A Weymouth holidaymaker is turning to crime to raise cash for a cancer charity. But fear not, it is all perfectly above board.

Frank Malley visits the seaside resort with his family each summer, staying in a villa overlooking the Isle of Portland.

His most recent visit inspired him to write The 13th Assassin, a spy novel cum murder mystery with the action sweeping between Weymouth and Moscow.

Frank, an established author and former columnist with the Daily Express, said: “I find Weymouth such an inspiring place. I got the idea for the book while staying at the home of a former professor and gazing over to Portland, where spies operated in the 1950s and 1960s. The main character, a Weymouth resident, finds himself pushed into a sinister world of ethical dilemmas with the lives of the Royal Family at stake. I like to think of it as Midsomer Murders meets John le Carre.”

The locations in the book, such as the harbour, promenade, Victorian memorial clock and Bennetts fish and chip shop, will be familiar to residents and holidaymakers while the Dorset Echo even plays a small part in solving the mystery.

It is Malley’s fifth book and follows the success of When the Mist Clears, a feel-good tale surrounding a group of cancer patients whose friendship helps them fight the scariest battle of their lives.

Royalties from this book also go the Primrose Cancer charity, which transports patients from Malley’s home county of Bedfordshire to lifesaving radiotherapy treatment at Cambridge’s Addenbrookes Hospital.

*The 13th Assassin is published by Sharpe Books and available from Amazon in ebook (£2.99). The paperback (£7.99) is due for release in late May.