The Dog Sitter Detective's Christmas Tail

Dog Sitter Detective, Book 4

By: Antony Johnston

Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie

It's almost Christmas, and Gwinny Tuffel's thoughts are on what she'll buy for DI Birch and whether she can adopt another furry friend. But sorting through her late father's papers leads her into his mysterious past, pointing to an enigmatic liaison with someone now living in a Somerset commune.

Gwinny and DI Birch find themselves unexpectedly snowed in with a group of retired spies, along with an energetic Cocker Spaniel, and embroiled in a murder case. Will they uncover the culprit and escape in time for Christmas?

©2025 Antony Johnston (P)2025 Soundings

Fourth Delightful Cozy Mystery Book With Dogs

I loved this fourth installment in the Dogsitter Detective Mystery series.

The plot was unexpected, and it involves a mystery about her late father's life that Gwinny just has to try and solve.

Gwinny and her love interest, retired police detective Birch end up stopping at the home of an acquaintance of her father's on their way back home from an audition in Bath. They were traveling with both Birch's dog and the Cocker Spaniel that Gwinny is temporarily keeping. They end up getting snowed in with a nest of spies, and a murder happens.

The plot was fun and entertaining, but I found it to be rather implausible, and even though the title promises "Christmas", the holiday didn't have any role in the story other than the snow storm.

I hope there will be more books in this series in the near future.

Great narrator, great cozy mystery

Nicolette is perfect for this role, and delivers an excellent performance as both Gwinny and the rest of the characters.
Antony really nails the tone and pacing in these for me. It walked the line between cozy enough that I could set it down but propulsive enough that I kept picking it back up.