Her killer, Christopher Hampton, escaped justice for 30 years, but was eventually traced thanks to a DNA breakthrough. Melanie, 25, was a clerical worker at the Royal United Hospital in Bath with her whole life ahead of her.

That cringey phrase ‘cozy crime’ should be ditched for a start. There was nothing ‘cozy’ about a violent murder of an elderly disabled lady or of the descriptions of domestic abuse. And was it people smuggling? It was actually quite bleak! Despite police receiving 1,700 calls from the public, taking 1,600 statements and making more than 10 arrests, no-one has ever been charged with her murder. Rina Martin is a retired actress who played a TV sleuth for years. She put all that behind her when she moved to the sleepy town of Frantham-on-Sea. Here on the Dorset coast, she runs her own pin-neat guest house and life is blissfully quiet. Then a brutal killer comes to town. A few doors down, harmless old Mrs Freer is bludgeoned to death, and Rina can’t help but be drawn into the mystery. After her release, she spent the rest of her life in St Andrews Hospital in Northampton and died in 1983. Read More Related ArticlesA minor crime led to one of Hampton's daughters being added to the criminal DNA database - which flagged up a match with a full DNA profile the police had of Melanie's murderer. It seems to be the case in this rapidly deteriorating society this sort of incident is becoming endemic." A few doors down, harmless old Mrs Freer is bludgeoned to death, and Rina can’t help but be drawn into the mystery. The jury heard how Nowak and Lagwinowicz had met to plot the murder on up to 87 occasions and exchanged hundreds of phone calls on prepaid Sim cards.

Murder-on-Sea is the second book in Julie Wassmer’s popular crime series – now a major Acorn TV drama, Whitstable Pearl, starring Kerry Godliman as private detective and restaurateur, Pearl Nolan. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of reading Julie Wassmer's debut, and the first book of this series, The Whitstable Pearl Mystery. So I was quite excited to read the second one and catch up with the lovely Pearl. After solving her first case as a private investigator on summer, she has been slowly building her business while still managing her restaurant.Tavener was given a life term and told he would serve a minimum of 16 years and eight months behind bars before he will be considered for release at Bristol Crown Court. Read More Related Articles I must admit it was grittier , and less light hearted than I’d anticipated. An ok read , but for some reason it didn’t hold my attention enough to really enjoy it. Owen Pellow, of Burnham-on-Sea, was with his partner, Lisa-Marie Thornton on the morning of November 23, 2017. A wonderful way to explore Whitstable . . . if you love cosy mysteries, then get acquainted with Pearl (and her mum and her cats!) and enjoy a trip to Whitstable through the eyes of this very convincing author’ Trip Fiction

Owen Pellow was jailed for life after murdering his ex-partner in Burnham-on-Sea (Image: Avon and Somerset Police) While Oxford had Morse, Whitstable, famous for its oysters, has Pearl . . . True to the tradition of classic crime, [Julie Wassmer] weaves a strong story into a setting that has more to offer than murder and mayhem’ Daily MailThe couple's two young sons were left to discover their mother fatally injured before the eldest called the police. explores all the murder and debauchery in the seemingly perfect English seaside town of Whitstable…’ Washington Post I was attracted to this book as a ‘cozy crime ‘ ,as a little light relief from my usual preferred genre of psychological thriller.