Back in January, we launched an exciting new writing competition for secondary school pupils to write a short thriller, to be in with a chance of winning tickets for the whole class to Witness for the Prosecution.

The fantastic Leo (a year 7 from King’s School Winchester) won with The Handshake, “I love reading murder mystery stories and have wanted to try writing one of my own. I wanted to use some of the facts I have learnt in true crime courtroom stories and combine them with inspiration and twists from Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution.”

One of the competition judges, novelist and non-fiction writer Kate Mosse said, “We loved The Handshake for its clever plotting, for its sense of atmosphere and place, its satisfying final twist - it's a wonderful tribute to the great Agatha Christie.”