Matlock Bath provides 'a glorious backdrop' for best-selling author's new novel in a cosy murder mystery series

Murder Off the Page by Maggie Allswell is the second in the Book Club Murders series, set in Matlock or Matlock Bath.

Maggie Allswell is the pen name of Tracy Bloom who lives in a village near Matlock and grew up on a farm in Kirk Langley, near Ashbourne. Tracy said: “I have happy memories of visiting this area for days out throughout my childhood. I’ve always found it quite magical and mysterious as you make your way through the rugged landscape to get to the towering cliffs lining the river and then the surprise of the seaside style town in the countryside with its arcades and ice creams and fish and chip shops.

"It’s a glorious backdrop for this cosy murder mystery series and provides an array of possible characters from those doing everyday jobs such as my main character Judy who is a funeral director to those working on the tourist side of the town such as Kerry who runs a B&B. Matlock Bath really inspired the murder in the second book, Murder Off the Page, which is all based around rivalry between fish and chips going a bit too far.

“I have so loved writing these books, creating characters that are warm, relatable and funny whose love of books leads them to solving a murder or two.”

Tracy is the author of the hugely successful romcom book No-One Ever Has Sex On A Tuesday which was published internationally and became a best-selling novel. She said: “I had written fifteen romcoms by the time I turned 50 when I decided I had no romance left in me and all I could think about was murder!

"Creating a satisfying puzzle is hard but brilliant fun just as trying to fathom making someone fall in love is in a romcom. Both genres have their challenges, and I feel incredibly lucky that I get to create stories in both.”

Murder Off the Page, published by bookouture, will be available to buy from Amazon in ebook or audiobook format or as a paperback.