to life, so when she began writing herself the novels had to be historical. She finds the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries fascinating eras to research and her first book, The Crystal Cage, had as its background the London of 1851. The Daisy's War trilogy followed, set in India and London during the 1930s and 40s.

Her latest novels explore two pivotal moments in the history of Britain. The Buttonmaker's Daughter is set in Sussex in the summer of 1914 as the First World War looms ever nearer and its sequel, The Secret of Summerhayes, forty years later in the summer of 1944 when D Day led to eventual victory in the Second World War. Along with the history, of course, there is plenty of mystery and romance to keep readers intrigued.
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