A blog from author Guy Bass

Guy Bass, author of A Hugh Dunnit Mystery: Taking Shelter, a brilliantly funny crime caper with comic-book art throughout by Lee Cosgrove..

I’m never going to write a whodunnit.

It’s time to admit that I just don’t have it in me. Oh, I’ve tried. But there’s something they don’t tell you about crafting an intricate plot filled with suspects, clues, red herrings, bluffs, counterbluffs, forensics, frustrations and fake-outs … turns out, writing a whodunnit is a nightmare.

It’s not the only dream I’ve had to give up on. My childhood ambition of becoming an astronaut today seems less likely, what with my bad knees, poor vision, fear of both heights and enclosed spaces and, now I’m thinking about it, zero experience of aviation. Other unrealised aspirations include being turned into a robot, getting a sandwich named after me and burping at will. Looks like it’s time to give up on another dream…

But wait, I hear you cry! You’re a celebrated, award-winning, best-selling children’s author (very kind of you to mention all that, by the way) – surely you can realise your dream of writing a whodunnit. Well, it turns out I don’t have to … because Hugh Dunnit makes his own mysteries.

Hugh Dunnit a hard-nosed, harder-boiled detective (and occasional schoolboy) who’s already seen it all. Whenever he comes face to case with anything he can’t explain – even if there’s a simple explanation – Hugh goes into full ‘detective mode’. Sure, the only real mystery may be how on earth Hugh manages to turn everything into a mystery … but that’s the sort of whodunnit I can get behind.

Take Taking Shelter, the first of Hugh Dunnit’s not-so-mysterious mysteries. When Hugh finds a dog in a bus shelter, he names her Shelter and naturally concludes that he and the dog are destined to be best friends. So, when Shelter is accused of shredding his homework (a crime she almost certainly committed) Hugh decides his best friend must have been framed! It’s up to the world’s toughest ten-year old detective to find out who the real culprit and crack the case before Shelter is taken to, well, the dog shelter. No one is above suspicion as Hugh works his way through a series of unsuspecting suspects – including his own baby brother. But, while Hugh may create his own case, there’s a real mystery that he’s not considered cracking – where did Shelter actually come from?

Fun-filled and pun-filled, Taking Shelter: a Hugh Dunnit Mystery is expertly illustrated by Lee Cosgrove, who brings Hugh’s world of case-cracking to life with brilliantly brooding comic-book style illustrations.

And in 2025, look out for Hugh’s second case, Teething Trouble, when he dares to take on the ‘mystery’ of the Tooth Fairy…

Who needs a whodunnit ... when Hugh Dunnit can make his own?