Catching the Wave: A Seaside Bookshop Mysteries Novella

by Emily Selby

Amelia Barry, an IT security consultant, like many of us at the time of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, is working from home, except that for her, it means her godmother's place, in Leah-by-the-Sea, a small seaside town in Yorkshire, England. One late August morning, she receives a phone call from the other side of the world. Two New Zealanders are interested in the power bills in the area!

Amelia and her two local Martha and Mrs Webb, join forces with a visitor - Katie, and the two Kiwi Heather and Josephine, to discover why the dilapidated, uninhabited house next door uses so much electricity, what happens in the cellar, what the strange girl in the campervan in New Zealand has to do with it, and who really sits behind the secret activities.

This book takes place in the setting of the Seaside Bookshop Mysteries series (the events take place between Book 5 and Book 6), but it involves the main characters from two other series by Emily the Paper Crafts Club Mysteries (after Book 8) and Career Crisis Cafe Mysteries (after Book 8). Having said that, the story can be read at any point of any of the three series; it's a good introduction to the key characters and the universe.
Grab a copy, read and decide which of those three series you want to read next.

131 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 23, 2025

Reviews

[Sandrahoney Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Leah by the Sea during the COVID-19 pandemic, the story follows Amelia Barry, an IT security consultant temporarily working from her godmother’s home. What begins as an ordinary late summer morning quickly turns unusual when Amelia receives a surprising call from New Zealand. Two strangers are curious about unusually high power bills linked to her quiet seaside neighborhood. From that moment on, the mystery deepens.