Official Website of Author

J.M. HALL

Close-up of a middle-aged man with short hair, wearing a light blue button-up shirt, looking directly at the camera.

About

Jonathan Hall – J.M. Hall- has recently given up the ‘day job’ as a Bradford Deputy Headteacher to focus solely on writing. Previously most of his work has been for the theatre, with plays being staged at Bradford Playhouse, the Bush theatre and the Edinburgh fringe, where he won two prestigious Fringe First awards. More recently Jonathan has been writing for Radio 4, penning the award winning drama series "Trust" starring Julie Hesmondhalgh, the sixth series of which will be airing later this year.

His first crime novel "A Spoonful of Murder" introduced the world to the unlikely crime-solving trio of retired teachers, Pat, Liz and Thelma; the fourth novel in the series ‘A Brush with Death’ was published in March this year. Currently he is working on a gothic thriller/ whodunit set in Cornwall.

Books

Join Liz, Pat and Thelma, three retired primary school teachers as they solve crimes over coffee at Thirsk Garden Centre.

Book cover titled "A Spoonful of Murder" by J.M. Hall, featuring a blue background, a steaming cup of hot beverage with a black cat silhouette on it, and whimsical white and black text.

Red book cover titled "A Pen Dipped in Poison" by J.M. Hall. Features a black ink pen, a blue ink pot with a black cat silhouette, and musical notes with a quote praising the book.

Book cover titled "A Clock Stopped Reading" by J.M. Hall, featuring a clock with blood splatters, gears, and a black cat against a green background.

Book cover titled 'A Brush with Death' by J.M. Hall, featuring a yellow background, red blood splatters, a black cat with yellow eyes, a paintbrush with blood, and a spilled paint can

Radio

J.M. Hall is also a celebrated audio dramatist and you may have heard some of his work on Radio 4.

Trust:

A light-hearted drama series about an inner-city academy school in Salford, starring Julie Hesmondhalgh Yvette Miller is acting head of a Salford secondary school that has just joined Quays Academy Trust, a successful group of academies headed by the charismatic Sir Ken - a keen advocate of freeing schools from the shackles of Local Education oversight. Yvette, meanwhile, is somewhat more sceptical. How will she - and East Salford Academy - fit within the new regime?As the school, students, and staff, deal with contemporary events, from budgeting difficulties and school branding to Covid-19 lockdowns, catch-up initiatives and staff restructuring, Yvette must keep an even head as she steers the school through new and choppy waters. How do you vaccinate an entire body of students (and staff)? What does it take to keep the teaching union rep happy? And exactly how much hand sanitiser can one school need? With Julie Hesmondhalgh (Coronation Street, Happy Valley) and Jonathan Keeble (War and Peace, Confessions of a Medium), With Julie Hesmondhalgh (Coronation Street, Happy Valley), Susan Twist (Brookside, Doctor Who) and Mina Anwar (The thin blue line, The Sarah Jane Adventures), this witty, insightful drama offers a playful view into modern schooling and all its attendant commotions.

Theatre

Before his career as a novelist, JM Hall (writing under Jonathan Hall) was a celebrated playwrite with regular productions being perfomed at Edinburgh Fringe.

Three plays

Three insightful dramas exploring modern life from a gay perspective: Flamingos, Mr Elliott and The Coffee Lover's Guide to America.

In Flamingos, four very different men spending a weekend in Brighton find that love and lust are trickier to handle than they thought.

In The Coffee Lover's Guide to America, Joe is happily married', so he's hardly likely to jump in a car and take a road trip across the US with a guy he's just met - is he?

In Mr Elliott a chance encounter with one of his old students means that a straight' teacher's life will never ben the same again.

Nativity

It’s December 1979 and class 2G are getting ready for the school Nativity. Gemma wants to be Mary but because she’s got a big loud voice she’s the narrator, and anyway Sarah her best friend is far loads prettier than her, everyone says so. And as for Kirsty- she doesn’t even get a look in, not that she cares, she’s bothered about showing her knickers in the practical area. And of course there can only be one choice for Joseph, and that’d have to be Tony, everyone’s favourite, complete with his thirteen colour biro. And Nicholas? In love with Sarah and dreams of flying through the milky way with her in the TARDIS? He’s always going to be the Innkeeper. Nativity is about the play we’ve all been in. About tea towels on heads and coconut-shell donkey hooves. Dinner ladies and toilet roll angels, reading books and Blue Peter. It’s about our six year old selves, the adults that shaped us, the dreams that lit our days- and the people we have become.

“The finest moment a critic can have at the Festival is to see a masterpiece from an unknown playwright.” The Scotsman.

How to survive a zombie apocalypse

Life seems pretty much sorted for Phil and Mark. Phil has a job, a partner, and frequent coach holidays. Mark has a girlfriend, a climbing wall, regular potholing expeditions, and zombie films. A chance meeting at the top of a 4-metre long pole raises some tough questions about their feelings and the choices they’ve made. Perhaps things are set to change. Dare they face their own personal Zombie Apocalypse? Time may be ticking - but it’s a tick easily ignored. A Yorkshire love story.

"Everyone who loves the theatre should see a Jonathan Hall Play." - Yorkshire Post

New releases

Stay in touch in order to hear of the new releases of J.M. Hall with an exciting new gothic thriller set on the windswept coast of Cornwall.

Workshops

Whiteboard with notes on neglect, isolation, and research questions in a room with yellow windows and patterned blue carpet.

A man with glasses taking a selfie in front of a whiteboard with handwritten notes and a poster. The whiteboard has notes related to homicide investigation questions, and a poster titled 'What? What is done? How is it done? Does it look like murder? What do I need to research?'. The man is smiling and wearing a striped shirt. In the background, there is a framed picture of a man in a suit holding a football.

J.M. Hall has been running writing workshops for over 20 years. If you would like to join him on a workshop, stay tuned for details of when they’ll be?

“A wonderful experience that taught me so much, a great teacher and a great writer” Philip 52.

“He really helped me develop as a writer, and gosh he’s handsome” Marjorie 63.

Social media

To find about any event J.M. Hall will be attending in the future and to stay up to date with any exciting news, please follow him on Instagram and Facebook.

No matter how many notes I make in advance it’s always the same… Just as I feel I’m getting nicely into my stride- turns out there’s something else I realize I haven’t properly thought through…!

The Shame Game by L. D Smithson @deakin.leona I know what you did… Welcome to the Shame Game. Are you ready to play? Anonymous messages force friends to destroy each other’s lives in order to keep their own secrets buried This dark compulsive thriller is a modern morality tale wrapped in pure suspense- The I newspaper This book is set primarily in Ilkley, not far from where I live. It’s a lovely place, an attractive town nestling at the foot of the moors. I always find myself looking at the people I see there, thinking their lives must be pretty special, living in such a beautiful place. This thought was uppermost in my mind when I was reading- devouring!- this (as the review says) compulsive story. It tells the tale of four people living seemingly perfect lives- and the shows us that actually these are people just like the rest of us with their own flaws and foibles. Pretty dark foibles as it turns out… And then, strand by strand these lives start to unravel in a gripping way that not only had me thinking ‘whodunnit’ (or rather ‘who-doing-it’) but WHY-dunnit… Why bring these lives crashing down in such spectacular fashion? Like all good books it held up a bit of a mirror to myself… As characters scrabble to cover up past misdemeanors I found myself thinking- how would I react in a similar situation? One to ponder next time I’m in Ilkley…

Always a massively important element in any story- the setting... Something else we’ll be exploring on the @kington_grange writing retreat... For more information check out the Kington Grange website, https://www.kington-grange.co.uk/writing-retreat-with-j-m-hall

Planning- one of the things I'll be exploring at the Kington Grange Whodunnit writing retreat! @kington_grange More information available on the Kington Grange website, https://www.kington-grange.co.uk/writing-retreat-with-j-m-hall

Starting to think in earnest about the Crime Writing retreat I’ll be running @kington_grange later this year…! It’s going to be a great place to explore the creation of (fictional) dark deeds! For more information follow the link: https://www.kington-grange.co.uk/writing-retreat-with-j-m-hall

Happy New Year! And what a brilliant lovely start to 2026! Thank you so much @criminallygoodbooksyork ! Your support and encouragement have been one of the shiniest parts of my recent writing life. Honoured as well to be sitting alongside my friend @gaymarrisauthor and @revrichardcoles. I’ll say it again: Criminally Good Books is a ‘must visit’ for anyone going to York.

Just starting on… roll of drums… book number six! All the usual sensations which can be neatly summed up as ‘I’ve NO idea what I’m doing’ ! Plus- in among all the mince pies and general festivities- I’m going to be engaging in some serious planning for the Whodunnit writing retreat I’m running- and VERY much looking forward to. Id also like to take this opportunity to say- have a VERY happy Christmas, whatever that looks like for you! And a MASSIVE thank you for all your support and encouragement in 2025!

Really thrilled to see this pop up on my YouTube feed! ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ by Wynyard Browne is one of my favourite plays of all time. Set in a Norfolk parsonage soon after the Second World War, the drama depicts a disparate family gathering together on a snowy Christmas Eve and sharing secrets and tensions which are resolved as the Christmas morning bells ring out. As well as the family saga, the story gently examines different Christmas traditions and asks the question we maybe all ask ourselves at some point: how relevant is the festival in a modern world that’s moving ever faster? Wynyard Browne - who died at the tragically young age of 52- is a lesser known dramatist writing just four stage plays, but he’s a writer of delicacy and power, once dubbed ‘an English Chekhov’ The play was adapted into a film in 1952 starring Celia Johnson, Ralph Richardson, Margaret Leighton and Denholm Elliott; it’s a wonderful production and one of my Christmas ‘must watch’ programmes. I was fortunate enough to be able to adapt the play for radio 4 way back in 2005; we were blessed with a fantastic cast led by @_evebest_ and @susannah.harker , directed by the terrific Polly Thomas. Many thanks to the person who posted this; I really loved hearing it again!

A new bookshop! Threads and Tales in the lovely Yorkshire village of Thornton le Dale was a brilliant find at the weekend. I know I’m bias ( thanks for stocking my books!) but it really is well worth a visit. Note the arch of books!

Cannot think of a better soundtrack to icing the Christmas cake than listening to the combined talents of @jhesmondhalgh @ashley_margolis @ellis_hollins Susan Twist Jonathan Keeble and William Ash collectively hitting it out of the court under the expert guidance of @pip.day - THANKS so much Team Trust! The episode is available to listen to on BBC Sounds but sadly you’ll have to source your own Christmas Cake…

Substack

If you would like to follow J.M. Hall as he shares his thoughts on writing, drama and a whole load of other topics from his influences to the wider writing community, subscribe to his Substack!