Strictly Murder * Julie Wassmer * Whitstable Pearl #8

When a glamorous television ballroom dance show films a special holiday broadcast in a sleepy seaside town, the production sandbox turns lethal after a top celebrity judge is found brutally executed backstage, forcing a local restaurateur turned private eye to unmask a killer before the final curtain drops.

The Story: Written by acclaimed British television writer and cozy mystery master Julie Wassmer, this fast-paced eighth installment in the Whitstable Pearl series plunges the coastal town of Whitby into a high-stakes entertainment industry workspace. Pearl Nolan is a thriving restaurant owner and independent private investigator who has built a successful, low-friction routine in her beloved hometown. Her predictable sandbox permanently fractures when the nation's biggest reality television hit, Strictly Come Dancing, brings its massive production logistics and celebrity drama to the local theater for a high-profile broadcast. The glamorous facade breaks apart entirely when a highly abrasive, widely despised celebrity judge is discovered murdered in their dressing room during rehearsals. As the network and powerful television executives deploy defensive shields to bury the tracking lines and avoid a public relations crisis, Pearl drops her normal kitchen duties to launch a synchronized counter-campaign. Aided by her complicated romantic interest, DCI Mike McGuire, Pearl moves step-by-step through a dark ledger of bitter rivalries, secret affairs, and long-buried industry blackmail parameters, racing against a strict ticking-clock deadline to trap a clever killer before the live cameras start rolling.

Perfect For: Devotees of traditional, fair-play British cozy puzzles, fans of glamorous reality television backdrops, seaside resort themes, and readers who devour lighthearted amateur detective pairings by authors like Faith Martin, M.C. Beaton, or Richard Osman.