If secrets could be taken to the grave many of us would have an ear to the ground. But as Alexander, Earl of Greengrass, discovers one clear Sunday morning late in November, death is a most efficient way of revealing the cavern of cover-ups in a guilty conscience. Caught with his trousers down in Spire village graveyard whilst his faithful wife was playing the organ inside the church, this wealthy landowner meets a gruesome end. Luckily pet portraitist Susie Mahl is on hand to sort things out, as she's been recently commissioned to paint Situp, the aristocratic ash grey deerhound at the village's Glebe House. Susie discovers an unexpected zest for truth and an awesome nosey parker instinct, and soon the newly appointed Pet Detective is digging out the truth with a dogged determination. In A Brush with Death Ali Carter conjures a winsome murder mystery enriched with candid observations of the British social classes, observations on an artist's craft, and a strong dose of good humour.