‘The Dog Sitter Detective’s Christmas Tail’ by Antony Johnston

Published by Allison & Busby,
23 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-0-7490-3176-3 (HB)

Having read all the award -winning dog tails by Anthony Johnston, I was delighted to be offered this one to review. 

Being a massive dog lover I couldn’t help but love all of these dog mysteries. However, even if you are not a dog lover, Johnston writes so colourfully and wittily, and is great at keeping you guessing, that one couldn’t help but enjoy this cosy crime series. 

Here, in this one, Johnston’s heroine, Gwinny is an older actress, so we get a bit of entertaining theatrical information thrown in, such as how auditions happen, which adds to the fun of the book. 

In between auditioning and trying to get work, Gwinny fosters dogs or dog-sits. Each book features a different dog and in this one we meet a clever but energetic spaniel called Spiggy. 

Gwinny also has a love interest with an ex-detective, DCI Alan Birch, who has a Labrador called Ronnie. 

Gwinny is going through the last of her father’s house clearance since he had passed away. During this she finds some documents and letters which tie her father to a friendship with an ex- soviet spy, Roy Singleton. Gwinny is puzzled at discovering this friendship, as she had never heard Singleton’s name mentioned, nor knew anything about him. She decides to get in touch with Singleton and is invited to go to his house and meet him. 

After yet another audition, which didn’t go well, she drives with Spiggy, Alan and Ronnie to meet Singleton. The house he is living in, also with a few other retirees, who were all spies, and all knew her father. So now she finds out more about her father. 

Then the snow falls and herself and DCI Alan and the dogs are snowed in. Then there is a murder, and a lot of war history comes out. Gwinny and Alan discover why these people, all living together, have a connection with each other, and with her father. But who is the murderer and why?           

Of course, Gwinny and Spiggy win the day and solve the crime. 

A great puzzle to solve, a lot of fun with the dogs, and a very informative novel about the war. There are strong characters. All these pieces put together make another first class read, and a page turner from this very addictive writer. 

Keep writing them Mr Johnston, please no pawsing. You are a five-star storyteller.
-------
Reviewer: Linda Regan
http://www.lindareganonline.co.uk

Antony Johnston is a New York Times bestselling graphic novelist, author, and games writer with more than fifty published titles. The Charlize Theron movie Atomic Blonde is based on his graphic novel The Coldest City. His epic series Wasteland is one of only a handful of such longform achievements in comics. His first video game, Dead Space, redefined a genre.  Antony’s other books and graphic novels include The Exphoria Code, The Fuse, Daredevil, Julius, the Alex Rider graphic novels, Dead Space transmedia comics, and the adaptation of Alan Moore's 'lost screenplay' Fashion Beast.  His video games include Shadow of Mordor, Blackwood Crossing, The Assembly, Dead Space Extraction, Zombiu, and more.  He lives and works in England.  

Linda Regan is the author of nine crime novels. She is also an actor. She holds a Masters degree in critical writing and journalism, and writes a regular column, including book reviews, for three magazines. She also presents the book-club spot on BBC Radio Kent. She is an avid reader and welcomes the chance to read new writers. 

  To read a review of Linda's most recent book
 The Burning Question
click on the title. 

www.lindareganonline.co.uk 

Coming Soon: 'Falling Leaves' by Lea O'Harra

Published 20 February 2026

in Kindle and Paperback.

Book 4 in the Inspector Inoue Mysteries.

One cold night in 1983 in a coastal town in Japan a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl disappears on her way home from badminton practice. The local police explore all avenues, but as is often the case, when there are no clues, there are no answers.

Decades later, the repercussions of her mysterious disappearance are still being felt in Japan in unspoken secrets and lies and broken lives that are left littered behind. When a half-Japanese, half-Korean student is found hanged in her room on the campus of Fujikawa University, the local police at first suspect suicide, never dreaming that this death could possibly be connected to the fortieth anniversary of that schoolgirl's disappearance.

Chief Inspector Inoue and his trusted team of detective inspectors face their most challenging case yet in a race against time to apprehend the culprit before more lives are lost.

Lea O’Harra.  An American by birth, did her postgraduate work in Britain – an MA in Lancaster and a doctorate at Edinburgh – and worked full-time for 36 years at a Japanese university. Since retiring in March 2020, she has spent part of each year in Lancaster and part in Takamatsu on Shikoku Island, her second home, with occasional visits to the States to see family and friends. An avid reader of crime fiction since childhood, as a university professor she wrote academic articles on it as a literary genre and then decided to try her hand at composing such stories herself, publishing the so-called ‘Inspector Inoue mystery series’ comprising four murder mysteries set in rural, contemporary Japan. She has also published two standalone crime fiction novels.

Lea O'Harra – Mystery writer

‘The House of Mystery’ by Joy Ellis

Published by Joffe Books,
27 January 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-80573498-7 (PB) 

Following a bad car accident Ellie McEwan suffered a severe head trauma, which left her distressed and in shock as she was experiencing flashing lights of different colours. However with the help of her friend Carole Cavendish-Meyer and Dr Alice Cros, Ellie’s  partner, Ellie has come to terms with the possession of auric sight, which gives her the ability to see energy in fields of colour and therefore people’s auras which tell her that the person they are seeing is ill, or a person in a dark place. This means that she can diagnose problems within the body. 

This is the third book in this series, and we now find Ellie living in Snug Cottage which had been Carole and her partner, Vera’s home. Both have now passed over, and with the money left to her by Carole, she along with Professor Michael Seale have set up The Cavendish-Meyer Healing Centre. 

Callum Church works at the Healing Centre, and on his way to work, is experiencing shivers of apprehension, and he hopes that this is not some kind of presentment of things to come. And as he drives past the impressive frontage of the Centre, he sees Vera and Carol sitting on a stone bench, who immediately fade away. Unbeknown to him Ellie is experiencing the same feelings of apprehension. 

Beth Saunders is in despair with her 5-year-old daughter Izzie, who one moment is a lovely little girl but when alone with her mother spouts horrible malevolent words to her.  Teenager Oliver Cruise aged 14 has gone missing and young 8-year-old Christopher says he is writing an important book, using words that are far beyond is age.  Five-year-old Harry talks about flying planes over Germany and draws continually and accurately the inside of a WW11 Lancaster bomber. Daisy Hilton sent a letter to her parents 3 months after she disappeared saying she is safe and happy. 

Something bad is happening. But what? Initially these unconnected events seem to be tied up with young children.  Are they being used by an evil force? As Ellie and her team begin to uncover the truth, connections surface between the gifted children and an isolated mansion hidden deep in the Surrey woods. A place spoken about in whispers. A place no one is meant to find called The Eleventh House. A teenage boy's body is found on a lonely country road at dawn. But by the time the police arrive, it has vanished without trace. The blanket that covered him remains. The witness is adamant the boy was dead. But when Detective Bob Foreman and DI Jonathan Leatham reach the scene, there is nothing. No body. No blood. No explanation. 

I am not a believer in ghosts or the supernatural, but this book does draw you in. I had to keep reading. 

Intricately plotted, there are many strings to this story, which is a battle between good and evil. Which will prevail.? Recommended, for those who like something different.
---------
Reviewer: Lizzie Sirett 

Joy Ellis was born in Kent but spent most of her working life in London and Surrey. She was an apprentice florist to Constance Spry Ltd, a prestigious Mayfair shop that throughout the Sixties and Seventies teemed with both royalty and ‘real’ celebrities. She swore that one day she would have a shop of her own. It took until the early Eighties, but she did it. Sadly, the recession wiped it out, and she embarked on a series of weird and wonderful jobs; the last one being a bookshop manager. Joy now lives in a village in the Lincolnshire Fens with her partner, Jacqueline. She had been writing mysteries for years but never had the time to take it seriously. Now as her partner is a highly decorated retired police officer; her choice of genre was suddenly clear. She has set her crime thrillers in the misty fens.   

www.joyellis.info 

‘The Killing Time’ by Elly Griffiths

Published by Quercus,
12 February2026.
ISBN: 978-1-52943-338-8 (HB)

I have a sneaking suspicion that when Elly Griffiths planned her new so-cold-they're-frozen series, it was at least partly because she wanted to spend time in Victorian England along with her characters. Since, unlike them, she doesn't have access to the necessary technology, she makes use of detailed, meticulous research to bring the era to vivid life for her readers.   

The Killing Time is the second in the series, and like its predecessor, it moves between 21^st century London and its equivalent nearly two hundred years ago. DI Ali Dawson and her team of cold case detectives are still mourning the loss of Jones, the scientist who discovered the secret of time travel, but was stranded in the past when things went wrong in the previous title. This time it's Ali who is stranded, when she attempts to time-travel a few days in search of her beloved cat, but somehow finds herself in 1851 along with Jones with no means of returning. 

As Elly Griffths fans have come to expect and enjoy, there's a wealth of interesting characters, including several familiar faces from the first book. In the 21^st century among others are Finn, Ali's son, Dina and John, her  colleagues in the cold case team, and Bud the eccentric scientist who sends her into the past. In 1851 she encounters a couple of Victorian maids who give her an insight into the world of the lower orders. Then there's a creepy illusionist, and Cain Templeton, who makes as strong an impression on her as on their earlier acquaintance. And then there's Barry Power, a self-styled medium and showman; and Lady Serafina, about whom I'm saying no more. 

Along the way the cold case team are investigating a murder, and another one occurs later. But somehow the crimes seem almost incidental, especially in the 19^th century part of the book. Far more interesting is how Ali is going to get back to where she belongs, and how she ended up in Victorian London to start with. 

Elly Griffiths has proved herself adept at weaving diverse strands into a page-turning story, peopling it with characters the reader wants to know more about, and creating richly visual backgrounds for them. With her new series, she is revealing yet another talent: bringing a period of history to life in a way that makes us believe it. It all adds up to yet another cracking good story which will garner yet more fans for this deservedly popular author.
-------
Reviewer: Lynne Patrick 

Elly Griffiths is the author of a series of crime novels set in England’s Norfolk County and featuring forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway. The first in the series, Crossing Places, earned a good deal of praise both in Griffiths’ native country, England, and in the U.S. The Literary Review termed it “a cleverly plotted and extremely interesting first novel, highly recommended.  Since then, Elly has written fifteen further novels in the series.  She has written a second series set in Brighton in the 1950’s featuring magician Max Mephisto and DI Stephens. There are seven books in the series. Her most recent series features Ali Dawson, a time traveller.

www.ellygriffiths.co.uk  

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.

Valentine Day Mysteries.

 One hundred and thirteen Valentine Day Mysteries.

AAMES, Avery	2015	As Gouda as Dead
ADAIR. Suzanne	2011	Regulated For Murder
ADAMS, Deborah	2015	Murder in the Paperback Parlour
ALBERT. Susan Wittig	1997	Love Lies Bleeding
ARNOLD, Carolyn	2015	Valentine's Day Is Murder
BASSETT, Tony	2025	Not My Valentine
BEATON. M C	2010	Death of a Valentine
BELL. Cindy	2018	Hot Chocolate and Homicide
BELLE, Josie	2014	Marked Down For Murder
BENNING, Patti	2018	Valentines and Murder
	2018	Killer Valentine Cookies
	2021	Vicious Valentine
BIRD, Nigel	2020	My Funny Valentine
BLACK. Etham	1999	The Broken Hearts Club
BLACKMOORE, Stephanie	2018	Murder Borrowed, Murder Blue
BRITTON, Danica	2017	A Witchy Valentine
BROWN. 'Rita Mae  &	2001	Claws & Effect
BUDEWITZ, Leslie	2015	Butter Off Dead
BYERS, Beth	2020	Mystery on Valentine's Day
CANNELL. Dorothy	1995	How To Murder the Man of Your Dreams
CARL, JoAnna	2009	The Chocolate Cupid Killings
CARL, Lillian Stewart	2011	The Mortsafe
CARLISLE, Kate	2015	This Old Homicide
CARTER, Sammi	2009	Sucker Punch
CHASE, Julie	2017	Cat Got Your Secrets
CLELAND, Jane K	2013	Lethal Treasure.
COLLIER, Christine E	2002	A Holiday Sampler
COLLINS. Ava Ashwood	2003	Red Roses For a Dead Trucker
CRABTREE, Elisabeth	2014	The St. Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre
CRANE, Caroline	1983	Trick or Treat
CRAWFORD, Iris	2008	A Catered Valentine's Day
CREEDON, P	2018	Murder on Valentine's Day
DALEY, Kathi	2014	Cupid's Curse)
	2018	The Valentine Mystery
	2025	V in the Valentine (2025)
D'AMATO. Barbara	1998	Hard Feelings
DAVIES, Rae	2014	Lucy and the Valentine Verdict
DAY, Marele	1994	The Disappearances of Madalena Grimaldi
DEMAREE, Steve	2018	A Valentine Murder
DESHAW. Rose	2009	Love with the Proper Killer
DODWELL, LIz	2017	Valentine's Day
EDWARDS. Ruth Dudley	1984	The Saint Valentine Day Murders
EMRICK, K.J.	2014	The Stolen Valentine
EVANOVICH. Janet	2007	Plum Lovin'
FARDIG, Caroline	2016	My Funny Valentine
FITZPATRICK. Michelle	2005	Happy Valentine's Day
FLEMING. Ian	1966	The Living Daylights
FLOWERS, Jean	2017	Addressed to Kill
FLUKE. Joanne	2005	Peach Cobble Murder
GARNER, Deborah	2019	A Flair for Truffles
GREELEY. Fr. Andrew	1989	St Valentine's Night
GREEN, George Daws	1994	The Caveman's Valentine
GREENBERG. Martin	1998	14 Vicious Valentines
with Rosalind M Greenberg
GREENWOOD, Patrice	2021	A Valentine for One
GUNN, Alastair	2015	My Bloody Valentine
HADDAM. Jane	1994	Bleeding Hearts
HARRIS. Lee	1996	The Valentine's Day Murder
HART. Carolyn	1983	Deadly Valentine
	1995	Crimes of the Heart
HARTE, Jenna	2012	Deadly Valentine
HOLLIS, Lee	2014	Death of a Chocoholic
HOMLES, Bobbie	2016	The Ghost of Valentine Past (2016)
IRELAND, Liz	2025	Mrs. Claus and the Very Vicious Valentine
JACKSON, Melanie	2010	Cupid's Revenge
KOONTZ. Dean	2007	Your Heart Belongs to Me
LEVINE, Laura	2013	Killing Cupid
LIN, Harper	2014	Valentine's Victim
LONDON, Meg	2014	A Fatal Slip
LOUREY, Jess	2015	February Fever
MACLEOD, Shea	2017	The Venom in the Valentine
MAHER, Tegan	2018	Moonshine Valentine (2018)
MARIE, Anna S.	2017	Valentine's Cupcake & Murder
MARKS. Jeffrey	2004	The Scent of Murder
MARPLE, Mona	2018	A Valentine's Kill
MARTIN, Faith	2011	A Fatal Fall of Snow/The Winter Mystery
MCDOUGAN, Ellie	2023	Victims and Valentine's Day Cherryville book 3
MCKINLAY, Jenn	2011	Buttercream Bump Off
MCLEISH. Doug	1991	The Valentine Victim
MCKEVETT. G A	2000	Sugar & Spite
MCLEAN, Donna	2017	A Sparrow Falls Valentine
MCLEISH, Dougal	1969	The Valentine Victim
MEIER. Leslie	1999	Valentine Murder
	2012	Chocolate Covered Murder
MENUHIN, Karen Baugh	2024	Saint Valentine's Day Murder (2024)
MICHAELS. Grant	1992	Love You To Death
MOORECROFT, M'Lissa	2020	A Valentine Wedding (2020)
MURPHY. Shirley Rousseau	2009	Cat Playing Cupid
PAGE. Katherine Hall	2006	The Body in the Attic
PRESSEY, Rose	2017	Forever Valentine
RENDELL. 'Ruth	1977	A Judgement in Stone
ROBINSON, David W	2013	My Deadly Valentine
ROCKWELL, Patricia	2012	Valentined
SAVAGE. Tom	1996	Valentine
SCHWEIZER, Mark	2012	The Treble Wore Trouble
SCOTT, Kendall	2021	The Valentine Day Murders
SHELTON. Connie	2012	Sweet Hearts
SMITH, Karen Rose	2015	Gilt by Association
SMITH, SMITH, Lotta & Kelly Hartigan	2019	My Wicked Valentine
STANLEY, J B	2015	Murder in the Paperback Parlor
STRAUSS, Lee	2020	Mystery on Valentine's Day
SUZETTE, Kathleen	2021	Deadly Valentine
	2023	Valentine Villainy (2023)
SWANSON. Denise	2002	Murder of a Pink Elephant
TAYLOR, Brad	2011	One Rough Man
TILLER. Denise	2000	Calculated Risk (1st)
TOPE, Rebecca	2010	The Coniston Case
VIGUIE, Debbie	2015	Thou Art With Me (2015)
WEBBER, Heather	2010	Deeply, Desperately
	2010	Truly Madly
	2011	Absolutely Positively
	2012	Perfectly Matched
	2014	Undeniably Yours
WHITING, J.A.	2017	The Haunted Valentine)
WHITNEY. 'Phyllis A	1998	Daughter Of the Stars