What takes Inspector Ryga to the Isle of Portland in DEATH IN THE COVE mystery by Pauline Rowson

DEATH IN THE COVE is set in 1950 England, a country still reeling from the aftermath of war with austerity and rationing biting hard. Newly promoted, Inspector Ryga from Scotland Yard, is on his first solo investigation outside of London, to solve the mystery of why a man in a pin-striped suit is found murdered in Church Ope Covee on the Island of Portland in Dorset.

Church Ope Cove in the 1950s featured in mystery, DEATH IN THE COVE

Church Ope Cove, Portland, Dorset 2019

 'Why is it called Church Ope Cove and not hope cove?’ Ryga asked, breaking the silence. ‘Was the H left off by mistake centuries ago?’
‘Ope is local dialect for an opening in the cliff that leads down to the water’s edge. The cove was famous for smugglers in the last century.’ Sergeant Daniels answered.
‘Was?’
‘Maybe still is,’ Daniels corrected, flashing him a glance and narrowly avoiding hitting a cyclist. ‘Perhaps that’s why the body has ended up there. He doesn’t look much like a smuggler though, not if you expect them to be dressed in woollen pullovers and patched grubby trousers, as in old books and photos.’ He smiled. ‘So maybe they’ve become more fashion-conscious. And thieves and crooks come in all guises, as you’d know all too well, sir.’
Ryga did. While working for the Thames River Police he’d been called upon to assist the Port of London in helping to uncover two highly notable and profitable drug smuggling rings. It had been because of his background in the merchant navy, his knowledge of ships, their loading and unloading operations and their crew mentality that he’d been asked to assist. The success of the operations had catapulted him from the river police into the Metropolitan Police and into the Criminal Investigations Department of Scotland Yard with such breath-taking speed that he had hardly realized what was happening. Now he was being called upon to once again utilize his knowledge of the sea to try and discover why a man dressed in a pinstriped suit had been stabbed in the neck and ended up dead on the beach of a small cove on Portland on the Dorset coast.

DEATH IN THE COVE is published in paperback, ebook, Amazon Kindle, Kobo.

It is also available as an audio book published by B7 Media and narrated by Jonathan Rhodes.

For more on the history of Portland visit https://www.portlandhistory.co.uk/