A former church warden has written a murder mystery based around the death of a female vicar in an allotment.

A Row of Beans, by Robert Irvine, follows a heady, funny and romantic tale of amateur detective Alistair MacTavish’s investigation into the murder of vicar Henrietta Carr.

Mr Irvine, 71, of Whitton Road, moved to Twickenham in January 1983 and went to All Hallows Church in Chertsey Road on his very first Sunday.

Through the years at All Hallows, he has been a churchwarden, sat on the ministry leadership team, finance and fabric team and pastoral care team.

In response to whether his time working among the church community had inspired his book, he said: “I have to be honest and say yes - of course - because you can only write about what you know about, but having said that, I can truly say that none of the characters I describe are in anyway the real people I have met or meet today in church life.

“I have always been a churchman and interested in religion. I also very much enjoy reading books on other subjects, not least thrillers and whodunnits. I have always been drawn to books, which combine the serious with the fun - not always so easy to find - and I thought it would be a good idea to write one myself.”

Mr Irvine retired in 2007 at 65 and began to write the book, finishing in 2010, but publication was delayed when Athena Press in Queens House, Twickenham, went into liquidation.

Mr Irvine, who is currently working as an insurance officer for the church, said: “I have tried to bring about a good mixture of an intriguing whodunnit, a glimpse of English suburban life and some serious thinking and philosophy in the thoughts I describe of the colourful collection of characters.”

He will be giving a talk on the book at Twickenham library on January 29.