May 1996. Noah Yalland has no intention of staying in Treggan Bay. The London journalist has returned to South Devon to clear Grannie Maggie's cliff-top cottage, sell it, and leave. The Landmark Syndicate's plan for waterside villas has already split the village. Frank Cullen was their envoy, and the locals who challenged him the night before now have more than a protest to explain. By Sunday morning, Cullen is dead in the village library. Noah saw enough to know the obvious story is too easy. Eileen Thorne, guardian of old records and sharper opinions, has reasons to hate Cullen. DS Scott Langdon has procedure to follow. Leo Petit, the warm, unsettling heart of the Drift Cafe, knows more about Noah's family than any stranger should. So Noah follows the kind of trail no algorithm can tidy up: birth registers, a missing ledger, old keys, remembered alibis, and a village where everyone knows who has touched what. If he wants the truth, he may have to admit Treggan Bay is not finished with him yet. `Murder in Treggan Bay` is a clue-led Devon coastal village mystery with family secrets, dry humour, low-graphic suspense, and a quietly queer slow burn.