The shore along the Cornish coast is picturesque and thus the perfect setting for a mystery. The Cornish coasts and in fact Cornwall in general has been the setting of many mystery stories like Rebecca and The Moonstone because of their isolated position. The roads that we traveled to arrive there were windy and little and the large homes were spread far apart along the coast with no easy communication between them. The shore is also just reached by little paths that were carved into the rock cliff faces making the way down treacherous. The murders that could be masked as accidents or suicides are vast and could be easily done. The close proximity to the sea or ocean added another element, the possibility of a body being washed up on shore and the mystery connected with that. Was it a ship wreck or was it murder? This is the case with Rebecca when a boat shows up after a large storm revealing that Rebecca was murdered instead of suicide. Within The Moonstone the shore is also an important place. The country house is set close by and there is a place along the shore that contains quicksand. This quicksand creates a place for things to be hidden for a time, the nightshirt, or to disappear forever, in the case of Rosanna Spearman. The shore along the Cornish coast is beautiful and picturesque but that does not make it exempt from the murder and mysteries that are set there in mystery novels and really happen there.
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