Barking Up The Right Tree by Leigh Russell
When Emily’s boyfriend walks out, she is devastated. As she is puzzling over what to do with the rest of her life, she is surprised to learn that her great aunt has died, leaving Emily her cottage in the picturesque Wiltshire village of Ashton Mead.
This inheritance comes with a condition: Emily must take care of her great aunt’s pet. Not knowing what to expect, Emily sets off for the village, hoping to make a new life for herself.
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In the village, she soon makes friends with Hannah who runs the Sunshine Tea Shoppe, and meets other residents of the village where she decides to settle. All is going well… until her unknown pet arrives. Then Emily’s ex-boyfriend turns up and against the advice of her new friends, she takes him back.
When her next-door neighbour’s daughter disappears in mysterious circumstances, Emily decides to investigate, unwittingly putting her own life in danger…
My Review
What a lot of fun this book was! Our intrepid hero Emily, having lost her job and been dumped by her prat (I’m being polite or my review will get rejected) of a boyfriend Ben, has inherited her late aunt’s house in the depths of Wiltshire. But in order to keep the house, she has to agree to look after her aunt’s pet. Only she has no idea what it is. It could be a poisonous snake, a tarantula (eek), a stick insect (I hate those) or even a leopard (now I jest).
Phew! It’s only a goldfish. Except that turns out to be temporary. It’s actually a cute puppy called Poppy. She’s a Jack Tzu (Jack Russell crossed with a Shih Tzu – we have another name for those) and she’s friendly, playful and fluffy. Emily has no idea how to look after a pooch, but how difficult can it be? Bit of food – she’s only small – and two walks a day.
Emily soon makes friends in the village of Ashton Mead. There’s Hannah who runs the Sunshine Tea Shoppe and Toby who lives in Swindon, but cares for his disabled mum nearby. Emily is loving it in her new home, that is until Ben turns up and she takes him back. Nooo! I hear you cry. Hannah doesn’t trust his motives, Toby thinks he’s an idiot and Poppy hates him. And dogs know best, don’t they? If only she could talk.
Poppy also gets spooked by Emily’s next-door neighbour Alice, who is very unfriendly, except when it comes to talking about her daughter Sophie, who has gone travelling.
Emily’s new friends worry about her, She’s suspicious of everyone, not just Alice. She thinks her aunt’s death wasn’t an accident but has no proof of anything untoward, except her aunt saying she feared for her life – the day before she died.
Barking Up The Right Tree is an easy read, a cosy mystery, with a lovable dog at its core. I can’t wait for the next instalment of the Poppy Mystery Tales.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours
About the Author
Alongside her popular DI Geraldine Steel detective novels, Leigh Russell is the author of the Poppy Mystery Tales, a brand new cosy crime series set in an idyllic English village. The stories feature Poppy, a lively puppy who helps her owner solve mysteries. Leigh has an MA in English Literature from the University of Kent. She has been shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and the People’s Book Prize. Keen to support new writers, Leigh chairs the CWA Debut Dagger Judges, and is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund. Leigh lives in London, near her two daughters and granddaughter. One of her daughters has a rescue puppy who inspired the Poppy Mystery Tales.
