Earlier this year we were thrilled to welcome author Emylia Hall back to the library to celebrate the publication of the next instalment of her very popular Shell House Detectives mysteries – The Arts Trail Killer. We asked Emylia to share her recommendations of other novels in the crime genre and you can read her reading recommendations below. All of the titles, are now all available to borrow, or reserve, from The Morrab Library and you can find them in the Crime Fiction section in Reception. 

The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher

“I’ve truly loved every single one of Susan Fletcher’s novels and so was particularly excited when, with her eighth and most recent book, she turned to crime. Set in an idyllically-located residential home, our hero – and sleuth – is the octogenarian Florrie. And Florrie is a very special individual. This is a novel that transcends genre; it’s as much a deeply moving examination of one woman’s life and loves and losses as it is a deftly woven murder mystery. And the writing is pure magic, rich in lyricism and kindness.”

The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths

“The 15th novel in Griffiths’ Dr Ruth Galloway series – and described as the author as ‘the last, for now’ – The Last Remains is a masterclass in reader satisfaction. For book after book, we’ve not only been hooked on the compelling mysteries, but the will-they-won’t-they relationship between Ruth and DCI Harry Nelson, and here Griffiths delivers a pitch-perfect ending (if indeed it is the ending). The wider cast of recurring characters are also treated with such fondness by the author, that I read the closing chapters with tears in my eyes. Add to this the atmospheric Norfolk saltmarsh setting, and the ‘Ruth books’ really are one of my favourite series of all time.”

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

“I hugely enjoyed Moore’s earlier novel, Long Bright River – a clever and emotional police procedural set in a deprived part of Philadelphia – but in The God of the Woods I’ve found one of my most beloved books. Set in the mountains north of New York City it follows the Van Laars, an over-privileged family whose little son Bear went missing fifteen years ago – and now their teenage daughter Barbara has disappeared in this same wild space too. Every character is rendered with compassion and humanity, but my favourite is Judyta, the first female investigator in the state; in a novel that’s full of stories, The God of the Woods feels like her story. Magnificent.”

Stay Buried by Kate Webb

“There are now three novels in the DI Lockyer mystery series, and I urge you to read every one. In Stay Buried we meet likeable detective Matt Lockyer and his partner Gemma for the first time, and follow their investigations as Wiltshire’s premier, and passionate, cold case unit. Webb writes with beauty and precision and the rural landscape is vividly rendered, while the cases themselves are always intricate and intriguing. There’s a classic feel to the series, which somehow makes me think of evenings wedged on the sofa between my mum and dad, watching Morse and Wexford. Which is a very good thing indeed.”

Common Herbs and Their Uses: As Grown in the Hortyards at Gulval  by Lt. Col. G. R. Gayre – C 635.7

Bygone Days in Devon and Cornwall by Mrs Henry Pennell Whitcome C398.2094235

A Taste of Cornwall – Historical Remedies and Reminiscences edited by Kenneth Fraser Annard & Ann Butcher C398.242

The Folklore of Cornwall: The Oral Tradition of a Celtic Nation by Ronald M James C398.2094237

Fern Seeds and Fairy Rings by Rupert White C581.634

Ill-wished by Rupert White  C133.43

Cornish Feasts and Festivals by Liz Woods C641.54237

This is my final blog before I take a break to start work on my experimental film, and I thought it would be interesting to explore Blight’s story from the perspectives of two men who had such a formative influence over his life and work.

The Revd. Robert Hawker, vicar of Morwenstow, was in his mid-fifties when he took John Blight under his wing.  Best known in Cornwall today, for writing Trelawney, or The Song of the Western Men (the well-loved Cornish anthem), his reputation then was as poet and eccentric, as was his obsession with retrieving drowned mariners from the foot of the cliffs to give them a Christian burial. John Blight counted him a ‘great man’ and hoped for his help in producing and promoting a second volume of Ancient Crosses and Antiquities that he was planning, recording the antiquities of East Cornwall. Hawker was indeed very helpful to Blight, encouraging the development of his work, but he was not a disinterested mentor, and soon began to insist on inserting poems of his own, and other irrelevancies that Blight attempted to resist. Hawker was a man of strong passions, but not of lasting vindictiveness, and despite a serious ‘falling-out’ later, it seems the two men remained friends for many years. Hawker was instrumental in obtaining a royal declaration for this second volume of work, and for recruiting the subscribers that were needed to publish it. 

James Orchard Halliwell was a man of very different enthusiasms; coming from a privileged background as the son of a wealthy draper, he was educated at Cambridge and before the age of twenty had published many learned articles in the arts, science and literature journal, The Parthenon. He secured the friendship of a noted bibliophile, Sir Thomas Phillipps, and befriended his daughter Henrietta, later proposing marriage to her. He was then involved in a scandal in which he was suspected of having stolen valuable manuscripts from Trinity College. No prosecution could be made, but Halliwell was banned from the British Library, and Phillipps refused to give his consent to their marriage. The pair eloped in 1842. 

James Halliwell was in his early forties when he visited Penzance on a holiday with his wife and children. It was 1861, and Blight’s ‘A Week at the Lands End’ had just been published. Henrietta Halliwell referred to it constantly during their travels around West Penwith, and it’s likely that they also referred to his volumes on Ancient Crosses and Antiquities. Halliwell wrote and published his own ‘Rambles in Western Cornwall’ shortly after. It is interesting to compare the two ‘travelogues’, and easy to imagine Blight’s straightforward and informational little book being mined for information by the older, more worldly, Halliwell.  In comparison ‘Rambles’ seems decidedly quaint in appearance, but would have received a far wider, wealthier and influential audience at the time.

Preface page to Halliwell’s Rambles in Western Cornwall

Hearing of Halliwell’s visit, and desperate for the opportunity to better himself through his talents, Blight contacted him to offer his services as an illustrator. 

The following year brought John Blight the opportunity to work for this illustrious and successful client. He was neither an experienced negotiator nor a man of the world like his future employer, and entered into what, to our eyes today, appears to have been a one-sided arrangement in which Blight worked obsessively to record Shakespeare’s birthplace (Halliwell’s perennial project) in return for being an occasional guest on holiday trips and at the Halliwell’s home, and expenses incurred when working in Stratford.  Being a quiet and sensitive man, he was initially stimulated by the attention and genuine affection he received, and felt unable to demand what he was rightly due. The Shakespeare volumes materialised slowly, never repaying the amount of work Blight had put into over 600 drawings and etchings that he had, in his enthusiasm, given over directly to Halliwell. 

In successive years Blight’s reputation as an archaeologist grew, but it was not an occupation that attracted a regular income. Overwork and desperation about money contributed to John Blight’s breakdown which began in 1868, and his attachment to a local woman, Evelina Pidwell seems also to have contributed to his downfall. James Halliwell became aware of his friend’s struggles when he began to write desperate letters asking for commissions, but choosing to ignore the signs, Halliwell eventually threatened to ‘cut’ him. Only when Blight’s father wrote to him explaining the difficulties they were experiencing as a family, did Halliwell show any concern for the artist. It is significant that James Halliwell was among those responsible for setting up a fund to pay for Blight’s confinement at Bodmin asylum, and was undoubtedly one of those alluded to in this letter from the St Lawrence

Hospital Management Committee, dated 1968, to a Blight researcher:

 “…when he was admitted…the Form of Guarantee signed by Robert Blight and Thomas Cornish was for one month only…However, from the correspondence it would appear that interested people or relatives were making arrangements for a further Guarantee of a longer duration”. (Extract from letter to Miss M Ingleden, 12 February 1968)

Writer John Mitchell (A Short Life at Lands End, 1977), deeply sympathetic to John Blight’s story, concluded:

 “Blight’s ‘death to the world’, as Halliwell put it, took place with his committal to the Asylum when he was thirty-five, his active life was indeed a short one. Halliwell’s carefully ambiguous phrase, which occurs in the introduction to his Calendar*, printed in 1887, gives a clue to how matters stood at the time. He was surely aware that Blight lingered on at Bodmin, yet he said nothing. Evidently he, Parker, Boase and others were parties to an agreement, tacit or formal, that …Blight should be considered as not only dead to the world but dead and buried.“ 

*A Calender of the Shakespearean Rarities, Drawings and Engravings formerly preserved at Hollingbury Copse, near Brighton, 1887, refers to the work of Halliwell and Blight in recording architecture contemporary with Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon and elsewhere, with a long list of Blight’s drawings in Halliwell’s possession.

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Above: Jodie Hollander

Jodie stayed in Newlyn for the duration of her trip, walking to the Library along the Prom and up through the Morrab Gardens, to experience and seek inspiration from the library each day. She worked her way around the rooms – Poetry, Elizabeth Treffry, Literature – to sense out which desk she preferred and settled in for many writing days, soaking in the stillness and atmosphere of the Library’s top floor. 

Jodie delivered three sold out poetry workshops during her visit. In the first session, her class discussed Nature Poetry and then wrote their own pieces inspired by the Library’s setting in Morrab Gardens. In a subsequent workshop, with the May sunshine streaming in through the Reading Room windows, her group considered and shared the poetry of grief and healing. Jodie also visited Penwith College to lead a writing workshop to some of their English Literature students.  

Above: Fully booked workshops at The Morrab Library. Right: Library views.

During her ‘Ekphrastic Poetry’ workshop the class were let loose to roam around the library in search of a piece of artwork, photograph or a curio found within our collection to write about. Some of the group have kindly given permission for us to share excerpts and first drafts of the poems they wrote during this class, alongside the piece of work that inspired it.  

Click here to read Bridget Crowley’s unfinished first draft of a poem called ‘How to Look at a Picture’.

Click here to read Mike Higgins’ poem, ‘Why?’ inspired by Dennis Myner’s painting of St Ives, which was on display for the duration of the workshop’. 

Jodie’s classes were open to all, members and non-members alike, those who already love writing poetry and those for whom this was a first foray. It was lovely for the library to be alive with poetry and we heard such lovely feedback from the people who attended the sessions. 

In fact, Jodie’s positive energy permeated throughout the building during her residency. It really felt like she had taken up permanent residence in the Literature Room so it was confusing when the weeks whistled by and we were reserving her desk for the last time. Jodie was a familiar sight – writing, chatting with library members about her work and theirs, sharing coffee breaks and conversation with other members in the kitchen. We were so grateful for her boundless enthusiasm!  

Many thanks to The Myner Trust for funding this Poetry Residency and to Jodie Hollander for all of her work here. We look forward to reading the work Jodie created while in situ and will share it with you in due course. 

“When starting my writing journey, I found it very difficult to know what advice to heed and from whom. Everyone seemed to have an opinion, a fixed idea of what’s expected of a writer. ‘You need to be at your desk every day,’ some said. Others offered the time-honoured, ‘just write what you know,’ and I was even told once to, ‘look for the lifeblood of the story… its stream will guide you.’ Though always given in good faith, advice often felt contradictory and the sheer volume of it was overwhelming.

A great writer and someone who has since become a close friend of mine offered the best advice: do whatever works for you. I knew she was right, straight away. There is no ‘one size fits all’. Whatever method keeps you producing work you’re proud of is right for you. It may be a completely different approach to what works for the next person, but writing is, for the most part, a solitary pursuit with no universal flow-chart to guaranteed success.

We can all benefit from some good quality pointers in the right direction, of course, so with the above caveat in mind, I offer for your consideration six craft books, written by leading authors, academics and critics. Chosen specifically for their vastly varied styles and suggested strategies, I hope one, two or perhaps even all six will prove useful for emerging writers. They each give different viewpoints on the craft of writing and, while some might serve simply to help you eliminate ways of working, others may offer something you take forward through the rest of your writing life. You may find yourself a favourite to reach for frequently or when in need of something particular it offers…”

Ailsa Cox – Writing Short Stories

“As Professor Emerita of short fiction at Edge Hill University and founder of the Edge Hill Prize, Ailsa Cox has made educating others and rewarding them for their successes her goal in life. And she’s very good at it. 

A huge fan of short stories myself, this book has been invaluable to me for many years and is one I often flip through when looking for a writing prompt or an exercise to help develop a section of a piece I’m working on. This book isn’t just for short fiction writers; Cox encourages emerging writers to break habits, try new things, and generally explore their creativity.

Key aspects of creative writing are explained clearly and concisely, including character development, structure, dialogue, viewpoint, narrative voice and much more. Exercises throughout each chapter ensure you’re writing as you work through the book and form a bank of tools you can draw on for many years afterwards. This is a text to work through from cover to cover, should you wish, but one I feel works best to dip in and out of, as needed.”

(Not currently available from The Morrab Library.)

Jessica Brody – Save the Cat Writes a Novel

“For novelists who work best within a clearly defined framework, Jessica Brody’s best-seller is a must. Follow the steps in this book from cover to cover and you’ll plop out at the far end of it with a manuscript built on decades of research, having employed her one-size-fits-all drafting method. 

The famed ‘Save the Cat’ methodology was originally a screenwriting strategy and here, Brody has successfully adapted it to novel-writing, so if you’re a filmic writer (ie. if you see your story as moving images in your head), you’ll likely connect with this book. Guiding writers through the fifteen plot points Brody says she has identified in almost every successful novel in history, she promises to help you compose successful novels that sell. There are many ‘cheat-sheets’ to be found online that claim to summarise her method (one written by Brody herself) but working through this book will bring benefits beyond just the production of your manuscript; you’ll learn how novels are constructed and begin almost subconsciously working that knowledge into all your writing from that point on.”

(Available to borrow from The Morrab Library. It can be found in the Literature Room, upstairs, at the Dewey Number 808.3)

Anne Lamott – Bird by Bird

“A beautiful exploration of the love of authorship, Lamott uses her signature style of non-fiction to take readers on a journey of becoming a writer in this best-selling book. Very much a blend of novel and instruction manual, Lamott delves deep into her father’s brain cancer diagnosis, the birth of her son, marriage, death, domestic abuse and how this and more has all affected her writing. 

For those struggling to find their way in the literary world, it may comfort you to learn that even greats such a Lamott have struggled intensely. Bird by Bird is relatable, heartbreaking, reassuring and exhilarating in equal measures. If you’re looking to wrap yourself up in an emotional read that will linger long after you put it down and simultaneously help you understand your own process, then this is a must-buy.”

(Available to borrow from The Morrab Library. It can be found in the Literature Room, upstairs, at the Dewey Number 808.3)

Jane Alison – Meander, Spiral, Explode

“For something a little bit… different, make sure to give Jane Alison’s award-winning craft book some much-deserved consideration. Breaking away from standard formulaic propositions, Meander, Spiral, Explode encourages writers to look for patterns in nature and use them to ‘feel’ their way through their stories, employing pure creative energy, rather than road-mapped guidance.

A fun read and insightful offering, Alison challenges the importance of the dramatic arc, rising tension, climaxes and denouements. She implores writers to leave these ‘outdated modes’ behind and instead ‘bring back experimentation’. For anyone who considers themselves a non-linear prose writer, this will be a huge help and a great pleasure to read.”

Peter is our Writer in Residence from March 2025 – March 2026. You can read more about his residency here and book a place on one of his creative writing workshops here.