The Barker's Dozen: Reminiscences of an Early Police Dog

The Detective got the praise but the dog did the digging.

The Barker's Dozen consists of twelve linked stories that detail the cases of Inspector Richard Thompson, of Scotland Yard, during the second half of the Victorian era. Unlike Sherlock Holmes the hero is a member of the official police service. these stories are narrated by Snuffles, the Inspector's Springer Spaniel. The dog is an extremely engaging narrator although he can be somewhat arrogant and has a liking for bad puns.
The settings for these stories range from the foggy streets of Victorian London to grand country houses familiar to us from Poirot and Downton Abbey. There is a genuine period flavour to this book with the relationships between the different social classes forming a theme that runs through the book. Indeed the vast differences between masters and servants proves to be a major factor in several of the investigations.
Although Richard Thompson is a very good detective we learn that most of his cases are actually solved by Snuffles who interviews the animal witnesses. The dog is left with the problem of telling his master what he has discovered, without revealing that he can talk. All I will say is that he is a most resourceful Spaniel.
Between each of the cases there is a journal entry written by Isobel Fraser a young American heiress who has been sent to Britain by her parents to end her infatuation with an adventurer. Her presence turns the book into a romance. Her outsider's view of privileged Victorian society gives us a window onto a different way of life that came to an end following the First World War.

In the words of a review: "A delightful book in the finest Sherlock Holmes tradition. The pastiche is so well done that after reading the first chapter, I had to look up the publication date to make sure it wasn't a reissue of an 1890's work. Snuffles - best name ever for a Springer Spaniel, by the way - is a charming protagonist. The stories contain enough suspense to keep the book moving along, enough humour to provide a chuckle now and then without getting silly, and the romance thread is cute without taking over. All in all, an entertaining, relaxing book."

Dettagli