One duchess. One part-time spy. One German Shepherd who keeps digging up murder.
Roger is a German Shepherd with a traumatic past, a devoted heart, and a talent for digging up exactly the wrong thing at exactly the right moment. In this mystery series, that talent solves murders.
Roger belongs to Nell Ainsworth, 9th Duchess of Belward, who never expected to inherit a title, let alone a crumbling Cornish estate. She inherited both anyway, along with Roger, an alcoholic gardener, and more family secrets than the manor has rooms. Which is saying something. The manor has a lot of rooms.
Nell is rich, entitled, and does exactly what she wants. What she wants, it turns out, is to solve mysteries. Rounding out the household is Henry, her valet, an MI5 officer who now manages her finances, her crises, and his own feelings about her, in roughly that order of success.
Together this unlikely trio takes on blackmailers, buried treasure, vanishing musicians, and the occasional ghost, all while Nell and Henry pretend they are not engaged to be married in three years. They are. They agreed not to discuss it. They discuss it constantly.
The Nell Ainsworth mysteries are a sparkling blend of golden-age puzzle and screwball romance: Agatha Christie’s plotting with a modern, madcap soul. Each book stands alone, but the secrets of Ainsworth Manor run deep, and the Duchess intends to dig up every last one of them. Usually literally. Usually in a storm. Roger helps.
Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Rhys Bowen, and anyone who loves dog mysteries, witty heroines, and country house crime with heart.
