Lethal Secret

Seacastle Mysteries #8

by P.J. Skinner

When one woman is murdered and another vanishes, an investigation uncovers a wartime mystery—and a killer with unfinished business.The Shanty pub is the heart of Seacastle—a place for laughter, friendship, and the occasional small-town drama. But when a woman is found dead outside, the town is left reeling—especially when the victim bears a striking resemblance to Joy Wells, the pub’s co-owner, who hasn’t returned from a trip to Budapest.
To the people of Seacastle, Joy and her husband, Ryan, are just the couple who run the pub. But Joy and Ryan have secret lives—and someone from their past may be back for revenge.
With Ryan growing desperate and the police getting nowhere, Tanya sets out to find Joy herself. Following a trail that leads from the Sussex coast to the streets of Budapest, she uncovers more questions than answers. What was Joy really doing abroad? Why did someone want her gone? And how far will they go to settle old scores?
But time is running out, and every step closer to the truth raises the stakes. Will Tanya find Joy before she disappears for good?

A gripping new cosy mystery full of secrets and suspense, Lethal Secret is a must-read for fans of the Seacastle Mysteries. Buy your copy now and join Tanya on her quest to find Joy.

238 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2025

About the author

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 Sam Harris Adventure Series. 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 Green Family Saga, 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 Mortal Mission, 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 Seacastle Mysteries 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. Poison Politics, book 10, will be released on the 31st of December 2025.

Reviews

[Bookworm86 · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'Lethal Secret' by PJ Skinner

Yet another fantastic addition to the brilliant and addictive 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series. This is the eighth book in PJ's absolutely addictive 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series but each book can be read as a standalone.

OMG PJ Skinner yet another absolutely incredible page turning must read!! This book is the perfect for any cosy crime lovers!! in fact, just any one who loves an unputdownable read needs to get their copy of this book today!!

This book is part of 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series but can be read as a standalone. I would always recommend reading books in a series in order but if you cant resist reading this one before the previous ones, and who would blame you with this fantastic cover and intriguing synopsis sucking you in, then there is a silver lining! The silver lining is that after you finished and fallen in love with this book and series you can go back and read the previous 7 while you are waiting for Skinner's next success to come out!! On that note, I have some amazing news and that is that you will not have to wait too long for it!! The next book in this gorgeous series is already available to preorder on Amazon!! It is called 'Malign Fortune' and will be published on the 31st August so preorder it now and mark your calendars!! This series and book truly is an absolutely compelling, immersive and addictive read that kept me turning the pages until late at night. This book really is a fascinating, festive and fast paced action packed read that grips your attention from the first sentence all the way to the fantastic end!! With any books in 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series you will have absolutely no problems reading it without any of the others. Any details, relationships and/or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader. I mean I genuinely cannot remember the last time I flew through a book this quickly!!! Each and every time I went to put it down to do something my fingers were itching to pick it back up as I just HAD to know what happened next!! This is an absolutely unputdownable page turner and I cannot wait to read the future books in what is one of my favourite and most addictive series. I absolutely cannot wait to get stuck in to the next book which is guaranteed to be a best seller even if it is just a quarter as fantastic as this book is!!! I genuinely have no idea when I was last as hooked and as invested in the characters as I was with this book and in fact this whole series. Skinner is an absolutely fantastic cosy crime writer who knows exactly how to completely captivate her audience's attention from the very moment they read the first sentence throughout!! I absolutely LOVED the uniqueness of the storyline which after reading hundreds of crime books is getting extremely difficult to come by but PJ absolutely blows it out of the water with this one of a kind storyline!!! The storyline itself is ram packed with mystery, suspense, twists, heartbreak, humour, drama, secrets, crime, lies, murder and everything you could want in an unputdownable cosy crime mystery! Skinner weaves the storyline and chapters together perfectly to make a seamless, page turning and intriguing storyline that flows perfectly taking you on twists and turns throughout! I absolutely devoured this book in one sitting and was walking around with it glued to my hands. I attempted to lie to myself a couple of times and told myself one more chapter before I got in with some work but that was exactly what I was doing, lying to myself, as there was no way I could put it down so make sure you clear your schedules before reading a single word in this absolutely epic page turner!! I absolutely devoured it in one sitting of a few hours and was left needing more immediately!! The good thing about this fantastic page turner is that many of the chapters are only a few pages long which I prefer in a book to longer chapters as it means you can pick it up every time you have even just a few minutes and read a few chapters. Mind you, that is only IF you manage to put it down at all which I did not manage to do!! Skinner's evocative writing skills ensures you are dragged deep into the storyline seeing everything that is happening and feeling the tension and suspense throughout. Although it is primarily a murder mystery book the storyline has plenty of humour and laughter throughout which I love in mystery as it lightens up the atmosphere and makes you smile and laugh and Skinner really does a brilliant job with her storyline and characters. I had no idea who was behind what so yet another huge well done to Skinner as again it is getting harder and harder to shock me but you managed that hook, line and sinker too!! What I loved about this book is that I immediately it felt like I was returning to a familiar community as if it is a regular holiday home for me where I can escape from reality and as soon as I read the first page I felt comfortably "on holidays in a second home" if that makes sense. If you want to know more about this brilliant story you will just have to grab yourself a copy!! I promise that you will not regret it!! I cannot wait to get stuck in to the next book in the absolutely amazing 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series!!! This would make an absolutely epic TV series and that's just going by this one incredible book so that says a lot and I will definitely be first in line to watch it!!!

Clear your schedules before picking up this book as once it has you hooked there will be no getting away until you get to the very last word!

Every single one of the characters all come to life with Skinner's fantastic evocative and emotive writing skills and absolutely epic character development. They are well rounded, complex, realistic and strong making them all the more believable. I absolutely LOVED our main protagonist and local sleuth Tanya Bowe who is such a likeable, realistic, humorous and strong women as soon as I met her in 'Last Orders'!!! Tanya and all the rest of the gang genuinely feel like friends that I loved meting again and that I really do genuinely miss when I have to say Goodbye at the end of the book. Tanya is an absolute breathe of fresh air and I always love seeing strong female protagonists in books, especially being female myself, and Tanya is definitely on my favourite list immediately. It wasn't just Tanya I loved but so many of the characters that I got to meet again from Tanya's stepson Mouse, her ex husband who is now with her sister Helen ,and is a police officer, George who is also Mouse's father, Tanya's partner Harry and many, many more of the surrounding characters such as Tanya's neighbours which she has barely got to know, dramatic Ghita, Harry's brother Nick, Roz and I could genuinely go on and on. I must admit though that being a huge animal lover and running my own little rescue called 'Golden Oldies Cat Rescue And Hospice' which you can find on social media if you wish my favourite just has to be Hades!! Skinner's brilliant evocative and emotive descriptions really does ensure the reader sees and hears everything that Tanya does along with the rest of the characters throughout. I really cannot wait to meet Tanya and the rest of the characters again and again in the previous books along with any future books. Skinner really does do an absolutely fantastic job bringing each and every one of the characters to life ensuring the reader goes through everything with each of the characters while feeling you are standing close enough to touch them. They each had their own unique personalities, strengths, flaws, quirks, weaknesses and storylines. I don't want to say too much and risk giving anything away but Skinner really does do an absolutely brilliant job of making the reader feel and see everything they are feeling and seeing, especially our main protagonist Tanya. I was completely invested in Tanya as well as several of the other main characters and just had to know what was going to happen! PJ Skinner really has done an absolutely amazing job constructing an addictive and fantastic cosy crime mystery with varied characters that you just won't be able to put down!! An amazing bunch of characters that have very quickly become friends that I am sad to have to say Goodbye to!

Congratulations PJ Skinner on yet another absolutely fantastic, cosy and addictive read!!! This is exactly why you are in my favourite 3 cosy crime author list!! Here's to many more successes 🥂!!!

Clear your schedules before picking this up as you will not be able to put it down!!!

Overall an absolutely page turning, addictive, intriguing, unique and cosy must read that will keep you addicted from the very start to the fantastic ending!!!

#LethalSecret #TheSeacastleMysteries #PJSkinner #PJSkinnerAuthor #ParkinPress #Bookstagrammer

@PJSkinner @PJSkinnerAuthor @ParkinPress

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[Bookworm86 · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'Lethal Secret' by PJ Skinner

Yet another fantastic addition to the brilliant and addictive 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series. This is the eighth book in PJ's absolutely addictive 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series but each book can be read as a standalone.

OMG PJ Skinner yet another absolutely incredible page turning must read!! This book is the perfect for any cosy crime lovers!! in fact, just any one who loves an unputdownable read needs to get their copy of this book today!!

This book is part of 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series but can be read as a standalone. I would always recommend reading books in a series in order but if you cant resist reading this one before the previous ones, and who would blame you with this fantastic cover and intriguing synopsis sucking you in, then there is a silver lining! The silver lining is that after you finished and fallen in love with this book and series you can go back and read the previous 7 while you are waiting for Skinner's next success to come out!! On that note, I have some amazing news and that is that you will not have to wait too long for it!! The next book in this gorgeous series is already available to preorder on Amazon!! It is called 'Malign Fortune' and will be published on the 31st August so preorder it now and mark your calendars!! This series and book truly is an absolutely compelling, immersive and addictive read that kept me turning the pages until late at night. This book really is a fascinating, festive and fast paced action packed read that grips your attention from the first sentence all the way to the fantastic end!! With any books in 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series you will have absolutely no problems reading it without any of the others. Any details, relationships and/or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader. I mean I genuinely cannot remember the last time I flew through a book this quickly!!! Each and every time I went to put it down to do something my fingers were itching to pick it back up as I just HAD to know what happened next!! This is an absolutely unputdownable page turner and I cannot wait to read the future books in what is one of my favourite and most addictive series. I absolutely cannot wait to get stuck in to the next book which is guaranteed to be a best seller even if it is just a quarter as fantastic as this book is!!! I genuinely have no idea when I was last as hooked and as invested in the characters as I was with this book and in fact this whole series. Skinner is an absolutely fantastic cosy crime writer who knows exactly how to completely captivate her audience's attention from the very moment they read the first sentence throughout!! I absolutely LOVED the uniqueness of the storyline which after reading hundreds of crime books is getting extremely difficult to come by but PJ absolutely blows it out of the water with this one of a kind storyline!!! The storyline itself is ram packed with mystery, suspense, twists, heartbreak, humour, drama, secrets, crime, lies, murder and everything you could want in an unputdownable cosy crime mystery! Skinner weaves the storyline and chapters together perfectly to make a seamless, page turning and intriguing storyline that flows perfectly taking you on twists and turns throughout! I absolutely devoured this book in one sitting and was walking around with it glued to my hands. I attempted to lie to myself a couple of times and told myself one more chapter before I got in with some work but that was exactly what I was doing, lying to myself, as there was no way I could put it down so make sure you clear your schedules before reading a single word in this absolutely epic page turner!! I absolutely devoured it in one sitting of a few hours and was left needing more immediately!! The good thing about this fantastic page turner is that many of the chapters are only a few pages long which I prefer in a book to longer chapters as it means you can pick it up every time you have even just a few minutes and read a few chapters. Mind you, that is only IF you manage to put it down at all which I did not manage to do!! Skinner's evocative writing skills ensures you are dragged deep into the storyline seeing everything that is happening and feeling the tension and suspense throughout. Although it is primarily a murder mystery book the storyline has plenty of humour and laughter throughout which I love in mystery as it lightens up the atmosphere and makes you smile and laugh and Skinner really does a brilliant job with her storyline and characters. I had no idea who was behind what so yet another huge well done to Skinner as again it is getting harder and harder to shock me but you managed that hook, line and sinker too!! What I loved about this book is that immediately it felt like I was returning to a familiar community as if it is a regular holiday home for me where I can escape from reality and as soon as I read the first page I felt comfortably "on holidays in a second home" if that makes sense. If you want to know more about this brilliant story you will just have to grab yourself a copy!! I promise that you will not regret it!! I cannot wait to get stuck in to the next book in the absolutely amazing 'The Seacastle Mysteries' series!!! This would make an absolutely epic TV series and that's just going by this one incredible book so that says a lot and I will definitely be first in line to watch it!!!

Clear your schedules before picking up this book as once it has you hooked there will be no getting away until you get to the very last word!

Every single one of the characters all come to life with Skinner's fantastic evocative and emotive writing skills and absolutely epic character development. They are well rounded, complex, realistic and strong making them all the more believable. I absolutely LOVED our main protagonist and local sleuth Tanya Bowe who is such a likeable, realistic, humorous and strong women as soon as I met her in 'Last Orders'!!! Tanya and all the rest of the gang genuinely feel like friends that I loved meting again and that I really do genuinely miss when I have to say Goodbye at the end of the book. Tanya is an absolute breathe of fresh air and I always love seeing strong female protagonists in books, especially being female myself, and Tanya is definitely on my favourite list immediately. It wasn't just Tanya I loved but so many of the characters that I got to meet again from Tanya's stepson Mouse, her ex husband who is now with her sister Helen ,and is a police officer, George who is also Mouse's father, Tanya's partner Harry and many, many more of the surrounding characters such as Tanya's neighbours which she has barely got to know, dramatic Ghita, Harry's brother Nick, Roz and I could genuinely go on and on. I must admit though that being a huge animal lover and running my own little rescue called 'Golden Oldies Cat Rescue And Hospice' which you can find on social media if you wish my favourite just has to be Hades!! Skinner's brilliant evocative and emotive descriptions really does ensure the reader sees and hears everything that Tanya does along with the rest of the characters throughout. I really cannot wait to meet Tanya and the rest of the characters again and again in the previous books along with any future books. Skinner really does do an absolutely fantastic job bringing each and every one of the characters to life ensuring the reader goes through everything with each of the characters while feeling you are standing close enough to touch them. They each had their own unique personalities, strengths, flaws, quirks, weaknesses and storylines. I don't want to say too much and risk giving anything away but Skinner really does do an absolutely brilliant job of making the reader feel and see everything they are feeling and seeing, especially our main protagonist Tanya. I was completely invested in Tanya as well as several of the other main characters and just had to know what was going to happen! PJ Skinner really has done an absolutely amazing job constructing an addictive and fantastic cosy crime mystery with varied characters that you just won't be able to put down!! An amazing bunch of characters that have very quickly become friends that I am sad to have to say Goodbye to!

Congratulations PJ Skinner on yet another absolutely fantastic, cosy and addictive read!!! This is exactly why you are in my favourite 3 cosy crime author list!! Here's to many more successes 🥂!!!

Clear your schedules before picking this up as you will not be able to put it down!!!

Overall an absolutely page turning, addictive, intriguing, unique and cosy must read that will keep you addicted from the very start to the fantastic ending!!!

#LethalSecret #TheSeacastleMysteries #PJSkinner #PJSkinnerAuthor #ParkinPress #Bookstagrammer

@PJSkinner @PJSkinnerAuthor @ParkinPress

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[Sonja Charters · Rating 5 out of 5]

We're back with the 8th book in The Seacastle Mystery series and this one's a little bit different as we head away from Seacastle for part of the story.

I will most definitely not be giving away any spoilers, but we follow Tanya and Harry to Budapest as they try to solve the latest mystery.

 

I have to admit that in a series like this with a familiar setting and a cast of local characters, I usually hate to travel away and lose that connection with what we know - but this was so cleverly written that although we spend a lot of the book abroad, there's a continuous close link to home, before, after and even during the investigation.

 

This means that we get the best of both worlds.

We still get to catch up with our favourite Seacastle regulars, but also get to meet some new and interesting characters too!

 

This was a complex case for George and his team and it was great to see him willingly enlisting Tanya to help him out.

There were quite a few different threads running through this one, so it kept me guessing.

I thought I'd worked it all out - but as ever, the twist came and caught me out again! before the pieces all come together for an exciting conclusion.

 

I always love PJ's writing anyway, but I particularly loved the scenes written in Budapest, where we take in some of the culture and visit some wonderful historic sites with our gang.

I'm not big on reading historical fiction normally, but I learned so much here and loved the way it was woven within the cosy crime storyline.

 

This was a great read and I really enjoyed getting to hear more about Joy and Ryan from the Shanty.

I can't wait to see where book 9 will be heading!......

 

 

[Marcia - itsabookthing2021 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lethal Secret blew me away! I know I always look forward to another book in this series but this one gave me different emotions to the others.
I felt like it was loaded, heavy with emotions, it hit harder than the previous books. We did have the same familiar layout of a murder and a who dunnit but this one brought us much more than that and it took us to Budapest. It gave us an unexpected background to a few characters and I really wasn't expecting any of what played out.
I love PJ Skinner's writing she brings cosy mysteries to life, but not only that she makes the reader connect to her characters, she brings the raw emotions and she makes us feel like they're family.
I thoroughly enjoyed Lethal Secret and after reading the last page, I feel... It's hard to describe, I had a lump in my throat - a mix bag of emotions.
This is a series I will always recommend.

[Tami Wylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book eight in my absolute favourite mystery series, lethal secret sees Tanya, Harry and Mouse travel to Budapest to find their friend Joy Wells after a body is found outside The Shanty Pub and everyone assumes it’s Joy because the DNA matches. However, Tanya knows about Joy’s secret life as a spy. I really enjoyed seeing the gang extend their sleuthing abroad. It added a whole new air to the story and a delicious sense of excitement. These books get better and better as the series progresses, if that’s even possible! I love the aspect of how each book features a different resident of Seacastle who needs Tanya‘s help. The story was packed with lots of surprises as the hunt for Joy went on. I can’t recommend a series enough and I’m very excited for the next one.

[caz.readz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 8 in the Seacastle Mysteries series by PJ Skinner and I am delighted to be back with Tanya and the gang. This time we are going travelling as Tanya and Harry find themselves in Budapest.

Joy Wells who runs the local pub, The Shanty, with her husband Ryan has gone missing and when a dead body turns up with an incredible likeness to Joy panic sets in. Joy was last known to be in Budapest but no one has heard from her in days. Joy and Ryan aren’t just a normal couple who own a pub but actually have secret lives that can place them in dangerous situations. Could someone from their past caught up with them seeking revenge?

Although these are cosy mysteries this one feels a little more intense as they are crossing borders and could be in a lot of danger. However with Harry by her side Tanya can do just bout anything. They make a fantastic team and I enjoyed Harry being a bigger part of the story working alongside Tanya. We find out more about the lives of some of the characters we have grown to love throughout this series. The natural evolution of the characters is written so effortlessly and you really feel like you’re back with friends with each book that’s released. The tension builds throughout the story leaving us with a satisfying ending. There are plenty of twists and revelations along the way allowing you to believe you know who the villain is but trust me you

[Anne Kavcic · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are getting better and better! Lots of excitement as Ryan's wife Joy hasn't returned from a longer trip and everyone is concerned - and soon more people know about his double life as a spy. Soon Tanya and Harry are off to Budapest to look up old history - and get in quite a spot of trouble. I can't give too much away! The action is thick and fast, the writing good (especially descriptions of places, which make you feel right on the spot) and an exceptional ending. - I received an advance copy and freely leave this honest review.

[theweebookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series and have been collecting all the books with their lovely colourful covers.

This is book 8 and is set in Budapest this time instead of Seacastle but still features all our favourite characters.

I think out of all the books so far this is my favourite. I loved the descriptions of the trips to Budapest as they brought back some lovely memories. I found this book to be a bit grittier than the rest with the usual twists and turns that kept me hooked to the end.

Roll on book number 9!

If you like cosy crime/mystery then I would highly recommend this series to you.

[Paul Bennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another worthy addition to the Seacastle Mysteries series. I really enjoyed this book, and it certainly had a lot of twists in the story. It also had a few places where you think "Oh no!" but these only help to make the book compulsive reading!

The book can be read as a standalone story, but it does have links to events in other books in the series. If you do decide to start at book 1 and work your way through the series to this book, I guarantee that you will not be disappointed!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fiver!!!!

It’s uncomfortable sitting on the edge of your seat to read but there were times this wonderful little cozy took me there. I’ve followed characters from the first book in the series and only gotten better. Pre-ordered number 9. So worth it. The story unique and the characters people you wish you could gather with in real life instead of in PJ Skinners imagination.

[Una · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful adventure from Tanya and Harry.
This time, much of the excitement takes place in Budapest, which as a new location contrasted nicely with the familiarity we now have with Seacastle.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series ❤️

Tanya is at it again! She always knows how to capture the bad guys and capture our hearts as she pursues the suspect. I love these books and look forward to Tanyas next adventure.

[Laura Poppenwimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are fun cozy mysteries and easy to read. The characters are interesting and they add to the plot. There are just enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you interested. These are a fast read, easily done in one sitting.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 8 in series- I read all of her books and enjoy them. I somehow missed this one and had to go back and order and read. This story of Joy and learn more about Ryan and Joy. Along with Tanya and the gang to figure out who was murdered and how everything ties back to the 2.

[Dianne Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Seacastle Mystery Yet!

I love these characters and P. J. Skinners talent for writing. This one took us out of the country and on quiet a chase.

[Janet Epperson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always a great book. Love this series & characters.

[Marion Moxhay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant installment of the series. International intrigue overload. Can't wait for the next one.