ABERYSTWYTH author Sarah Todd Taylor has turned her love of the theatre into an exciting new mystery series for children which will be launched today, on World Book Day.

Max the Detective Cat, The Disappearing Diva is the first book to feature Max, chief mouse-hunter at the Theatre Royal, who turns detective when a visiting singer starts to behave very strangely indeed.

Brought up in Aberystwyth, Sarah is no stranger to life in the theatre, having taken part in over 30 shows at Theatr y Werin, both on stage and behind the scenes.

“I’ve been lucky enough to do shows with the Showtime Singers and the Wardens, as well as helping out with some of the annual summer season shows,” said Sarah.

“Although Max’s theatre is a 1920s London theatre, all that experience certainly helped in writing his story, and I hope that I’ve managed to capture how much of a family atmosphere there is in theatre companies and how much fun creating a show is.”

Max certainly finds a home in the world of theatre, and it is loyalty to his friends that spurs him to turn detective.

“He’s a bit of a pampered puss at the start of the book,” Sarah admits, “but he can’t stay that way once he scents a mystery at the theatre.

“Soon he’s dashing across the rooftops of London and getting into all sorts of scrapes. He has to turn from a bit of a lazy puss to a full-on action cat if he’s going to solve this crime!”

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now