The Secret at Sea Grape Cottage

Drake Marlow: Book 7

Advance Reader Copy

Genres

Noir, Crime Mystery, Private Eye, Murder Mystery, Historical, and Novels

Trigger Warnings

Death

Type of Ending

Series

Drake Marlow — Book 7

Series Read Order

Reading prior books is recommended, but not required

Author Prefers A Review On

Amazon

Reader Spots Remaining

Number of days to read

Publication Date

Mar 1, 2026

Page Length

240 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

The Secret at Sea Grape Cottage

Drake Marlow: Book 7

Advance Reader Copy

Blurb

He was about to tell the truth—until it killed him.

When best-selling author George Cummings dies in front of Palm Beach’s most powerful citizens—moments after promising to reveal a long-buried secret—private investigator Drake Marlow is hired to uncover what Cummings knew and who silenced him.

Following the trail through the author’s book, Marlow travels from the glittering shores of Palm Beach, where voodoo warnings whisper of a darker truth, to dust-choked pages of forgotten church ledgers in Abaco in the Bahamas. Along the way, clues point toward someone with everything to lose as Marlow uncovers a forbidden love, a decades-old brutal crime, and a cache of gold doubloons capable of rewriting local history.

The Secret at Sea Grape Cottage is a gripping mystery for readers who savor buried family secrets, shocking betrayals, and a detective willing to chase the truth—even when it leads into the guarded heart of Palm Beach, Florida, society.

Details

Genres

Noir, Crime Mystery, Private Eye, Murder Mystery, Historical, and Novels

Trigger Warnings

Death

Type of Ending

Series

Drake Marlow — Book 7

Series Read Order

Reading prior books is recommended, but not required

Author Prefers A Review On

Amazon

Reader Spots Remaining

Number of days to read

Publication Date

Mar 1, 2026

Page Length

240 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

Author

Sally J. Ling, Florida’s History Detective, is an author, speaker, and historian. She writes historical nonfiction, specializing in obscure, unusual, or little-known stories of Florida history and mysteries with a Florida connection.

As a special correspondent, Sally wrote for the Sun-Sentinel newspaper for four years and was a contributing journalist for several South Florida magazines.

Based upon her knowledge as well as excerpts from her books, Sally has appeared in three feature-length TV documentaries—“Gangsters,” the National Geographic Channel; “The Secret Weapon that Won World War II,” and “Prohibition and the South Florida Connection,” WLRN, Miami. She served as associate producer on the latter production. She has also appeared in and served as a production consultant for several short documentaries on South Florida history produced by WLRN, Miami.