Not very well written. Cute idea and I like the characters, but kind of tedious to read.

Location: Agnew's Perfect Pork Pie Emporium, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
Culinary Class: Learning to create the "Gold Standard" Pork Pie.
Class Participant: Albert Smith, retired detective superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, accompanied by Rex Harrison, former police dog, currently assistance dog.
A woman's scream interrupts Albert's attention listening to Belinda's directions.
A woman's scream interrupts Rex's attention on a pile of diced pork.
Why is the woman screaming? There's more than diced pork on her workstation.

I loved Albert and Rex. What a joy to welcome Albert as a senior sleuth with all his law enforcement training and experience, not ready to stay home and vegetate on the couch. Rex's commentary (not heard by humans) and annoyance at some human responses had me laughing out loud many times.

I'm so glad Rex caught my attention while scrolling on Kindle Unlimited. Rex brought wonderful memories of the forever pawprints on my heart of Nikki, a German Shepherd that needed a different forever home. My father said that different home was ours and brought her home. Albert and Rex are off to Bakewell, and I look forward to their next adventure!

A pork pie recipe and a history of the dish are included. ( )

Long-retired Detective Superintendent Albert Smith is recently widowed and has decided to set off on a tour of the country sampling, and learning to make, famous British culinary offerings despite the misgivings of his three children who are all serving police officers. He's traveling with his dog Rex Harrison who is a K-9 school dropout. Rex shares his thoughts with the reader even though Albert can't hear him.

Albert's first stop is Melton Mowbray where he is visiting Agnew's Perfect Pork Pie Emporium to learn to make the iconic pork pie. However, things are quickly disrupted when a severed thumb is found on one of the piles of meat the members of the class are supposed to turn into their own pies.

With the owner of Agnew's in hospital after having her appendix removed, her seventeen-year-old daughter Donna is in charge. She is sure that it is just the latest prank by the owners of Simmons Pork Pie Palace which is just across the street, They have wanted to steal Agnew's business and reputation since they opened. It doesn't help that Donna and the Simmons son Toby had dated for a while.

Albert wants to help Donna. So, the first thing they need to do is try to identify the owner of the thumb which is made easier by the unique tattoo on it. Albert, Rex and Donna visit tattoo parlors and quickly identify the thumb's owner. They are surprised to learn that he is the night guard for the Simmons factory and is missing.

They discover all sorts of things as they look into the case including a drug sting. Albert and Rex attract the attentions of the villains and have his room at the B&B where he is staying firebombed.

I liked that Albert is 78 and quite a bit slower and creakier than he was in his working days. He's experiencing some memory issues and, at one point in the story, gets lost while doing some investigating. He also, like many of us older adults, finds himself in a crucial situation with a cellphone in need of a charge. I really like his relationship with Rex who has quite a mind of his own and who gets a chance to use his training in the story.

This was a fun story with a nicely quirky main characters who is determined to keep his independence and live his life in hos own way. ( )

Long-retired Detective Superintendent Albert Smith is recently widowed and has decided to set off on a tour of the country sampling, and learning to make, famous British culinary offerings despite the misgivings of his three children who are all serving police officers. He's traveling with his dog Rex Harrison who is a K-9 school dropout. Rex shares his thoughts with the reader even though Albert can't hear him.

Albert's first stop is Melton Mowbray where he is visiting Agnew's Perfect Pork Pie Emporium to learn to make the iconic pork pie. However, things are quickly disrupted when a severed thumb is found on one of the piles of meat the members of the class are supposed to turn into their own pies.

With the owner of Agnew's in hospital after having her appendix removed, her seventeen-year-old daughter Donna is in charge. She is sure that it is just the latest prank by the owners of Simmons Pork Pie Palace which is just across the street, They have wanted to steal Agnew's business and reputation since they opened. It doesn't help that Donna and the Simmons son Toby had dated for a while.

Albert wants to help Donna. So, the first thing they need to do is try to identify the owner of the thumb which is made easier by the unique tattoo on it. Albert, Rex and Donna visit tattoo parlors and quickly identify the thumb's owner. They are surprised to learn that he is the night guard for the Simmons factory and is missing.

They discover all sorts of things as they look into the case including a drug sting. Albert and Rex attract the attentions of the villains and have his room at the B&B where he is staying firebombed.

I liked that Albert is 78 and quite a bit slower and creakier than he was in his working days. He's experiencing some memory issues and, at one point in the story, gets lost while doing some investigating. He also, like many of us older adults, finds himself in a crucial situation with a cellphone in need of a charge. I really like his relationship with Rex who has quite a mind of his own and who gets a chance to use his training in the story.

This was a fun story with a nicely quirky main characters who is determined to keep his independence and live his life in hos own way. ( )