MAXWELL'S HOUSE

Meet Peter Maxwell: widower, film buff, golden-hearted cynic, bow-tied eccentric teacher... and reluctant amateur sleuth.

Peter Maxwell is perfectly content with his routine; by day, inspire students and, if lucky, annoy the headmaster and governing body. By evening, return home to explain the finer points of classic films to his long-suffering cat, Count Metternich. Until Leighford High student Jennifer Hyde is murdered. The victim's body is discovered at a derelict house in Kissing Tree Lane in the quaint seaside town. She'd been strangled. The police have very few leads. And even less motivation. But for Maxwell, students are late for class. They are not murdered. And Jennifer was one of his students. But this is not a textbook case. If you love Faith Martin, Richard Osman, Ian Moore, Rob Rinder, Sarah Yarwood-Lovett, Janice Hallett, or Simon Brett, prepare to be hooked by this character-driven thrilling mystery! M J Trow (the 'M' as most people know by now stands for Meirion, a Welsh name few can manage, so he writes as M J, is known by all and sundry as Mei, rhyming with 'my') has been writing for many years, with his first book - The Adventures of Inspector Lestrade - being published in 1984 by Macmillan. More Lestrades followed and then some true crime and somehow it all snowballed so now he has many historical biographies and three other crime series (Maxwell, Marlowe and Grand and Batchelor, the latter two written with his wife, writing as Maryanne Coleman, though her name is Carol, actually!) to his credit. He claims to be retired, but that's just from teaching. In fact he has never been busier and is a sought after 'ghost' these days as well as historian and novelist, with many different subjects' stories having been told through him. He has recently started collaborating on fiction projects (with someone other than his wife, that is) and finds it a really exciting and pleasurable experience.