The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club

 by Duncan Whitehead

Dog Ear Publishing, 2012

189 pages     Fiction

The Shortlist

Dogs, a beautiful park, Savannah, intrigue and murder. What more could you ask for? A complicated plot, you say? Ah yes, The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club can provide that as well. 

Gordonston is the oldest suburb in the Savannah area, and about 200 families live in houses that range from brick mansions to smaller Arts and Crafts homes. This is the perfect setting for a murder mystery, and Whitehead has captured the neighborhood beautifully in a novel that evokes the British parlor mystery with quirky characters (including the dogs), a variety of twists and turns, and lots of secrets. And as in all good mysteries, the ending is a complete surprise. It is all the fun of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil with none of the reality.

Setting, as we know, is one of the most important aspects of the classic murder mystery, and Whitehead knows this setting very well because it is the neighborhood where he currently lives. I have been to Savannah several times but have never been to this neighborhood. I loved reading about the Gordonston neighborhood and will certainly try to seek it out the next time we drive down that way.

Retired from the British navy, Whitehead is now writing full time and The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club is self-published. From an interview posted yesterday on a blog, I learned that there are apparently going to be two sequels to The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club. He says of his writing: "I love a story that come together and leaves the reader, or viewer, shocked or surprised by twists or connections." 

The good news is that the publicist has told me that the ebook is going to be available on Amazon for $.99 through Feb. 22. Also, Feb. 22 is National Dog Walking Day. Get a ebook now, take your dog to the park, sip a cocktail with some friends and read this delightful mystery. 

Interview with Duncan Whitehead: http://anglophilereads.blogspot.com/2013/02/interview-with-duncan-whitehead.html

The book's Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/TheGordonstonLadiesDogWalkingClub