Fatal Tribute

How do you find the murderer, when every act is convincing?Tanya Bowe, an ex-investigative journalist, agrees to interview the contestants of the National Talent Competition for the local newspaper, but finds herself up to her neck in secrets, sabotage and simmering resentment. The tensions increase when her condescending sister comes to stay next door for the duration of the contest. Several rising stars on the circuit hope to win the competition, but old stager, Lance Emerald, is not going down without a fight. When Lance is found dead in his dressing room, Tanya is determined to find the murderer but complex dynamics between the contestants and fraught family relationships make the mystery harder to solve.Can Tanya uncover the truth before another murder takes centre stage?In this enthralling British, small-town, cozy mystery, book three of the Seacastle Mysteries, Tanya finds herself out of her depth in the cut-throat world of Talent competitions. If you love a cozy whodunnit set at the seaside, with a cast of recurring characters, this is the series for you.Solve the mystery for yourself PJ Skinner was born in Guildford, one of seven siblings. When she was six, the family moved to Ireland where she attended school. She went to Trinity College, Dublin University, graduating as a geologist. After graduation, PJ spent 35 years working in over thirty countries as an exploration geologist. PJ worked in many remote, strange, and often dangerous places, and loved every minute, despite encountering her fair share of misogyny and other perils. During this time, she collected the tall tales and real-life experiences which inspired her to write the The series chronicles the adventures of a pioneering female geologist in an almost exclusively male world. After finishing the Sam Harris Adventure series, PJ's childhood in Ireland inspired her to write the , which follows the fortunes of an English family who move to Ireland just before the start of the Troubles, under the name of Kate Foley. PJ moved to the south coast of England just before the Covid pandemic. There she wrote , a sci-fi mystery set on Mars, inspired by her fascination with all things celestial. It is a science-based murder mystery; think The Martian with fewer potatoes and more bodies.The enjoyment of writing Mortal Mission encouraged her to try writing a mystery series. She has always been a massive fan of crime and mystery, so it was inevitable she would turn her hand to it eventually. She published Deadly Return, the first book in the in July 2023 to great success. The Seacastle Mystery Series is a contemporary cosy mystery series with an amateur female sleuth, her grumpy ex-husband, hacker stepson and ungrateful rescue cat. The ensemble cast adds banter and humour as the series follows their stories between the murder mysteries. Malign Fortune, book 9, was released on the 31st of August 2025.