h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Peter Tremayne's 1994 murdery mystery, "Absolution by Murder," is set during the Synod of Whitby. The featured sleuth or Sister Fidelma of Kildare, a trained advocate of the Irish courts. Her sidekick/co-sleuth is Brother Eadulf, a Saxon monk from Suffolk. The body count is a bit high and the plot devices a bit formulaic. But overall it's an entertatining read.

Perhaps Count Dracula's trip to Whitby is the most famous event in literature as far as Whitby is concerned, but the classiest has got to be the wonderful 'Sylvia's Lovers' by Mrs Gaskell. If you love Whitby, (we just celebrated our Ruby Wedding there!) you'll love this book. Mrs G. wrote it after a visit to Whitby, and in my view it is her greatest work, though far from being her most famous. It's basically, about a popular uprising against the savagery of the press gangs which led to the execution of a popular local man, in the 1790's, and is based on factual events which the interested researcher can read up on in the museum in Whitby. Whitby is just about the most interesting resort town in England, I enjoyed the guide entry and love Whitby.