Hollywood actor Elijah Wood is coming to Oxford to film a new 'whodunnit', set at the university.

The Lord of the Rings star will join an all-star cast in The Oxford Murders, based on the award-winning novel by Guillermo Martinez.

Filming, directed by Alex de la Iglesia, will take place at various locations across the city, including the Sheldonian Theatre and the Radcliffe Camera, in March.

Wood, right, who is best known for his role as hobbit Frodo in the film versions of Oxford author JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, plays a young Argentine student who comes to Oxford to study.

But he becomes intrigued when he discovers that his landlady - an elderly woman who helped crack the Enigma Code during the Second World War - has been murdered in cold blood.

Iowa-born Wood, who has also starred in Sin City, Happy Feet, Deep Impact and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, co-stars with John Hurt, who provided the voice of Aragorn in the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings.

In The Oxford Murders, Hurt stars as an Oxford University professor who takes Wood under his wing as they work together to decipher a series of murders seemingly linked by mathematical symbols.

The manager of Waterstone's bookshop in Oxford, Colin Shone, 42, said: "The book has already been a huge success.

"Sales are continuing each week and it was one of the bestsellers of 2006.

"Mr Martinez is a great friend of the store. He came here two years ago to launch the book. The event attracted a lot of attention and it was really enjoyable - Mr Martinez is such a charming man and clearly very popular in Oxford."

Mr Shone, who has managed the store for five years, added: "I think with any book that is made into a film there is always increased attention and everyone becomes very excited.

"With the great cast expected to star in the film and the already highly successful book, the two should fit very well together."