Max's Campervan Case Files

Burned-out chef, and a bit of a hippy at heart if he's honest, Max Effort has had enough. He's packed in his job at a swanky Michelin three-star restaurant, grown his hair, berated his parents yet again for giving him such a "go get 'em" name, accepted he's never going to get his ex-wife back, and he's hitting the road. The house is sold, a VW Campervan bought, and Anxious, his trusty Jack Russell Terrier, has already picked his spot. Sick of the sight of roux, defiant in the face of deconstructed trifle, green at the sight of truffles, and despairing of anything served on a slate rather than a plate, he's about to embark on a tour of the backroads of Britain. He'll weave his way around the country to visit the sights, go to a few festivals, catch up with friends, and just chill out. And every single night without fail, he's going to make his main meal in his cast-iron pot. It's one-pot cooking or bust for Max, and he cannot wait. Freedom at last. The open road with his best friend for company. No hot, sweaty kitchens, shouting chefs, uppity waiters, or demanding customers. Just countryside, campsites, back-to-basics cooking, and the stars at night. Then there was a murder...

Burned-out chef Max Effort-he still hates his parents for the name-is slowly settling into van life. Used to swanky kitchens and state-of-the-art equipment, he's even mastered cooking outside without the flame blowing out. One-pot cooking or bust was Max's promise to himself, but the joys of letting his dinner simmer for hours on lazy summer days are soon on the back-burner when murder rears its ugly head once more. A relaxing walk on the beach with his best friend Anxious the Terrier turns into a total stress-fest when he stumbles across a severed foot poking out of the sand. The rest of the body is discovered soon after, and Max feels like it's his duty to help solve this puzzling crime. Trying his best to stay out of the way of the local detectives, the clues soon mount up, along with the body count, and it becomes apparent that nothing is at is seems in the once quiet coastal town of Abergele. With his trusty Terrier sniffing out the clues, and stealing all the ice-cream, Max teams up with the local lifeguard to solve the mystery, but he can't stop pining for his ex-wife. When she arrives for an impromptu visit, the team are soon up to their necks in the carnage as accusations fly and an innocent man risks spending the rest of his life in prison. Can Max figure this out in time, or will he push his luck too far?

Max Effort never thought he'd find himself at The Dead Crow's sixth annual pickled onion festival, but serendipity is a peculiar thing, so here he stood. He didn't care, because his two best friends, Min his ex-wife, and Anxious the Terrier-were with him so life was sweet. With his camper in a nice corner of the pub's grounds and his outdoor kitchen set up, he couldn't have been happier. When the pub's chef goes missing, Max reluctantly agrees to step in and save the day. Having vowed never to enter a commercial kitchen again, he soon regrets the decision, especially when the chef is found dead in a broom closet with a jar of pickled onions. With the pub landlord under pressure to keep the premises open, and the death seemingly natural causes, Max relaxes in the bar where a fun evening of festivities with the fiddler band turns into an afterhours lock-in like no other. Booze, music, way too many pickled onions, and another body means there's a murderer on the loose and a room full of suspects. Max begins to peel back the layers of this most puzzling of pickled problems. It might leave a sour taste in his mouth, but the stakes are high and the cost of failure lethal. As the team navigates a labyrinth of suspects as slippery as the pub floor, it becomes obvious the motive for the killings is wilder than anyone could have imagined.

Anxious the Jack Russell Terrier has a poorly paw. Burned-out chef and van life convert Max Effort will do anything for his best friend, even if that means a visit to the vets and the inevitable whining. Stopping in Harlech on the Welsh coast means they can get the little guy sorted out and take in the sights, too, even if Anxious is less than keen on visiting the doctor! With the '67 VW complaining louder than Anxious, they barely make it, and it seems this might be it for the old van. Time for repairs later. Friends before mends. Five minutes into their consultation, the waiting room is filled with gas and there's been a murder. Pet owners are distraught because not only has everyone been clobbered, but someone's stolen half the animals from right under their noses. After teaming up with the young receptionist, Max slowly begins to unravel his most mysterious case yet, while Anxious hobbles along, refusing to be left out. But they aren't alone, as no way will Min, Max's ex-wife and other best friend, stay away when there's trouble afoot. As rivalries surface, and bodies drop like overcooked scones, Max does what he can to help the community. With little time for one-pot wonders, he still manages to cook up a storm, but will his eye for detail and deep-seated desire to help be enough this time, or is he finally out of his depth?

It's Lydstock time again, the most anticipated music festival of the year. Max Effort, chilled ex-chef turned vanlifer, is already there, and when Min arrives to spend the whole weekend with him and Anxious the Jack Russell Terrier, he's as happy as any ex-husband could be. As the first night gets underway, and Uncle Ernie "Elbows" Effort's ska punk band The Skankin' Skeletons headline instead of their arch-rivals The Third Skatallion, things get spicier than a habanero vindaloo. Just as Ernie belts out the final note, a bandmate keels over like a dropped mic, stone cold dead. The officious DS Kate Moss (not that Kate, although it would be a plot twist!) dismisses it as an overzealous guitar solo gone wrong, so it's down to the team to solve this heinous crime. Joining forces with Moose, a keen security guard with freaky ninja skills but a body that doesn't suit, the pounding bass and blistering drums are hiding more than some dodgy riffs as yet another murder rocks the site. Lukewarm lager and limp lettuce wraps fly, and rockstars reel, as it all comes down to a heart-pounding crescendo. Can Max uncover the truth before another headline act bites the dust? Let the skanking begin . . .

Ex-chef and now fully dedicated vanlifer, Max Effort picked the perfect spot for a relaxing few days. A quiet campsite where he could unwind with his best friend Anxious the Jack Russell. When his parents arrived to spend a few days with him, he wasn't surprised to find them towing a huge monstrosity they called a "caravan"-think flamingo pink with enough chrome to blind astronauts. Even more shocking was the stewed corpse of a man inside their rental. With Max's vanlife intertwined with helping out the local communities, he teams up with his folks to solve the mystery. Anxious sniffs out the suspects, but the gang struggles to crack the case. When another corpse is discovered, all Max's theories are thrown out like last week's congealed leftovers. Determined to stick to his pledge of cooking every evening meal in his cast-iron pot, Max needs all the sustenance he can muster when the team find themselves in one predicament after another. With a campsite full of suspects, and the restaurant across the road clearly up to something, stress levels soar as fear spreads faster than a case of botulism at a barbecue. Will the macabre murderer be discovered, or will the gang become minced meat?

Disaster struck the morning of the Chucklefest Comedy Festival. Not with a bomb, but with a canine whimper. Vanlife convert Max Effort's best buddy, Anxious the Jack Russell Terrier, managed to disassemble his favorite toy, leaving him bereft. But help was on hand, and Min, Max's ex-wife, hightails it across the country, determined to deliver a replacement bestie. Feeling chilled and in good spirits, Max's mood soon soured when he reached into the festival freezer and discovered a smiling face staring back at him. Shame it wasn't attached to the rest of the comedian's body. Once again the gang are embroiled in a gruesome murder mystery, and it's no laughing matter. Who killed the comedian? As clues are uncovered, everyone becomes a suspect. Trying to fit in a one-pot wonder amidst the chaos was a real challenge for our struggling ex-chef, but he was determined to not only cook a feast but uncover the truth too. Then everything changed, and life would never be the same again, as none of the gang were prepared for what became the most surreal experience of their lives. When another body is discovered, events spiral and it seems like dinner might have to be put on the back burner.