Recommended well written gripping story set by the sea.....

[spinachmonster]

Fiction or non fiction please. Really want to get absorbed in a good book.

Any recommendations gratefully received.

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

Names for the Sea by Sarah Moss. (not really about the sea as such, but Iceland, still fab)

Seashaken Houses (about lighthouses)

Lucy Clarke writes psycho thrillers always set near the sea but frankly does my head in as she only knows one adjective "salty"

Jamaica Inn? (smugglers and heaving bosoms?)

Poldark (see above)

The Salt Path books (haven't read them, apparently a bit marmite, woman is apparently a genius/entitled whingebag according to which way you like your marmite.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier.

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Septys.

Now We Shall Be Entirely Free. There's a lot of sea in it including a couple of sustained sea settings. It's also really very good.

The Old Man And The Sea? Moby Dick? I’ve never read either but they must be classics for a reason (although Moby Dick is more set in the sea rather than by it).

I hated The Salt Path btw. Not just for her whinge (although there is a lot of that) but more because of her point blank refusal to take any responsibility for anything she does or to examine herself or even attempt to tell the truth, while all the time posturing about being honest and warts and all. She seems to write in order to rewrite her life, as though most people would have given a shit or would even have heard of her if it weren't for her writing that bloody book. Fucking annoying, seriously.

Rebecca if you have not read it

I loved The Salt Path. It's a true story about a couple who are conned out of their house, and when they become homeless, they set off on a coastal walk, camping as they go, until winter sets in. There are a few bits that made me slightly suspicious ("Is this really true?") but I was enjoying it so much that I didn't care. It's beautifully written, and as gripping as a thriller.

Two brilliant classics set in Brighton - Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, and The West Pier by Patrick Hamilton.

If you want something quite light, but still beautifully written, Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve

Two I really didn't get on with are The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch, and The Sea by John Banville ... boring, unrealistic, pretentious waffle, in my opinion.

Ooooh, thanks to a pp for reminding me about Poldark. I heard a bit of Poldark being read on Radio Four, and it sounded absolutely fab! I've been meaning to get hold of the Poldark books ever since ... right, off to do it now ...

The Lamplighters is a really absorbing novel set almost entirely on the sea. Plenty of twists and turns.

I ADORED The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Richard E Grant and I envy anyone listening to it for the first time.

Well an estuary if not the open sea - The Essex Serpent. I loved it but I used to live near there so loved all the references.
Conversely, hated On Chesil Beach. Boring and with utterly obnoxious characters that I couldn’t have cared less about.

Elly Griffith's Ruth Galloway series: Norfolk coast
Ann Cleeves' Jimmy Perez and Vera Stanhope series: Shetland and Northumberland.

My advice would be to start with the first book in each series and read in order.

I also really enjoyed The Salt Path.

Griffiths'

Jane Johnson is good. The Tenth Gift and The Sea Gate. Not all sea settings but good all the same.

Breath by Tim Winton

Most of Patrick Gale's novels are set in Cornwall. I find them gently gripping.

The North Water a ripping yarn set on the sea. A page turner but you need a strong stomach. Which I haven't got but still enjoyed it.

Brilliant!! Thank you all so much. I will work my way through all these recommendations.

@Laska2Meryls Funnily enough I recently finished The Lamplighters which is what prompted my question! I really enjoyed it. Thank you

Midnight is a lonely place, Barbara Erskine. Couldn’t put it down

The Sea Detective series by Mark Douglas-Home are very much sea based, but also the coastal feel

The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng - set on the coast in Malaya before/during World War II - difficult subject matter but the writing is stunning

I recently enjoyed On the Beach by Nevil Shute after a recommendation from here of peoples fave books. It’s gripping, sad, but strangely hopeful also.

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch.