A dead art historian. Cold War skulduggery.
An extremely hungry dog.
Dame Charlotte Lazerton - eminent art historian and former mentor of Danish academic Torben Helle - is dead. To make it worse, she was found partially eaten by her own pet dog. While the Metropolitan police believe that she died of natural causes, Torben becomes convinced that Dame Charlotte was murdered, although as usual no-one pays any attention to him. That is, until he gains the confidence of a detective inspector who has watched one too many Nordic Noir dramas, and is ready to listen to any Scandinavian in an extremely woolly jumper.
Aided - often grudgingly - by his old friend Leyla, Torben soon realises that there are plenty of people who might have wanted Dame Charlotte dead, from her competitors for a prestigious academic chair, to old enemies from her time in intelligence during the Cold War. One thing is for sure: Torben Helle is woefully unqualified to catch a killer, and the killer knows it...
This witty murder mystery puts a modern spin on the classic Golden Age whodunnit. A must-read for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman and Janice Hallett.