Mostly Murders

“We are going to the dogs, Cantwell. And I mean that literally, not figuratively!”

An atmospheric, historical crime novel presenting the reader with a deep dive into the world of fixed dog racing in rural Devon in the 1950s, in a society still reeling from the aftermath of the Second World War. Here, we are presented with a tense, reverse whodunnit or howcatchem crime story seen from both the point of view of the perpetrators and the detectives trying to catch them.

At the heart of the story we find Detective Inspector Temple, a decorated officer with a complex personality who knows the intricacies of crime investigation far better than he knows his own heart, and Sergeant Cantwell, a simple man and Temple’s somewhat reluctant partner who has been used to a much easier pace of life.

As Temple and Cantwell investigate a seemingly simple case, they are drawn into the exciting and crooked world of dog racing dominated by wide boys, a term for hustlers and gangsters who fixed odds and drugged dogs to get the results they wanted.

Owens paints a vivid picture of the 1950s, complete with the casual discrimination, violence and corruption that ran rampant back then in all parts of society. But Dodgy Dogs & Bent Bookies isn’t just a story of crime and corruption. It is also a story of courage, strength and personal growth, and of a ragtag bunch of underdogs fighting for a small measure of justice in a tough world. Recommended for readers who enjoy atmospheric, detailed suspense crime fiction, and anyone who enjoys 1950s historical fiction in general.

Historical fiction – Crime fiction