Jonathan Biggins calls Near Death in Venice “an accidental book”, despite writing his first novel in the intentional way. He sat at a desk, often in his late father’s study in Newcastle, and churned out the chapters.

The accident came a little earlier.

Jonathan Biggins. Photo supplied

“I’m always on the lookout for people who might have a novel in them,” publisher Jane Palfreyman tells Limelight. “I was specifically looking for someone who was interested in writing crime, because it’s such a burgeoning genre at the moment.” And not just any crime. Cosy crime.

Actor, satirist, director, playwright and highly experienced corporate speaker Biggins popped into her head.

Those qualifications wouldn’t necessarily scream “cosy crime author” to many, but Palfreyman, Publishing Director of the Summit Books imprint of Simon & Schuster Australia, had a feeling. “I thought [Biggins] could do it really well.”

She loved the way he had humanised Paul Keating in his stage show The Gospel According to Paul, the superb study of the former Prime Minister written and performed by Biggins and currently enjoying a return season. It was exactly what she...