Three of Us

A young man, ‘Dutchy’, reluctantly joins his parents on a family holiday to the Scilly Islands. Imprisoned after misadventures drinking on a night out, instead of reliving the glories of memory lane, Dutchy and his parents find themselves trapped in a hangover of holidays past. The islands’ detective, PC Wellin, whose life has been touched by the tragedy of alcoholism, is sympathetic to his plight. Rather than taking further action, she agrees he can spend the rest of the holiday in a recently opened rehabilitation centre on the islands, Rock Hall. There, Dutchy’s eyes are opened to the experiences of the residents battling their own killers. There is then the death of a resident who seems out of place even at Rock Hall. Dutchy gradually gets drawn into the mystery of this and other deaths of Rock Hall as PC Wellin investigates. The motives of its mysterious wealthy owners and the secrets that are hidden there along with the untold stories of the residents themselves gradually come to light. The Three of Us is a murder mystery about addiction, death, family, and the comedic tragedy of life.

JB Hall is a debut novelist. Having been to the Scillys with his own parents when he was younger, he was inspired to write the novel after returning as an adult with his own family. He thought combining the beauty of the islands with a murder mystery plot would make a compelling novel with elements of nostalgia, whilst noting the sadness of how the illness of addiction can impact families.