A Rather Remarkable Homecoming by C.A. Belmond (2011)

Well, it looks like this is the last one, as this is already seven years old, though it ends on the potential of another case to come. I could have kept reading these gentle mysteries where historical artifacts that I know little about play an important role in our charming couple's adventures. I was so happy with the last book that I tried to get this on my list for audio books, but my store did not have it, so I had to renew my long unused local public library card and check it out there. Read it over Thanksgiving weekend, so a few chores did not get done.

Penny and Jeremy got married in the last book and promised to not take on any cases involving family members, but when H.R.H. asks them to look into Penny's grandmother's cottage in Cornwall (I had to look it up and now know where it is), they could not resist. It was the place they met as children and both have fond memories of this house on the cliffs overlooking the sea. (I just recently finished the Library at the Edge of the World, which is on the coast of Ireland, but faced similar developer issues.) A historical society had tried maintaining the house, and should have first dibs on purchasing it, but developers have convinced the council that the cottage should be torn down and developed into a huge resort for tourists, so they have made life hard for the historical society. They turn to Penny and Jeremy to find some reason not to overdevelop the place. For a while they think Shakespeare might have lived there for a while, as no one knows where he was for certain years. I loved following Penny in her research through archives and old records, though some fell into her hands way too easily. When that didn't pan out, they followed other leads that took them to Madeira and a few other interesting places, but mostly they explored Cornwall, with its rich history. (I had to look up Madeira - had hear of the wine, but not of the island way off the coast of Morocco, but belonging to Portugal. Not exactly for my main bucket list, but if my health and money hold out, this would not be a bad place to check out.) In the process of saving the cottage, and the livelihoods and lifestyles of many of the townsfolk, they discover a notes from Great-Aunt Penelope's childhood that reflect her adventurous spirit even back then, and rescue Simon Thorne, a friend of Aunt Penelope we met in the first book, from a squalid nursing home. Rollo gets kidnapped while helping them, but all turns out well for everyone, except the bad guys. As a friend said, must be getting sentimental as we age.