After enjoying the heck out of the first in this series, this was a must-read for me! S. J. Bennett is one of my favourite authors (I've adored her YA books, published under Sophia Bennett) for years and this story, involving HM The Queen and her assistant Rozie investigating a mystery involving a painting and a threatening letter, did not disappoint. The characters are compelling with just the right amount of personality, I loved this story and must get my hands on the third in this series!

I really wanted to enjoy it. I love the idea of crimes at the palace. But I found it quite boring and not so well written. I struggled to make myself read it.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book, I wasn’t blown away by it, and found it quite difficult to follow at times. I enjoyed the detective work and the story lines. I also have to comment on some of the racism in the uncorrected proof copy that I received which was entirely unnecessary and uncomfortable to read (thankfully it was removed in the final copy).

Thank you to NetGalley for this free arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a massively anticipated read for me but after really not getting on with the writing in the first book I’ve decided it would be unfair for me to read this one and leave a bad review.

The premise is great and the portrayal of the royal family is wonderful I just didn’t get along with the authors writing style.

Honestly I loved this book so much. After reading the first book in the series I knew I'd be desperate for a sequel and S.J. Bennett nailed it in this new novel.
I mean who doesn't want to read about the Queen solving crimes? I love a quirky crime caper and honestly if you just need a cheering up, this is the perfect book for you. Enjoy!

Fantastic read. The best of cosy mystery’s. Really enjoyable read and certainly not a disappointment after the first fantastic book of the series. The writing is so natural and plausible! It’s exactly how you would imagine the Queen solving mysteries. Thoroughly engaging and keeps you guessing. Can’t wait for the next one!

Thank you Netgalley

I really struggled to put this book down, in the end i stayed up until 2 in the morning because i had to find out what happened.
If anyone had told me someone would write a crime novel with the queen being the detective i would have laughed but this series is just light hearted, easy to read, and funny.
Perfect for that summer beach read or curled up by the sofa by the fire.
i am looking forward for the next instalment and finding the clues with Queen.

The second book in the delightfully clever mystery series in which Queen Elizabeth II secretly solves crimes while carrying out her royal duties.

This is the second book in a series of cosy muder-mystery stories. The choice a rather aged lady with a nose for a puzzle is part of thre current Osman zeitgeist but to elevate it to Her Royal Highness leaves everyone else standing. The story is a mild mannered but clever and ascerbic look at the royal world. Of course this a fictional version of Ma’am but it’s a hoot and seems timely given the current excitement around a massive Jubilee. Forget Brian May on the roof of the Palace I’d settle for the Queen narrating this and doing all the voices. It’s charming and funny and I loved it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the Windsor Knot and it was fantastic to see QE2 have another outing as a sleuth. The characters are wonderfully drawn, you feel like you really get a sense of them and want to follow them as they go about their business. The plot was complex and intricate. A challenging murder case but Her Maj did it

I thoroughly enjoyed this book which followed the Queen and her closest aide solving crimes far better than the detectives from Scotland Yard. It had a real cosy murder vibe to it! Will definitely be going back to read The Windsor Knot. There was something so pure and enjoyable about this - dark subject (murder) but still felt quite light and frivolous with just the right amount of humour. Loved it.

I was actually very excited to be back with the Queen investigating another mysteries that happen to happen under her own roof. In this book there are - I think - three of them to be solved, the missing painting, the poison pen letters to different members of Queen's staff and an accidental death in the royal swimming pool. But believe me - it felt as if there were at least three hundred mysteries and not only those three. I think it's because there are - next to Queen and two or three characters that we got to know in the first book in the series - thousands of other characters. Thousands. I had a feeling that the author simply takes another character if she needed a solution. I had no idea who is who and why and what's their role in the book, until the very end, and it didn't make the reading experience easier or nicer.
I also couldn't completely follow the complicated and complex explanations of what has happened and why some people must have died. In the end, I actually couldn't care less who has killed whom and why - I had a feeling I'm being overwhelmed with tons of informations on hundreds of pages and I really didn't know what should be important.
This is why I didn't read this book as a mystery. It was an entertaining, light and, in that case, not too demanding story featuring the Queen and showing her as a forthcoming person. A lovely cosy crime, rather slow, but I can't wait to see where the next book will take us.

A Three dog Problem by S J Bennett

There is something really comforting about having an older heroine solving a murder.. it harks back to the Miss Maple mysteries which hold a special place in my heart and having the Queen solving the mystery is the icing on the cake.

There are three mysteries to be solved in this book, a missing painting, an accidental death in the royal swimming pool and malicious letter campaign to some staff including Rozie, the Queens left hand woman for helping solving crimes, at first these mysteries are unconnected but as the book goes on it becomes obvious they are connected..

It is set in 2016 just after the Brexit referendum and this is mentioned but as per the Queens decorum we never find out her opinion on it even though people ask her staff for it.

The mysterious are confident and well thought out and all the ends are neatly tied at the end of the book so it is very satisfying.

The three dogs refers to the walks that the Queen takes to think.. Three dogs are a perfect number to walk with apparently.

I really enjoyed these books and I rumour has it there are three more in the series that are waiting to be written.


#ThreeDogProblems #NetGalley #Contempary #Mystery #Royalty

Just wonderful. Intricately plotted, smart, charming and witty, with wonderful characters who leap off the page, not least the Queen herself, who SJ Bennett manages to seem utterly convincing as an amateur detective. I loved it.

This is the second in what I hope to be a series of books about HM The Queen helping to solve mysteries all the while going about state business and unassuming having no idea what is really going not just in the world outside of those palace walls, but certainly inside of them too.

Back is APS (Assistant Private Secretary) Rozie who fulfilled something The Queen had been looking for and became her partner in crime solving. When out on a visit The Queen spots a painting that used to be hanging outside her bedroom door, she asks Rozie to make some discreet enquiries about its odd misplacement from the palace walls to the walls of the Royal Navy.

When a body is found in the palace swimming pool, suicide is suspected and seems to be the neatest conclusion, but all is not what it seems about the deceased. Opening up a can of poison pen letters, missing items, rare paintings and secret tunnels it seems Rozie and her boss have a lot to consider.

Can a conclusion be reached before there is more murders and perhaps The Queen has to start considering a new APS?

For me you do really need to have read the first one to get a sense of whose everyone is and how Rozie comes to be in the position she is in as well. It is terribly (in a good way!) British and may not translate across other countries, but there are plenty of references to recent events from Brexit, Trump election and the like that it is very much a book of it’s time. All the Royal stuff is a fascinating bonus!

This is the perfect cosy crime book and the fact it features The Queen as one of the main characters just brings me sheer joy. Why shouldn’t she have her own fun, with only a small select few knowing about it!

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

A Three Dog Problem is the second book in the series by S.J. Bennett and it involves quite a bit of detail, as the story launches off with the Queen's Private Secretary discovering a body inside the palace swimming area. There's a bit with threatening notes, and a missing painting, and how these things are involved with each other.

I really enjoyed reading the first book in the series, which was why I wanted to get on with the second book. While this still has the crime-solving elements and the friendship between Rozie and the Queen that made the first book really entertaining, the sequel was more grounded in palace life and less on the mystery. In a way, it made sense that it was more grounded on palace life, but it was grounded in a way that it doesn't help move the story along. In a way, for a mystery genre, the pacing of the novel was a bit slow and the book seemed it leaned more on general fiction rather than crime/mystery. Still, I'm a bit excited to see where the next book would take direction.

*I requested a copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review*

I just utterly adore this series! I really enjoyed the first book, The Windsor Knot, and the second book was even better.

In this series we follow the Queen as she gets involved in murders and mysteries that happen in Buckingham Palace (and her many other homes!). She doesn't like to let anyone know how much sleuthing she is doing though, so works closely with her secretary Rozie to feed insights to her team and the police.

In this second book, the mystery revolves around a mysterious missing painting that once hung outside the Queen's bedroom. Her concerns are dismissed by many but she knows that something isn't right. There are lots of twists and turns in this tale - dead bodies, poison pen letters and nefarious goings-on in the tunnels beneath Buckingham Palace.

I love cosy crime novels and this series is a joyful, contemporary addition to my favourites list.

I haven’t read the first in the Queen Investigates series, so I was unsure what to expect with this book. But it is fun & quick paced. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is just as well seeing who one of the characters is.
There is murder, poison pen letters & disappearing art work all vying for attention. The Queen together with her APS, Rozie, investigate the goings on at Buckingham Palace trying to outsmart the police. I love their scenes together, in fact I think there should be more of them.
This is a jolly read & I will certainly read the first one, while waiting for the third.
Recommended.

A terrific cosy mystery featuring one of the most famous women in the world, S.J. Bennett’s A Three Dog Problem is a witty, ingenious and absorbing read that is simply delightful.

When the body of a staff member is found dead beside Buckingham Palace swimming pool, Queen Elizabeth II is determined to leave no stone unturned to find out whodunnit. While the police think that this was a tragic accident, Elizabeth’s gut instincts are telling her that there is far more to this story than meets the eye. Determined to get to the bottom of this case, Elizabeth begins looking for answers and, as someone who knows Buckingham Palace like the back of her hand, she vows to find the murderer who is hiding in plain sight. However, little do Elizabeth and her trusty assistant Rozie realize that there isn’t just a killer at the palace, but also a thief stalking the corridors of one of globe’s the most famous residences.

A treasured painting that had once hung outside the Queen’s bedroom has gone missing. Rozie is dispatched to locate the missing picture, but when a threatening note is sent to the intrepid assistant, it looks like dark forces far too close to home are at play here. With her royal duties giving Elizabeth the perfect alibi to look for clues and see the connections no one else can see, will she manage to find the killer and locate the missing painting? Will she catch the murderer in time? Or are there further shocks in store for the Queen and her assistant Rozie that will leave them wondering just how well they can trust the people around them?

Sparkling with royal mischief, red herrings and majestic intrigue, S J Bennett’s A Three Dog Problem is a fun cosy mystery that entertains from beginning to end. In A Three Dog Problem, the story moves at a fast pace, the characters come instantly to life and the twists and turns will have readers rushing to the end desperate to find out how Elizabeth and Rozie manage to piece it all together and solve this case.

An enjoyable cosy mystery perfect for losing oneself in, A Three Dog Problem is a must-read in S J Bennett’s series featuring everyone’s favourite royal: Queen Elizabeth II.

She's back and better than ever! SJ Bennett has been an auto-read author for me ever since Threads was first released many (many!) years ago and her work just goes from strength to strength. A Three Dog Problem is the latest instalment in her series where none other than the Queen herself investigates rather nefarious crimes - this time around we see her getting to the bottom of a murder at Buckingham Palace in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Bennett has truly found her niche in cosy crime and I cannot wait to read whatever she turns her hand to next - but let's have a few more instalments of this series first, eh? I'm not quite ready to say goodbye yet!