Blog Tour: The Three Dog Problem by S.J Bennett

Today is my stop on the blog tour for the brilliant A Three Dog Problem by S.J Bennett! I really enjoyed the first in this series The Windsor Knot and so was very keen to read the follow up. Thanks to Tracy at Compulsive Readers and Zaffre Books for having me on the tour, and for kindly sending me a copy of this book. 

In the wake of a referendum which has divided the nation, the last thing the Queen needs is any additional problems to worry about. But when an oil painting of the Royal Yacht Britannia - first given to the Queen in the 1960s - shows up unexpectedly in a Royal Navy exhibition, she begins to realise that something is up. 

After a body is found in the Palace swimming pool, she finds herself once again in the middle of an investigation which has more twists and turns than she could ever have suspected. With her trusted assistant private secretary Rozie by her side, the Queen is determined to solve the case. But will she be able to do it before the murderer strikes again? 

When a body is found by the swimming pool at Buckingham Palace it seems like a tragic accident. But the victim wasn’t popular amongst the Palace staff, and when links emerge between the victim and a missing painting The Queen begins to suspect there is more to the situation that meets the eye and decides to conduct her own, discreet, investigation. 

At the centre of this novel is of course Queen Elizabeth, who is perfectly portrayed, but she can’t solve the murder alone - after all one cannot be seen sleuthing - and so she relies on her Assistant Private Secretary Rozie to make discreet enquiries on her behalf. I loved the glimpse, albeit fictional, behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, at the servants and background staff that keep everything running smoothly and the rapport between them all. 

The story is set in 2016, and although that is only five years ago, it feels like a different world. Britain is in turmoil at the result of the Brexit referendum, Donald Trump has just been elected President, and, most notably, Prince Philip is still very much a part of the royal family. His relationship with Elizabeth is so lovingly portrayed that it really brought a tear to my eye and made me miss him all the more. I do hope that the rest of this series is set pre-2021 too, just so we can have more of him.

Rightly billed as The Crown meets Miss Marple, The Three Dog Problem is a very British crime novel.  

For more content on this book follow the rest of the blog tour!