Meet the deputy head primary teacher writing cosy crime and radio plays

"My sister said you should write something about it and I thought, well I can’t see an Edinburgh Fringe play about somebody being defrauded, but I could suddenly see some idea of a crime novel,” says Jonathan, who lives in Shipley. It set him on a path to cosy crime. In 2021, his first novel introduced readers to an unlikely crime-solving trio of retired teachers – Liz, Thelma and Pat. They star again in his new novel A Pen Dipped In Poison, published last month.

The tale is about a fictional primary academy in Thirsk, where the headteacher starts receiving pen poison letters. The detectives start investigating who could have sent them and how much of a threat they pose to the school leader.

For a writer, primary school is a “brilliant world” to be in, says Beverley-born Jonathan, a place of constant activity and inspiration stories. It made sense to write about what he knew. Yorkshire is an ideal setting for crime fiction too, he adds.

“I couldn’t not write about Yorkshire because it’s where I live, where I know. It’s where I love...Also, when you’ve got an incredible backdrop, it adds something to the story and the thing about Yorkshire is that it has a whole pallet of amazing backdrops.

"It’s got beaches and coastlines and flatlands, the hills, the Dales, the moors, the mountains. It’s also got these urban areas - faded Victorian mills, brutal concrete 1970s buildings...There’s dramatic and interesting settings just there to be used.”

Jonathan has worked in primary education for the best part of 40 years – and has always written too. He’s taken numerous plays to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has previously undertaken an internship with the National Theatre.

But he’s also faced rejection, with his work being turned away from the likes of EastEnders and Casualty during a stint in London.

“Having gone to [the capital] to be this cutting edge playwright, I ended up back in Queensbury with six-year-olds,” he says. “And it was the best thing that could have happened to me.

"My ego had taken a real pounding by this failure and it was great being in a room of 30 children who really didn’t care that you wrote plays - as long as you could run a tight playdoh table that was all they cared about.”

Still, Jonathan has continued writing. His plays have been produced in theatres across the UK as well as for radio, the most recent being Trust, starring Julie Hesmondhalgh, on BBC Radio 4. His second novel, A Pen Dipped in Poison, published by Avon, is out now.