Congratulations to CWA member Jonathan Whitelaw who picked up the fiction prize for his 2022 novel The Bingo Hall Detectives at the 39th annual Lakeland Book of the Year Awards.

The Lakeland Book of the Year celebrates top-quality writing inspired by the Lake District, Cumbria. Over the past four decades, this prestigious annual competition has seen authors create an incredible catalogue of books covering a range of rich and varied subjects, from landscape and tradition to literature and poetry.

Jonathan’s Bingo Hall Detectives sees an amateur detective son and mother-in-law duo on the heels of the killer of a member of the Penrith bingo club.

Speaking about his award, he told the CWA: “I’m absolutely delighted. Gobsmacked is probably more accurate!

“The quality of writing on show at this year’s awards was incredible. And I’m humbled, honoured and very grateful to the judges for choosing my book as the fiction winner.”

You can read more about Jonathan and his books here.