Criminal Cornwall

St Michael’s Mount is the setting for a brutal death (or two) in the latest Cornish crime story by best-selling writer Nicola Upson

- Nicola Upson

Nicola Upson’s new novel, The Dead of Winter, is a contemporary twist on the Golden Age Christmas mystery and is set on a snowy St Michael’s Mount in December 1938, when storm clouds were gathering once again over Europe. The book is the ninth in Nicola’s series featuring the real life crime writer, Josephine Tey, and the fictional detective, Archie Penrose, named after the Penrose Estate near Porthleven, where the idea for the novels was born. In this latest instalment, Archie and Josephine gather with friends for a glittering festive house party, but two brutal deaths on the Mount – and the unexpected arrival of a famous film star, in need of sanctuary – interrupt the celebrations. Like all of Nicola’s novels, The Dead of Winter is inspired by real people and places, and pays homage to the Mount’s unique history. It’s the second book in the series to be based in Cornwall; the first, Angel With Two Faces, was set on the Penrose Estate and in Porthleven, where Nicola has had a home for 20 years, and where she writes all her books.

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