The Barker's Dozen

Twelve tales of Victorian crime from the casebook of Inspector Richard Thompson, a Scotland Yard detective, as recounted by his Springer spaniel. The cases range from murder to a dognapping, and are solved in some unconventional ways The cases are interspaced by extracts from the journal of Isobel Fraser, a young American heiress who is banished to Britain to prevent an unsuitable marriage. Initially scathing about her relatives she gradually becomes enamoured with the Thompsons, especially when she becomes involved in one of Inspector Thompson's more dangerous cases, and a romance blossoms.