Tamsin Kernick lives in England’s gentle Malvern Hills in this New Year’s Eve mystery, which features BARKS, BIKES AND BODIES! With her friend, yoga instructor Emerald, Tamsin heads up the snowy hills to watch a fireworks display. She sensibly leaves her three dogs, Banjo, Quiz and Moonbeam, at home safely. Before the night is over, the two ladies have stumbled upon a suspicious death.

This was my first encounter with the characters, but they walk right in and introduce themselves, then show the reader around their favourite haunts in Nether Trotley, such as the café, The Cake Stop, and the bicycle shop, Flying Pedals. Tamsin is a dog trainer who makes enough to live in her cottage and keep a Border Collie and two smaller dogs. The fourth book in the Tamsin Kernick series features a competitive cross-country cycling club known as The Nighthawks, who train on the mountain trails in the dark, which sounds perilous. On New Year’s Eve, one of the cyclists came a cropper, and Tamsin, who finds him lying in vegetation, can’t see what caused him to die – but he has no pulse. The official rescuers remove the body, and Tamsin should leave it at that – but after helping to solve three mysteries, she just has to make enquiries.

The late cyclist was named Ferdinand Glossop, but he was a stranger to everyone, even to Feargal who reports for the local paper, the Malvern Mercury. As confirmation arrives that the death was no accident, Tamsin and Emerald, merrily accompanied by dogs, ask everyone in the village about the circumstances. 

The writing style is informal, perhaps dictated, which I’m noticing of late in some British cosy mysteries. Several chapters start with ‘they’ which I feel is no use if you’re returning to the book the next day, as you’ve forgotten who was doing what. Don’t expect a lot of forensics or police jargon; this is a gossipy story hinging on who was where, and what motives can be uncovered. The dogs perform obedience and parlour tricks, but no search and rescue or other working breed activity; I don’t know what they did in earlier stories. Having said that, the barking buddies come in very useful when Tamsin is in a tight corner. Training dogs to respect their owner and behave well is essential, for everyone’s safety. Lucy Emblem clearly enjoys meeting up with her cast and describing the windswept, wintry hills, a fantastically scenic, historic and mystical location. BARKS, BIKES AND BODIES! will appeal to pet keepers who want a mystery in a lighter shade of pale.