The Boat That Came Back Empty

Plover returns to Penmorrow harbour without the man who sailed her—and no one can explain how the empty boat came home.

Philip Marrack arrived on the Cornish coast to decide whether a new excursion service deserved his support. A tense luncheon at the Bay Hotel exposes disputed repairs, broken promises and livelihoods dependent on his approval. Hours later, the launch drifts back alone. When Philip is found dead, what looked like a boating accident begins to resemble a carefully arranged deception.

Hotel owner Edmund Trewin and his niece Katherine join Inspector Merritt in tracing telephone calls, harbour movements and accounts shaped by assumption. With boatman Amos Jago helping them test what the tide and small craft could truly have done, they confront a circle in which everyone had something to lose.

But as one witness prepares to clarify the journey, the investigation turns suddenly dangerous—and the empty boat is no longer the only silence demanding an answer.