Penelope Cress Books In Order

Publication Order of The Isle of Wesberrey Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Penelope Cress
Penelope Cress lives on this island just off of the coast of Kent, England, with one elderly Jack Russell Terrier and her four kids.

A lover of murder mystery and cups of tea (which is served with a stack of digestive biscuits), she writes these quaint little cozy mysteries and other feel good stories from this corner table found in the vintage tea shop located on the high street.

She loves all things retro and nostalgia. Her taste in music is also very last century.

Penelope loves a good murder. There is nothing she likes more than snuggling up, watching “Midsomer Murders” and Agatha Christie on TV. Or even better watching reading a recent cozy mystery on the train at the end of another hard day.

In her mind, she imagined the nostalgic world of G.K. Chesterton’s “Father Brown” with the modern day humor of the Vicar of Dibley. What if there was this place where there weren’t any cars but cats just roamed free? A place steeped in history, ritual, and tradition which embraced the very best things about living in the modern world. This charming English idyll where the just so happens to be the odd murder, every other week.

In her research about the local history of her parish church she found the legend of the fertility well and the triple goddess. What if Reverend Jess Ward had descended from the original keepers of the well? Could there be a way for modern and ancient traditions to co-exist peacefully?

Penelope has had a lot of fun creating this world where all of these elements could find a home and she’s had even more fun populating this island with its wonderful cast of characters. She loves them like her own family and she hopes that her readers grow to love them as well.

“Holy Homicide” is the first novel in the “Isle of Wesberrey Mysteries” series and was released in 2020. A touch of romance, a hint of magic, and a remote island location. Wrongdoer, it is time to say your prayers.

Despite a pretty serious cat allergy and her mom’s warnings about disaster and doom, Reverend Jessamy Ward is excited to head back to her early childhood home on the Isle of Wesberrey. There she’ll take up her new role as parish priest of St. Bridget’s Abbey.

But she should’ve heeded her mom’s warning that there were secrets waiting for her. Secrets which don’t wish to be known. Secrets which will force her to start questioning not just her vocation but also her sanity as well.

Making things worse, when her return coincides with this murder, could it be that she is, in fact, the root cause? Finding herself landing on rocky ground, can she uncover this killer, or is unearthing her own family’s secrets destroy this new life of hers?

“Mausoleum Madness” is the second novel in the “Isle of Wesberrey Mysteries” series and was released in 2020. Jess Ward’s just been back on the Isle of Wesberrey for a few weeks, however all of the recent drama has made it feel a whole lot longer. Drama that’s much increased by the unexpected arrival of Susannah, her sister.

The bishop is due back in just a few days to formally install her into the benefice of St. Bridget’s and there’s so very much to prepare. Add to all of this a double funeral and this surprise visit from her mom and Jess doesn’t have any time for family legends about the Well of the Triple Goddess and the ‘godmother’.

But a wealthy businessman vanishing forces her to reexamine her own personal connection to this ancient family myth, her family claim they can sense he’s dead. It’s all madness, obviously. However the discovery of the man’s body at his father-in-law’s funeral pulls all of them back into the darkest secrets of the island.

Jess’s best friend has gone AWOL with the handsome undertaker and her sister’s proving to be an unwanted distraction for this dishy police inspector. Things are moving quick on Wesberrey, and it is more than enough to make her dizzy. Or could that be the result of reconnecting with her own pagan past?

“Pious Poison” is the third novel in the “Isle of Wesberrey Mysteries” series and was released in 2020. Jess Ward joined the Wesberrey Walkers in order to get fit. However it just may be the death of her.

Obliged to look after her older sister’s driven and handsome Brazilian lover, Jess introduces Frederico to the local walking group. With the annual Wesberrey Walkathon just a few weeks away, everybody’s got their sights on this prize, however could there be somebody in this group ready to murder for it?

This mysterious illness lays low numerous walkers and Jess starts suspecting foul play. Who would deliberately poison the competition, and how could they have done it? Still unsure about the reality of her newly discovered psychic capabilities, yet without much else to go on, she tries channeling help from a higher plane.

Can she really trust her own intuition? What or who is bringing everybody to their knees? Could it be a dodgy hummus, or a lethal human?

“Divine Death” is the fourth novel in the “Isle of Wesberrey Mysteries” series and was released in 2022. Things seem to be settling down in the island parish of St. Bridget’s, and Rev Jess Ward is enjoying the relative peace in the build up to Pentecost. So, possibly it’s unwise to invite in the local archaeological society to dig up the old well? What is the dig underneath the floor of the baptismal font uncover?

Spring is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. Could that be romance we’re smelling in the air? Life skips along, right up until a sudden death takes the spring right out of Jess Ward’s step.

Some old rivalries, ambitions, and deception are each viable motives for violence, however could it just be a crime of passion or even self defense? In a mystery which seems to involve some of her closest friends and family, she goes back to her ancient past to help solve this latest tragedy.