A Study in Gold

April 11, 2016
In Dalton’s busy second mystery set in Oxford, England (after 2015’s The White Shepherd), the beating death of elderly historian James Lowell in his college rooms shocks Oxford University administrator Anna Hopkins. Anna later learns from Isadora Salzman, a friend and fellow dog-walker, that she and James were recruited back in the 1960s as part of the so-called Oxford Six, who did low-level espionage chores. Their handler was the charismatic and malevolent Tallis, who ordered them never to speak of their activities—and who once rescued James from an unspecified difficulty. One of the six died by violence 50 years earlier; now James’s murder forces Isadora to tell her story. Meanwhile, Anna is in the early stages of a relationship with an American soldier and getting reacquainted with an old friend who has blockbuster news of his own. Dog lovers will enjoy the canine interludes, but the introduction of a new and critical character at the end is unfair to readers who like to guess whodunit.

April 1, 2016
Unwelcome discoveries about a friend's past force her two closest companions to dig up details in order to protect her from things they don't know. Since trauma in her early life has left her a loner, Anna Hopkins is surprised to find herself content with her job at Oxford's Walsingham College and her small group of friends. Many of the changes in Anna's life stem from her decision to adopt Bonnie, a striking white shepherd who forces her into daily walks in the park and led to her befriending two other women walking dogs, Tansy and Isadora. Together, the three of them, along with their canine companions, pieced together the details of a murder (The White Shepherd, 2015, etc). Since then, Anna has settled into a more social routine, taking on Tansy as a roommate and becoming closer to Jake, Bonnie's original owner, despite his residence in America. Tansy has made changes too, seeking to make peace with her father and dating sweet if by-the-book Liam, an officer with the local police. Isadora, older than the other two friends, has always seemed strong and worldly, but an attack on a professor at Oxford changes all of that. Now Anna and Tansy must try to assemble pieces of a reluctant Isadora's story, which starts in the Cold War era with a group of college student spies known as the Oxford Six. Getting Isadora to come clean about the past might keep the three of them safe from a potential attack themselves--if only Isadora would oblige. Dalton's warmth may mislead readers into thinking people who are attacked always recover (they don't). But even if her single-story risks sometimes falter, her long-term-plot risks pay off.

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August 31, 2015
Children’s and YA author Dalton (Nightmaze) makes her intriguing, though somewhat contrived, adult debut with the first in a canine mystery series set in Oxford, England. On a walk in the park, Anna Hopkins, an Oxford University administrator, and her white shepherd, Bonnie, come across the bloody corpse of an acquaintance, Naomi Evans, who agreed to help Anna trace Bonnie’s history before the dog was left in an animal shelter. Anna, who has avoided other people ever since returning home one night 16 years earlier to find her family slaughtered by a still-unidentified killer, soon opens up to the two fellow dog walkers who rush to the crime scene after hearing her screams: Tansy Lavelle, who works in a vegan café, and Isadora Salzman, who says she’s half-Russian and hence “genetically wired to babble.” The plot, which involves a hunt for a serial killer and includes a love interest for Anna, follows predictable lines, but dog lovers should be satisfied.

October 1, 2015

Anna Hopkins is walking Bonnie, her white German Shepherd, through Oxford's picturesque Port Meadow when they come across the corpse of a woman she had just recently met. Why would someone murder researcher Naomi Evans? As Anna investigates with fellow dog walkers Isadora Salzman and Tansy Lavelle, she discovers Naomi may have known too much about certain people who had a lot to lose if their secrets surfaced. Anna is also trying to cope with a childhood trauma that scarred her life. Then there is Jake McCaffrey, Bonnie's former owner, who is very interested in reconnecting with the animal, especially if it includes a relationship with Anna. VERDICT YA author Dalton makes her adult mystery debut with this classic British whodunit; its canine element will delight Susan Conant and Laurien Berenson fans.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2015
Best known for her YA novels, Dalton now offers her first adult thriller. Sixteen years ago, teenager Anna Hopkins found her entire family brutally slaughtered. The killer was never found. Suffering from survivor's guilt, she has struggled to get her life back on track but seems now to have turned the corner. Then the nightmare begins anew when Anna stumbles upon the battered body of her friend, Naomi. Two women, Tansy and Isadora, appear on the scene just after Anna's grisly discovery, and the women team up to support each other during the investigation. The police conclude that Naomi was a victim of the Oxford Ripper, but Anna and her friends aren't so sure. While Anna is reluctant to re-experience the horror she felt when her family was murdered, she finds herself drawn into the case. As the story weaves its way toward a shocking conclusion, readers will find themselves rooting hard for Anna to somehow find the normal life she has so far been denied. An inventive plot, charismatic characters, and even some black humor combine to make this a good choice for suspense junkies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2017
Anna, Isadora, and Tansy first met when they came upon a murder victim while walking their dogs. Now they're at it again, having discovered a woman's body during a mystery weekend at a remote country house. Initially, it seems the victim may have accidentally fallen into a fishpond and drowned, but the coroner concludes she was murdered. The trio decide to investigate, but what they can't know is that their investigation will lead them into very dark places. There seem to be ties to the art gallery owned by Anna's father, who, along with the rest of Anna's family, was murdered. The murderer was never caught, and no motive was ever discovered, but now it appears Anna's father may have been involved in selling paintings once owned by Jews and confiscated by the Nazis. Anna vows that she, with help from her friends, will find the truth and, at the same time, discover why the woman at the mystery weekend was killed. An entertaining read with an intricate plot, surprising twists, engaging heroines, gentle humor, and a startling conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)