To Fetch a Felon

Starred review from October 15, 2020
This first Chatty Corgi mystery features all the elements of a good cozy. There's a quaint Cornish village, where Emma Reed, the main character, plans to open a tea shop. Emma has an unusual talent. She can understand what her corgi, Oliver, says. In Trevena, like most small English towns, there are gossip and gardens aplenty as well as a local legend about the strange disappearance of Nicholas Penhallow, one of the lesser-liked residents who owned the town's bakery, which was converted into the tea shop that Emma wishes to purchase. Rumor has it that Penhallow's wife killed him and burned his body in the bakery oven. When Emma comes to town and discovers the dead body of Victoria Roberts, the woman who was interfering with her purchase of the tea shop, Oliver lends a paw, sniffing out the truth about the suspects. This is a charming mystery with an intriguing cast of characters, any of whom might be the culprit. Readers must choose between the down-on-his-luck nephew of the victim, the best friend with a secret, the real-estate agent in conflict with Victoria over properties, and the journalist seeking the true story about Penhallow. Recommend this one highly to anyone who enjoys British cozies and has no problem with sleuths who chat with their corgis.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2020
A life-changing move morphs into a life-threatening one. Emma Reed spent many happy childhood holidays in the charming Cornish town of Trevena. Now that she's decided to leave her job in finance and open a tea shop in Cornwall, she's exploring options in the company of her corgi, Oliver. But then Oliver's pursuit of a fox in a rose garden upsets the garden's prizewinning owner, Victoria Roberts, who has title to most of the property in the area, including the defunct bakery Emma had hoped to rent. Emma, who can understand Oliver's speech perfectly, is naturally more forgiving than Victoria. The town is split over allowing a development that could mean new opportunities. Emma's real estate agent, Maggie Trenwith, is for it and Victoria, decidedly against. Secretly, Victoria's nephew Jimmy and even her friends Louise and Ruth think the development's a good idea. Aiming to appease her, Emma brings Victoria scones only to find her dead under suspicious circumstances. Enter disgraced reporter Parker Taite and his Yorkie, Percy, who pals up with Oliver to join in the hunt for the killer. Emma makes quite a few friends and picks up a lot of town gossip, including the fact that Victoria was once suspected of murdering the much-despised bakery owner. Taite plans to write a book on past crimes, and the current one spurs his interest. But he misses his big chance when he's the next to die. Meanwhile, Emma's acumen and Oliver's nose turn up clues that put them in the killer's crosshairs. A promising debut for dog lovers, who'll delight in the clever talking corgi and his charming owner.

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