Canine Crime and Mystery with Antony Johnston, Louisa Scarr, & Dr. Philipp Schott at Bark! Fest

Send us a text

If you love crime and mystery novels, you’re in for a treat as dogs help solve crimes in these remarkable books. When a singer dies in mysterious circumstances, dog sitter Gwinny Tuffel and the singer’s Border Collie investigate in Antony Johnston’s cosy and witty The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead. In Louisa Scarr’s dark and compelling Gallows Wood, PC Lucy Halliday and her dog Moss search for the body after a severed hand is found in the woods. And when veterinarian (and amateur detective) Dr. Bannerman and his champion sniffer dog Pippin holiday near a remote lake, he has to try to save some poisoned sled dogs and figure out why a float plane crashed in Eleven Huskies by Philipp Schott DVM. 

We talked about: 

• How Antony Johnston came up with the idea of Gwinny Tuffel, the pet sitter who is the amateur detective in his Dog Sitter Detective books 
• Why Johnston especially enjoys writing cozy crime 
• The story of PC Lucy Halliday, the human remains detection dog handler, who is the main character in Louisa Scarr's Gallow's Wood 
• How Scarr did the research for this book which is a police procedural 
• How Dr. Bannerman and his pet dog work together in Dr. Philipp Schott's Eleven Huskies 
• Schott's love of the northern Canadian landscape and how it plays out in his books 
• and more, plus readings from each of the books! 

Learn more about the authors: 

Antony Johnston: https://antonyjohnston.com/ 

Louisa Scarr: https://www.instagram.com/louisascarrwriter/ 

Dr. Philipp Schott: https://www.philippschott.com/ 

The books are available wherever books are sold.

About the co-hosts:

Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online teaching and consultations. Kristi is on staff at the Academy for Dog Trainers, helping to shape the next generation of canine professionals. Kristi’s dogs are rescue sled dogs, mostly retired and thoroughly enjoying a good snooze in front of the woodstove.

Kristi Benson's website Facebook

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and also has a column at Psychology Today. Todd lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, one dog, and one cat.

Facebook Instagram BlueSky