A Crushing Walk in Cornwall (publication day March 31, 2026) by Nicholas George is the third book in a series written by Nicholas George that follows retired San Diego detective Rich Chasen, who goes by Chase. He loves to go on walking tours of different parts of England in his retirement, and this one is along the coast of Cornwall. I surmised that in the first book, he met his current boyfriend Mike, a coroner in Devon, and they are now engaged in a long-distance relationship.
Mike just spent 3 months in San Diego with Chase, but has to return to his job. Chase is doing a walk with a fellow Anglophile friend, Billie, before staying 3 months with Mike as they figure out how they can make their relationship work. As with any group tour, there’s no telling about the personalities before you meet each other.
Most odd is an older woman Luella, her new husband Jorge, and her adult son, Ben, who seems to have a difficult relationship with his mother, as she is constantly threatening to remove him from her will. There’s a lawyer-mother Rachel and her tween daughter, Ivy, who seems nosy and precocious, along with a couple of single men, in addition to Chase and Billie and their walk leader Brian.
Things start to happen on their first day, when a bridge collapses while Luella is on it, and Chase sees that it looks to have been sabotaged. The group finds out that there is some local controversy going on–many new landowners are now required by law to allow walkers of the coastal path along their land, as the previously-used paths are becoming too dangerous, and many people don’t want their land trampled on in this way. Ivy has already done internet research on everyone and strikes up a friendship with Chase, as she is aware of some famous cases he solved in his time as a detective.
Strange things continue to happen, including Luella almost falling out of a window in a castle, and Ivy starts making accusations without any evidence. Things do get very tense, but not more so than when one of their party is crushed by a falling statue. Chase manages to find some crucial evidence, though, and assists the local law enforcement in figuring out what happened ,though not before Ivy is in grave danger as well.
It was a satisfying mystery, and I enjoyed the descriptions of the scenery and the idea of taking a walking tour in England. I would likely read the first two if I found myself in the unlikely situation of not having anything to read that sounds good. But I have to consider it mildly anti-fat biased, as the author described a couple of characters as being able to “shed a few pounds” or as the “least fit” in the group. He could have done better.
Reading While Fat 