Peter Boon Books in Order

If you want the full introduction: Who Killed Miss Finch? → The Snow Day Murders → The Mystery of Jackson King → Death In The Closet
If you prefer shorter first reads: The Mystery of Jackson King → Death In A Deckchair → The Christmas Card Killer
If you like wintry village mysteries: The Snow Day Murders → The Christmas Card Killer
If you want the biggest personal stakes: Death In The Closet → Death In A Deckchair

Peter Boon grew up in Wigan, in the north-west of England, and he still comes across as a writer who knows both school corridors and small-town gossip from the inside. He now lives in Eastbourne with his partner, Graeme, and that move from inland Lancashire to the Sussex coast matters, because the sea air and chalk-cliff setting of his fiction feel close to home.

He started young.

At fourteen he wrote a play called Killer on the Costa for a local theatre group, an early sign that murder plots and performance were already pulling at his imagination. That interest never really went away.

Before he became a novelist, Boon trained as an English teacher and went on to teach teenagers. That job fed directly into his fiction. His debut novel, Who Killed Miss Finch?, opens with the murder of a head teacher, and you can feel the lived-in detail of school life behind the mystery.

That first novel arrived in 2020 and introduced Edward Crisp, a shy school librarian who would much rather read a whodunnit than star in one. Boon followed it with The Snow Day Murders, The Mystery of Jackson King, Death In The Closet, Death In A Deckchair, and The Christmas Card Killer. Together they build a modern cozy mystery series set around the fictional seaside village of Chalk Gap. Because of the school setting and teenage co-lead, the books have also found younger readers, even though they are written for adults as well.

The books are light on gore and heavy on suspects.

Readers who warm to Boon's work usually like the same blend of things: classic puzzle plotting, village secrets, awkward but decent characters, and a real fondness for crime fiction itself. Boon has spoken openly about loving Agatha Christie, and that influence shows in the tight circles of suspects and the invitation to guess alongside Edward. Edward is an underdog, Noah brings energy and enthusiasm, and the cases often start close to home, in schools, churches, beaches, or local businesses where everyone already knows everyone else's business.

Boon also uses the cozy format to sneak in a little more than pure puzzle-solving. Death In The Closet, for example, takes on the pressure around a footballer preparing to come out, while the series more broadly returns to loneliness, belonging, fear, and the effort it takes to speak up. Even when the plots turn grim, there is usually warmth, humour, and a sense that ordinary people might still do the right thing.

Outside his novels, theatre has stayed part of his life. He has described amateur dramatics as a lasting passion, and he has worked as both an actor and director. He is also the artistic director of Shakesbeer Productions and has studied Shakespeare at postgraduate level, which makes sense when you look at how much he enjoys character, timing, and a well-managed reveal.

These days he balances writing with teaching GCSE English re-sits at a creative college. That mix suits him. His fiction has the tidy bones of classic mystery, but it also has the everyday feel of someone who spends a lot of time around real people, real nerves, and real talk.