There are two things I’ve loved all my life: mysteries and dogs. Almost everything I write is a mystery of some kind (including, of course, Atomic Blonde) but it wasn’t until the first Covid lockdown that I decided to cheer myself up by writing a traditional cosy crime book. And what better way to raise a smile than by including dogs? Throw in an unusual amateur sleuth and a rogues’ gallery of larger-than-life suspects, plus a few good laughs, and before I really knew what I’d done The Dog Sitter Detective was born. Here are five of the books that inspired me.