Dorset Stories & Coastal Mysteries!
Fiction – based on historical fact with Dorset vibes in Every Tale
From real historical crime to coastal folklore, Roman-era imaginations to atmospheric mysteries around Corfe Castle and Tyneham, many books celebrate Dorset’s soul in story, away from Thomas Hardy tales! Below is just a small selection, growing over time. Some Sunday Times bestsellers included.
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Skin — Ilka Tampke
A unique historical narrative connected to the birth of Roman Britain and the Dorset/Somerset frontier, imagining lives in borderland forts and the legacies left behind.
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The Butcher’s Daughter — Victoria Glendinning
Set around Shaftesbury Abbey at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries it is a rich historical tale of faith, family, loss and transformation in medieval Dorset.
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The Swift and the Harrier — Minette Walters
A tense historical tale based around West Dorset during the English Civil War, where loyalty, conflict and countryside life shaped the landscape today.
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Just Causes — Georgia Piggott
A powerful novel set around the time of the plague, exploring resilience, community and survival against a backdrop of fear and change.
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The Angel of Wessex — Michael J.H. Taylor
A historical tale set in the kingdom of Wessex, which included Dorset, rich with early English history, tough livelihoods and the dramatic landscapes which shaped them. It is the only novel he has written but has published many books on military aviation.
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My Name is Martha Brown — Nicola Thorne
A reimagining of the life and trial of Martha Brown, at the heart of one of Dorset’s most notorious real crime cases in the 1850s. Nicola Thorne is the primary pseudonym of Rosemary Ellerbeck, a prolific British author known for her historical, contemporary, and gothic romance novels. Rosemary passed away peacefully on Friday the 17th of January 2025 aged 92.
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The People of this Parish — Rosemary Ellerbeck
Centred on the fictional Wenham, the story follows the families that live within it. With regular visits to Bournemouth, Blandford, Sherborne and Weymouth.
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The Midnight Feast — Lucy Foley
A thrilling mystery set on the Dorset Coast, weaving horror, folklore and secrets hidden in cliffs and woodland paths.
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Death at the White Hart — Chris Chibnall
A compelling village murder mystery with small-town dynamics and dark secrets. From the creator of Broadchurch, the iconic crime drama rooted in Dorset’s dramatic coastline.
Chris Chibnall / Broadchurch tv series
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The Corfe Castle Murders — Rachel McLean – part of a series
Dorset Crime #1. The first in the series, anchored around the iconic Corfe Castle ruins, where landscape, history and murder collide in atmospheric rural crime.
The Ghost Village Murders — Rachel McLean
Dorset Crime #9. A body found in Tyneham, a real deserted village on the Dorset Jurassic Coast, draws DCI Lesley Clarke into corruption, old feuds and coastal secrets.
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