Meet Thea Osborne — dog walker, housesitter, and solver of puzzling crimes.

Recently widowed Thea suspects three weeks’ housesitting in the sleepy Cotswold village of Duntisbourne Abbots might prove a little dull. But her first night’s sleep is broken by a piercing scream. It’s only a fox, she thinks, and rolls over back to sleep.

The next morning, out walking the dogs, something catches her eye. A half-submerged body floating in the brook, still wearing his Wellington boots.

A tragic accident it would appear. But then Thea discovers that the body of the victim’s brother was discovered just ten weeks ago. In the same field.

Thea and her trusty spaniel Hepzibah must track down a brutal killer before any more deaths disturb this peaceful corner of the Cotswolds.