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Janie Bolitho’s Buried in Cornwall,
1991, one of several novels the author sets in Cornwall, is not entirely
satisfactory as a mystery, but her writing about the artists in the art
colony at St. Ives is fascinating.
As for the setting:
Rose had to admit that [the village of St.
Ives] was a beautiful place. The sand was fine, the color of
clotted cream, and the sea, beloved by surfers, was bluer than the
Aegean. If you arrived by train the breathtaking view was framed
by a fringe of palm trees.
A favorite mystery set in Cornwall is Elizabeth
George’s A Suitable Vengeance, 1991:
It was a wild part of the country, comprising
desolate moors, stony hillsides, sandy coves whose hidden caves had long
been used as smuggler’s caches, sudden lush woodlands where the
countryside dipped into a combe, and everywhere tangles of celandine,
poppy and periwinkle that dominated the narrow lanes.
Other good mysteries set in Cornwall include
Robert Goddard’s Days Without Number, 2003, which
contains enough surprises, twists, and suspense to keep the most blasé
mystery reader guessing, as well as expert uses of location and
atmosphere to heighten the sense of impending doom. Goddard’s use
of the weather as a constant presence is especially well-done.
Ngaio Marsh’s Dead Water,
1963, is a grim story about the exploitation of a local beauty spot, and
the conflict between those who want to preserve its beauty, and those
who’re willing to sacrifice it for money. Those who journey to
Cornwall can see the impact of tourism on once beautiful settings, as
well as read about it in Dead Water.
The plot of Graham Thomas’s Malice
in Cornwall, 1998, is gruesome, but the setting is cheerful and
bright. A gloomy and forbidding setting might have been expected,
but skillful writers sometimes use this type of contrast for its shock
value, and in this book, it works.
Notwithstanding her success at describing Cornwall (and
London), Elizabeth George is an American. She explains in her book
Writing Away, 2004:
One piece of advice that neophyte writers are
always given is ‘write about your own backyard’. Loosely
translated, this means to write about an environment with which you are
familiar. Broadly translated, it means to write what you know.
To this I say balderdash. If I had believed that, I’d have spent
years attempting to write about Huntington Beach, California, a place
that could not interest me less as a setting.
George’s is an unusual point of view, but anyone
reading her book on writing will understand how she can write so well
about foreign locations. Few of us will be willing or able to go
to the extremes George does to familiarize herself with a country, a
city, a neighborhood. But her efforts certainly pay off in establishing
authenticity.
Works Cited
Bolitho, Janie. Buried in Cornwall, 1991.
Du Maurier, Daphne. Jamaica Inn, 1936.
George, Elizabeth. A Suitable Vengeance, 1991.
---. Writing Away, 2004.
Goddard, Robert.
Days Without Number, 2003.
Marsh, Ngaio.
Dead Water, 1963.
Thomas, Graham.
Malice in Cornwall, 1998.
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