I am a huge fan of Leigh Russell’s books and I was looking forward to seeing how she would get on tackling cosy crime. I was pleasantly surprised as sometimes I find cosy crime a bit twee but Leigh manages to balance the sweet aspects of Poppy with the darker mystery at hand. It was a solid start to a new series and I will be looking out for its follow-up!

Emily hasn’t had the best lockdown experience, she has lost her job and then her boyfriend suddenly dumps her. As she is contemplating what to do with her life she finds out that her great aunt has died and left Emily her house in the charming rural Wiltshire village of Ashton Mead. But there is a catch, Emily has to agree to look after whatever pet is living there. Emily decides that this is fine and moves into the house. The pet turns out to be a lovely dog called Poppy. She begins to make friends in the village, settling in a new job when her ex-boyfriend turns up on her doorstep wanting another chance. Plus, her next-door neighbour’s daughter has gone missing and no one seems to care but her…

At times I found Emily stupidly naive in her mindset but then she is meant to be young and slightly unaware of what's happening around her so it balance of her character did work. She did think outside the box, especially when it came to her neighbour but at times she was horrid to her friend Hannah! But then makes for a nuanced and layered character. The star of the show was of course Poppy - who doesn't love a dog in a cosy crime series?! I wonder if I could team up with my wee dog Lily and go around Glasgow solving crimes.

Let me know if you read this one!