Alison Mukherjee

What's Going on at the Whitler?

When Tia reluctantly agrees to look after Bindu, her peevish, grumpy granddaughter, during half term, the last thing that she expects is to spend the week unravelling the theft of a seventeenth century painting Head of a Girl, ‘Hedova’.

Hoping to start a new and more exciting life, Robert sets himself up as an art thief. His first target? A picture from the Whitler Gallery, where Tia and her recently widowed colleague Douglas work.

Follow Douglas and Tia, an unlikely detective duo, as they investigate the theft and race frantically across the city to prevent the painting from being destroyed. Can Robert prove that he’s got what it takes to embark on a life of crime? And can Tia and Douglas save Hedova?

What’s Going on at The Whitler? is a gentle detective story with elements of humour and fantasy, all punctuated by commentary from a Greek chorus of talking portraits for a unique twist.

After graduating, Alison Mukherjee went to India as a volunteer teacher, continuing to live there for eight years before returning to settle in England with her Bengali husband and children. Her working life has been divided between teaching in secondary and higher educational establishments, mostly in the area of Religious Studies, and as a Local Authority social worker. In 2022 she was awarded a PhD in translation studies.