A Crushing Walk in Cornwall

For retired San Diego detective Rick “Chase” Chasen, week-long walks in the English countryside are an enjoyable new pastime. But sometimes these outings take deadly detours …

Chase is disappointed that his partner Mike won’t be joining him on his tour of the rocky Cornish coast—but like long-distance walks, long-distance relationships can require an occasional break. He still has his friend Billie for company, though, and a few more fellow Americans, from a New Orleans restaurateur to a New York travel writer, joining them on their jaunt.

When the group hears before their departure that local landowners have been sabotaging the trail with booby-traps, their walk leader dismisses it as rumor—but some in the group are worried, especially after a terrifying incident on a bridge the very next morning. As they bravely continue their expedition, 12-year-old chatterbox Ivy, who’s already spilled some of her mother’s secrets, continues gossiping to Chase about the group members. She’s been researching online and thinks they’re not all as they seem. When one of them nearly plunges to her death during a visit to a 16th-century castle, Ivy’s sure a killer walks among them.

That turns out to be a real possibility when the near miss is followed by a suspicious death during a meal break. Did a Cornish property owner take a prank too far? And is Ivy just a drama-obsessed internet addict, or is ignoring her warnings a fatal misstep? If murder is truly afoot, Chase will have to rely on his investigative wits to trip the killer up.