The Dorset Cream Tea Mystery

The Jurassic Coast Mysteries #1.5

by Rachel McLean, Millie Ravensworth

When one of the members of the Lyme Regis Women’s Swimming Club takes on a new job cleaning holiday lets, she expects her biggest challenge to be working her way through six cottages before the next guests arrive. She doesn’t expect a mystery. Why is a picture in one of six identical cottages very slightly different to the others? Who is the mysterious woman who let herself in and cleaned before Rosamund got there? And what’s that awful smell in cottage number one? As Dorset Police investigate two murders they suspect of being connected with organised crime, Rosamund’s mysteries may be more serious than she thinks. Will she and her swimming buddies be about to solve a double homicide?

60 pages, Paperback

First published April 17, 2025

About the author

My name's Rachel McLean and I write stories you can't put down, with characters you'll be rooting for.

I'm best known for my Dorset Crime series, which has sold over a million copies. The first book in that series, The Corfe Castle Murders, won the 2021 Kindle Storyteller Award.

Here's what Clare Balding (the lead judge) had to say about the book:

'I particularly enjoyed the detail of the landscape and the humorous oddities of Dorset life. I enjoyed the richness of the characters, complexity of life for a working mother who is thrown into a new environment and has to prove herself, all over again.'

But The Corfe Castle Murders is by no means my only book. I've published five series and am working on two new ones, all of which connect. You'll find characters from each series in one or more of the other ones, so you (and I) get to follow them as they take on new challenges.

For example:

DCI Lesley Clarke is Zoe's boss in the DI Zoe Finch series and then moves to Dorset where she becomes the star of the Dorset Crime series.
DS Mo Uddin is Zoe's best friend and sidekick, then moves to Scotland for the McBride & Tanner series.
DC Tina Abbott is a key character in the Dorset Crime series and plays an important role in the new Lyme Regis Women's Swimming Club series of mysteries which stars her mum, Annie.
Zaf Williams starts off in the DI Zoe Finch series then moves to London and is one of the stars of the London Cosy Mysteries series (along with his colleague Diana and Gus the cat).
Dr Petra McBride appears in no fewer than three series and I'm planning a new series for her in 2026.
And not to be outdone, Zoe Finch has two series in which she stars: the DI Zoe Finch series of 'Deadly' books, and the Cumbria Crime series.
Once you get to know these characters, you'll find plenty of books to keep you entertained. And I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

You can read a full list of the series and books on my books page. Each series is designed to be read in order but which series you go for first is really up to you.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very short and sweet book.

[Carlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful novella free at the end of A Brush With Death, #2 in the Lyme Regis Women's Swimming Club Mysteries. I love these ladies! Would have been 5* if full length mystery. Very clever!!

Note: not "unknown aithor"... clear as can be on the cover!

[Martin Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would also have appreciated a full length novel but as someone who has lived in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall I wish this story had explained why the Devonians spread jam over cream instead of the more logical approach of putting down the jam to anchor the thick clotted cream to the scone.

[Annette O'grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

another enjoyable read