The body of a disliked housekeeper is found at the Palace's swimming pool shortly after the Queen sees her painting of the Royal Yacht Britannia on display at a Navy exhibition, without her consent. While this is happening, members of her staff including her trusted secretary, Rozie, are receiving messages from an anonymous source, and the content is less than kind. Tasked with a menagerie of issues, the Queen is determined to get to the bottom of what is afoot.
A Three Dog Problem is essentially a whodunnit set on palace grounds, with the British royal family making cameos and a host of red herrings to keep you guessing. Queen Elizabeth II acts in an investigative capacity, but is the most discreet of sleuths of course. The characterisation of the Queen is charming and insightful, and there are humorous moments akin to the kind you'd read about in Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club series. While I hadn't read the first book in this series, I was still able to grasp that this wasn't Her Majesty's first rodeo, and that she'd put her grey matter to use to investigate matters before.
This cosy crime novel does feature fun quips showing the Queen's relationship with Philip, and some gorgeous scenic description of the palace setting. I did however find the plot a bit muddled in places - the problems that the Queen is trying to find an answer to are plentiful - there's a missing painting, a suspected murder, and anonymous letters that target multiple people at the place - which means at times there are too many threads to keep track of. These problems are also combined with a wider theme of a covert gang taking items from the Palace under the radar, so at times it can feel like there is too much going on. I think the plot would've benefitted from less going on, and also maybe an index of the characters especially as some are known by nicknames or multiple terms - I often found myself going, wait a sec, which one is he?
Since I write about the royals for my job as a journalist, this was an enjoyable more light-hearted way to get a royal fix, and despite my issues with the plot it was still an amusing and far-fetched piece of escapism to get into on my days off.
A Three Dog Problem is essentially a whodunnit set on palace grounds, with the British royal family making cameos and a host of red herrings to keep you guessing. Queen Elizabeth II acts in an investigative capacity, but is the most discreet of sleuths of course. The characterisation of the Queen is charming and insightful, and there are humorous moments akin to the kind you'd read about in Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club series. While I hadn't read the first book in this series, I was still able to grasp that this wasn't Her Majesty's first rodeo, and that she'd put her grey matter to use to investigate matters before.
This cosy crime novel does feature fun quips showing the Queen's relationship with Philip, and some gorgeous scenic description of the palace setting. I did however find the plot a bit muddled in places - the problems that the Queen is trying to find an answer to are plentiful - there's a missing painting, a suspected murder, and anonymous letters that target multiple people at the place - which means at times there are too many threads to keep track of. These problems are also combined with a wider theme of a covert gang taking items from the Palace under the radar, so at times it can feel like there is too much going on. I think the plot would've benefitted from less going on, and also maybe an index of the characters especially as some are known by nicknames or multiple terms - I often found myself going, wait a sec, which one is he?
Since I write about the royals for my job as a journalist, this was an enjoyable more light-hearted way to get a royal fix, and despite my issues with the plot it was still an amusing and far-fetched piece of escapism to get into on my days off.