Molly the Pet Detective Dog: The true story of one amazing dog who reunites missing cats with their families

by Colin Butcher

AS SEEN ON BBC BREAKFAST & IN THE TIMESDiscover the incredible true adventures of Molly the pet detective dog!'Barking brilliant. Really heartwarming . . . the reunions with runaway pets will bring a lump to any throat' Daily Mail________Missing cat? Molly the pet detective is on the case. Molly the cocker spaniel spent the first years of her life unloved and unwanted. But her life changed forever when Colin, Head of the UK Pet Detectives, spotted her on a rescue page. With her big heart, intelligence and incredible sense of smell, Molly was a natural pet detective, assisting Colin as he travelled across the country reuniting beloved missing cats with their grateful owners. Molly has also tracked down stolen dogs, survived a deadly snake bite in the line of duty, and even unearthed hidden treasure - there's never a dull day in the life of a dog detective! This is the heart-warming true story of how with love and devotion - and a good nose - a little dog can make a big difference.'The real life pet detective' Sunday MirrorPreviously published as Molly & Me

380 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2019

About the author

Colin’s passion for writing started as a child in Singapore. When at the age of seven his school essay on the field study of Fire Ants received the award for best story and most improved handwriting. ”I strutted around my school as if I had won the Nobel Prize in Literature as opposed to a hand writing competition” he has said. "It really was a pivotal moment for me, having my work recognised at such a young age had such a big impact, from then on I recorded field notes on all the interesting adventures I had with my brother and read every book I could get my hands on.”

He continued his writing in the Royal Navy and Police and as a Detective Sergeant in 1998 co-wrote the first police training manual for the investigation of criminal cases for Surrey CID officers followed by three other CID training manuals on the investigation of serious crime and homicide and was a awarded a prestigious Chief Constables Commendation for his achievements.

In 2004 Colin received his first paid commission from BP to write a training a manual for the investigation of major incidents and serious injuries. This was followed by several other paid commissions within the shipping and logistic industries, Colin has said ”It wasn’t until 2010 that I actually thought of myself as a writer, by then I was running my own Blog and drafting all sorts of articles on the investigation of crimes against animals and often received emails from journalists asking for contributions to features and news items.”

In 2014 Colin wrote his first book ‘The Owner’s Handbook on Preventing Dog Theft’ and in 2016 his work was spotted by a commissioning editor working for Little Brown Books. Six months later extracts from Colin's second book MOLLY & ME took the London Book Fair by storm resulting in 13 publishing contracts with 11 translations.

MOLLY & ME will be published in the UK on 2nd May 2019 by Michael Joseph an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Reviews

[Catriona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was between 3 and 4 stars for me. I expected more of a feel-good story in the style of James Harriot (Alf Wight) but ended up learning a lot about dog thieves and cat behavior. Not a bad thing but just not what I expected. Sometimes the writing style was a bit too professional sounding. Towards the end I found that the stories were repeating themselves with little variation and I could no longer recall what pet name belonged to what story but this might just be my overall bad memory.
These were all the negative parts. Overall I enjoyed the descriptions of the English countryside, people and pets and it was very enjoyable to read about the sweet relationship between Molly and her 'detective dad'.

[Suzanne Rogerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely book about Colin and Molly's detective skills tracking down missing cats and dogs. It was quite emotional in places. I was drawn to it because Molly looks just like my own spaniel.
I'm so glad I read this heart-warming story.

[Sioni Gibbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok - liked hearing about the successes but stories very much the same and I kind of skim read a lot of the book as each story was written in a very similar way, using similar structure so you could guess what would come next.

[Carmelita Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful and heart-warming read.

[Deity World · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful story from gumtree dog to hero rescue cat dog glad she’s still working and solving cases

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is quite a slow paced book and not for me

[Lulu Cares · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring. Like reading a manual.

[Jane French · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a wonderful story about a pet detective. A selection of different stories about Molly find lost animals