Jonathan Whitelaw

Below Deck meets Knives Out in this breathless voyage into murder and mayhem on the high seas…

Howie Temple is down on his luck and desperate for cash. Once an action movie star, he now lives off a crumbling reputation. On his way to film a new reality TV show, which casts a team of c-list celebrities as crew aboard a luxury yacht, he meets fellow contestant, influencer-of-the-moment Cassandra Troy. The duo take an immediate dislike to each other.

After a hectic first day of filming, the pair are shocked discover that the captain of the ship has been murdered – locked in his control room, slumped over the wheel, a knife in his back. Convinced by the show’s ever-opportunistic director to keep the cameras rolling, the pair team-up to hunt the murderer.

Will the show make Howie and Cassandra bigger stars than they could ever dream of? And can they crack the case before the killer strikes again, or will they go down with this sinking ship?

Growing, growing, gone…

Penrith, in the heart of the Lake District, is not the kind of place you can easily vanish.

Certainly not when the members of the Penrith Bingo Club are trying to track you down. But even stalwart sleuth, Amita Khatri, and her son in law, Jason, are foxed this time when a local woman tells them her husband, a mild-mannered academic has gone missing.

And he’s not the only person to disappear. Soon Amita, Jason, and irascible retired copper, Frank, are searching for more people – and some missing money to boot.

From the veg patches of Penrith to the shores of Ullswater, as Jason and Amita comb the Cumbrian countryside for clues, they soon realise they’ve stumbled a case where planting the evidence takes on a whole new meaning. And unless they can unearth some answers soon, they might be the next people to disappear…

Can your sleuthing skills help identify the murderer of a Hollywood starlet?

Los Angeles, 1958.

The biggest, brightest and best names in Hollywood have gathered at the Royale Premiere Hotel on the eve of the biggest awards show of the year.

Things take a devilish turn when leading lady Blanche Aikerman is found murdered in her room.

With a list of suspects as long as Aikerman’s accolades and credits, YOU are thrust into the action and must fully immerse yourself in the role of an LAPD homicide detective on the scene to hunt, capture and correctly charge the culprit.

Blending all the fun and appeal of the traditional hard-boiled detective story with a classic choose-your-own-story model, the book throws you right into the thick of the action. Larger-than-life characters, cunning suspects and puzzling mis-directions will try to throw you off the scent as you are presented with a series of choices at every turn of the page.

Be cautious during your investigation: some decisions will lead you to a murderer, just not the right murderer…

Transporting the reader right into the heart of 1950s Los Angeles, Murder in Tinseltown is a brand-new, interactive novel full of head-scratching interactions, multiple outcomes and clues set against the glamorous backdrop of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Lights, camera, murder

In the Lake District, someone’s laying on a deadly welcome… 

The cast and crew of a popular TV crime drama are shooting in the Lake District – but behind the scenes, relationships are as tense as on-screen. The director’s reputation proceeds him, the two lead stars are feuding and rumours swirl. 

Meanwhile the locals are enjoying the filming – Amita Kahtri and her friends from Penrith Bingo Club are becoming social media stars with their behind the scenes pictures from filming – although her son-in-law, Jason is taking it all with a pinch of salt. 

But when on-screen slaughter gets swapped for real-life murder at the concert hall where the TV drama is based, and the genuine police are as baffled as the TV detectives, it falls to the locals to search for the truth. It seems like a taste of fame can be deadly – but what happens when a killer’s plots are wilder than anything the writers can dream up? 

The Lake District: stunning scenery, charming towns and…murder most wicked?

The people of Penrith are delighted when local businessman, Hal Mulberry, succeeds in his childhood dream of buying the world famous painting, The Esk at Dawn. And he’s determined not to keep it to himself, but to bring it back to the Lake District where it belongs and put it on show for everyone. Hal has a plan to turn Penrith Village Hall into a cultural hotspot – with the painting at its heart. But not everyone is pleased…

Journalist Jason Brazel is delighted to get the exclusive story from Hal. Even if his mother in law, Amita, thinks he’s making a lot of fuss about an ugly piece of modern art. But when Amita uncovers a theory that everyone who’s owned the painting has had their life ruined, she wonders what Hal is really bringing to their town. Curse, conspiracy or dirty-deal, she knows trouble is brewing.

And while the great and the good gather for the unveiling of the painting, someone’s got murder on their mind. And it’s up to Jason and Amita to find who is trying to put people out of the picture…permanently.

Winner of The Gilpin Hotel Prize for Fiction 2023

Jason Brazel is an out of work journalist. Let go when his local Penrith paper is shut down, he spends time between school runs, watching daytime TV and feeling sorry for himself. His mother-in-law Amita insists he gets a new job to provide for the family but he’s had no luck.

Amita styles herself as the ‘Sheriff of Penrith’ – she knows everyone and always tries to help. If there’s a charity bake sale, she’s first to volunteer. Well liked by her fellow pensioners, she’s an active hillwalker, crossword puzzler and bingo player. Jason, however, regards her as a busy-body and has no time for her fractured, factless gossip about the local community.

While driving Amita to bingo, the club is shocked to learn that local resident Madeline Forbisher has been found dead. Discovered by the postman, she fell to her death while cleaning the windows of her crumbling country home close to Ullswater lake.

Devastated, Amita reflects on how similar she and Madeleine were. She insists on attending the funeral and makes Jason go too ‘to get him out of the house.’

As they head home after the funeral, Amita says she thinks there’s something not right with Madeleine’s death. Jason, as usual, dismisses his mother-in-law, insisting she’s looking for trouble where it’s not there. However, a drink with a former colleague that evening changes his mind.

The ensuing events mean that Jason makes national headlines, bringing him to the attention of news editors. He thanks Amita for her help and for believing in him and apologies for dismissing her so readily in the past. The family celebrate by taking Edna, Mike, Sandy, Georgie and the rest of the bingo club on a day out on an Ullswater Steamer.

We’ve all met a nosey parker – but have you met the Parker Sisters – the private detectives who’ve turned being curious into a way of life… 

The unputdownable Glasgow-set cosy crime series comprising of Banking on Murder, Summit of All Fears and Death Do They Part.