And in a development that made for a very happy winter weekend curled under a blanket with a glass of Baileys, the sequel A Three Dog Problem has been released in time for Christmas - presumably because, having been sold to publishers in 14 countries and the subject of a seven-figure bidding war in the US, Zaffre Books know they're onto a very good thing. Establishing Queen Elizabeth II in the Nero Wolfe role and positioning Rozie as her Archie Goodwin-like assistant is a great move that allows SJ Bennett to pull off a pretty outlandish setup and render the unlikely scenario of the Queen as a secret supersleuth strangely believable. Due to the need to keep up regal appearances, she can’t just don a deerstalker and rush off to investigate whenever a potential crime comes to her attention. There are three mysteries put forward: a painting of the Queen's that has gone missing and found in the Navy's offices; a nasty series of poison pen letters that are making work life in the palace tense and unhappy; and the death of a housekeeper which is deemed an accident.

A Three Dog Problem by SJ Bennett - LoveReading A Three Dog Problem by SJ Bennett - LoveReading

While this formidable bunch of women might not commonly be grouped together, they are all united by one particular attribute: they’re all exceptionally talented and prolific amateur sleuths. And, knowing that a case will be solved in no way takes away from the thrill of events leading up to that solution. Drie maanden voor deze gebeurtenis zag de Queen één van haar favoriete schilderijen namelijk hangen op een tentoonstelling van maritieme kunst.In addition to dealing with red boxes full of paperwork every day, Her Majesty sits for portraits and sculptures, has garment fittings, walks her dogs, visits friends and relatives, and binge watches Murder She Wrote. Amateur detective Queen Elizabeth II is back in this hugely entertaining follow-up to the bestseller The Windsor Knot, in which Her Majesty must determine how a missing painting is connected to the shocking death of a staff member inside Buckingham Palace. It had been removed as part of the palace refurbishment during the 1990s and the Queen had lost track of it until, quite by chance, she spotted it hanging in the corridor at Semaphore House in Portsmouth. All the Queen's Men doesn't have the revelations of the origin story in The Windsor Knot (2020) which had the extra charm of revealing the REAL Her Majesty's Secret Service, but I can't begrudge that.

A Three Dog Problem - Fantastic Fiction A Three Dog Problem - Fantastic Fiction

Bennett has created a wonderful cast of characters of courtiers and palace employees around Her Maj, and of course using the built in people too, with Prince Philip and Princess Anne playing roles here.And, I have to retract or clarify part of my statement made in the beginning of the review, as I indicated that this book and this series was pure pleasure reading for me and not one of imparting important messages. The mystery at play here was much more involved and multi-faceted than that of THE WINDSOR KNOT (so, potentially a smidge more confusing and seemed to take a bit longer to wrap up), but HM and Rozie were so perfectly on point that I didn’t even mind. With her reliable secretary Rozie by her side, the Queen is confronted by more murder, the existence of a criminal breakages system that continues to operate in the present right under her nose, art fraud, and vicious poison pen letters.

A Three Dog Problem by SJ Bennett | Crime Fiction Lover

The reference was also later borrowed by Julian Symons for the title of his book A Three-Pipe Problem (1975). Whenever Sherlock Holmes has a very difficult case to solve, he has to smoke three pipes to do it and it becomes a ‘three pipe problem’. Rozie doesn’t desire to leave her job or be murdered, so she must persevere in the face of these scare tactics and keep investigating for the Queen to find out who is behind them. However with the novelty factor of the first book absent and far fewer moments of wit and humour this second book struggled to hold my attention. A witty whodunit starring our very own HM The Queen as an amateur sleuth' - GOOD HOUSEKEEPING __________________ Queen Elizabeth II is having a royal nightmare.

Although it is the second book in The Queen Investigates series, A Three Dog Problem can be read as a standalone - but with The Windsor Knot currently only 99p on Kindle it's also a worthy addition to your to be read pile.