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The Bingo Hall Detectives

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About this listen

 Winner of The Gilpin Hotel Prize for Fiction 2023

Eyes down to find a killer who’s playing to win…

An irresistible slice of murder and mystery – there’s a killer on the loose in the Lake District, and the members of the Penrith Bingo Club have decided they’re the ones to catch the culprit…

Jason Brazel is an out of work journalist who lives in Penrith with his family and mother-in-law, Amita. She knows everyone and everything that’s going on in this corner of the Lakes.

So when it’s discovered that Madeline Frobisher, one of Amita’s fellow regulars at the bingo club has died, found by the postman outside her crumbling country home close to Ullswater Lake, she senses immediately this is no accident. The trouble is, no one else seems to take her suspicions seriously.

That is, until she enlists the help of her friends at the Penrith Bingo Club. Dismissed by many as eccentric, over the hill or out of touch, it turns out that it’s unlucky for some that these amateur sleuths are on the case…

©2022 Jonathan Whitelaw (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Cosy Crime Fiction Detective Domestic Thrillers Literature & Fiction Mystery Satire Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Feel-Good

Critic reviews

‘A warm-hearted and funny story’ The Sun

PRAISE FOR JONATHAN’S PREVIOUS BOOKS

Jonathan Whitelaw is a terrific writer – Jo Spain

Delirious, diabolical and delightful – Anthony O'Neill

A brilliant, sharply funny read – Lisa Hall

A lot of devilish fun is in store for readers – Stephen Booth
All stars
Most relevant
Loved the character connections between mother in law and son in law. Well written gripping storyline

Cumbrian creation

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Message to the Author: please, please let's hear more about this amazing detective pair!

A fantastic take on a murder mystery. light hearted and just that little bit different, it stands out from the usual format. loved this book! Narration was spot on too!

Amazing

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thoroughly enjoyed this book and would read another of the authors . . !

Brilliant murder mystery!

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Picked this up in a 2 for 1 deal and it was good enough for being a freebie. The promotional description of the story is somewhat misleading - there is far less bingo than expected and it’s not the club doing any of the detecting - but if you’re in the market for some (very) light reading this is easy listening and will pass a few hours.
It started out well enough, interesting and well read, but unfortunately it just couldn’t keep that up as the plot got thinner and thinner and the characters more and more caricatured. You will need a solid suspension of disbelief and a tolerance for some very irritating cast members to get through to the end. I admit I nearly gave up a couple of times.
The narration is pretty good with a range of voices making characters easily distinguishable, unfortunately a couple of those voices strayed into the hammy end of the acting scale which was a shame.

Promising premise but squandered potential

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The two main characters’ antics had me in stitches and the narrator has created completely believable voices for the different people involved. I’ve really enjoyed this series of books.

Thank goodness for some ordinary heros

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