ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Harbour Lights Mystery by Emylia Hall

Posted on 29th December 2025 By Nicola

The Harbour Lights Mystery by Emylia Hall is published by Thomas & Mercer and is out now. I purchased my own copy.

As The Shell House Detectives try to solve a family mystery, their investigation runs dangerously close to a murder case. Are the two linked?

It’s December in Cornwall, and Mousehole harbour is illuminated with its famous Christmas lights. Ally Bright is among the crowd listening to the carol singers—and then to the piercing screams that rip through the darkness. A body has been found, brutally murdered and dumped in a fisherman’s boat.

The victim is chef JP Sharpe and there is no shortage of people who might have wanted him dead. Eager for a new case for The Shell House Detectives, Ally calls ex-cop Jayden, but he’s keen to leave it to the police—until a letter in Sharpe’s pocket draws them into a seemingly unconnected family mystery. As they take on this highly charged mission, the duo can’t help scrutinising the murder suspects. Who among the close-knit community has reason to kill, and how far will they go to protect themselves?

As fear spreads, Ally and Jayden need answers—fast. Could the letter offer a clue to the murder case or will it reveal a terrible truth? And when a new witness comes to light, Jayden closes in on a desperate killer…but can he warn Ally in time?

I read The Shell House Detectives a few months ago and had book two, The Harbour Lights Mystery on my TBR pile ready to read. When I saw a post on Instagram by the author, Emylia Hall, saying that it was set in December and featured the Christmas lights that go up annually in Mousehole, it seemed the perfect book to add to my Christmas reading pile.

It really was ideal and I enjoyed it so much. The Shell House Detectives consist of Ally Bright, whose late and much missed husband Bill was the local sergeant, and Jayden Weston, an ex-constable from Leeds who now lives in Cornwall with his wife and baby daughter. After inadvertently becoming amateur detectives and solving their first case in book one, in this book they get involved in the case of the murder of a local chef, JP Sharpe, a man with a few foes and an unexpected link to one of their friends, local beach/surf cafe owner, Saffron.

I loved how the story unfolded and it was as much about Saffron as about solving the murder. The case itself offers a twisty storyline but I think what stands out most for me are the regular characters and the Cornish settings. Both are so vividly drawn by Hall to the point that I felt a bit lost when I finished the book. It’s abundantly clear how much the author loves Cornwall and the way of life there of fishing, surfing and community.

The Harbour Lights Mystery is a wonderful book and I was thoroughly engrossed in the story and the characters’ lives in Porthpella and Mousehole. I’ve now lined up book three, The Rockpool Murder, and I’m looking forward to another Cornish escapade.

Emylia Hall lives with her husband and son in Bristol, where she writes from a hut in the garden and dreams of the sea. Her debut crime novel, The Shell House Detectives, was published in summer 2023 and is the first of The Shell House Detectives Mysteries, a series inspired by her love of Cornwall’s wild landscape. Emylia has published four previous novels, including Richard and Judy Book Club pick The Book of Summers and The Thousand Lights Hotel. Her work has been translated into ten languages and broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music. She is the founder of Mothership Writers and is a writing coach at The Novelry.

You can follow Emylia on Instagram at @emyliahall_author and on Twitter at @emyliahall.