The Dogwalkers’ Detective Agency by Michael Hogan book review – ‘whimsical English humour with a dark twist’

The Dogwalkers’ Detective Agency is Stoke Newington author Michael Hogan’s debut novel. Photograph: Penguin

Graphic designer Charlie Boardman is back in his native town looking after his ageing mother when he and his half-blind Staffy Ruby stumble on a murder scene. Fortunately, sleepy coastal Framstone has a posse of eccentric dogwalkers who are up to the challenge of trying to sniff out the killer.

The Dogwalkers’ Detective Agency is Stoke Newington author Michael Hogan’s debut novel, and a heartwarming addition to the genre of cosy crime.

Though verisimilitude is generally not much prized in this particular fictional subspecies, the alacrity with which detective inspector Anjali Thompson welcomes a motley crew of amateur sleuths into her murder investigation is enough to test even the most credulous of readers.

Once you manage to suspend your disbelief, however, you are into a chiaroscuro of lighthearted English seaside humour and dark narrative twists as you watch latte-swilling private eyes plumb the social and criminal depths of their otherwise quaint surroundings.

The book perfectly combines lighthearted English humour with dark twists. Photograph: Penguin

One of the more endearing features of the book is the care with which the personalities of the individual dogs are drawn – certainly a selling point for readers with pets snoring at their feet as they turn the pages. Chaotic terriers Rough and Tumble pounce alongside graceful Ted the greyhound as goofy Labrador Humphrey ambles past. (Spoiler alert: this descriptive device is useful in narrative terms also, given that the animals end up playing starring roles as the story progresses.)

The juxtaposition of bucolic mundanity and violent underworld gives The Dogwalkers’ Detective Agency a whimsically surreal feel that will tickle the sensibilities of those with a taste for the absurd. It may not yet be beach season, but Hogan has given us something with which to chuckle away the hours in the meantime.

The Dogwalkers’ Detective Agency by Michael Hogan is published by Penguin, ISBN: 978-1-405-97795-1; RRP: £9.99.