Pelagia & the white bulldog - Boris Akunin

According to our reader: 'Pelagia and the White Bulldog' is very enjoyable read: a book of considerable charm in which a classically worked mystery plot with a twist in the tail is played out through highly engaging characterisations (major and minor) against a background of splendidly vivid local and historical atmosphere.

Pelagia - bespectacled, freckled, red-haired, extraordinarily clumsy and constantly knitting, teaches gymnastics and literature, and in her spare time solves crimes. This one begins with the murder of a white bulldog, but soon descends into something far more dastardly involving stolen gold, betrayed women, untrustworthy lotharios and ritualistic murders.

All great Akunin fun.