When the body of lecherous landlord, Raj Sumal, washes up on the beach, it's up to Detectives Jim Paddon and Grace Brown to solve the mystery.

Rebecca Smith was born in London and grew up in rural Surrey. She studied History at the University of Southampton and is now a principal teaching fellow in English and Creative Writing there. She is the author of four previous novels for adults, a novel for children, two works of nonfiction and a text for a picture book. Rebecca is one of Jane Austen's five times great nieces, and Conversations With An Octopus takes inspiration from Sanditon. She has Indian, English and Scottish heritage and often draws on this in her work.