Meet Polly Hope: art expert, reluctant dog lover and… amateur detective?

London, 1941. Polly Hope is bravely working as an air raid warden during the Blitz when she saves the life of the charming Freddie Fairbank. Over a thank-you breakfast at the Ritz, he asks Polly to help requisition a sprawling English country house for the war effort.

Petherbridge Hall has grand rooms, lovely views and will be a perfect nursing home for injured troops, if they can only persuade the family to give up their house. But then they find the lord of the manor dead behind the gardener’s shed. With the local police too busy to investigate, Polly and Freddie realise they need to find the culprit, and fast. At least Toby the terrier seems happy to help.

With more suspects than you can shake a ration book at, our intrepid duo are on the hunt for the killer. But when Polly follows a clue down to the cellars, a secret door opens with a bang and her torch goes out… Really, in wartime Britain, couldn’t murderers at least wait until after tea?

Perfect for fans of cosy mysteries and anyone who likes their sleuths witty, their houses stately, and their wartimes adventures served with a dash of danger!