On 27th February, Lights Out was released in paperback, and to celebrate, author Louise Swanson worked a shift at Criminally Good Books in York!
Obviously I had to head over to support this event. Criminally Good Books is one of my favourite independent bookshops and Louise is absolutely hilarious!
Of course, I couldn’t leave empty-handed. I already have a hardback copy of Lights Out after attending the talk Louise did with Janice Hallett last year [blog post here], so instead I picked up End of Story, and funnily enough, the girl in the queue behind me grabbed a copy too – clearly, we both have excellent taste! I also bought The Spiral Staircase by Ethel Lina White, which completely drew me in with its stunning cover and intriguing blurb. I can’t wait to dive in!
A Dog-Friendly Stay in York
When I mentioned my plans to attend the event in York to my husband Kel, we decided to turn the trip into a mini getaway. York is a fantastic city to explore and we found a dog-friendly hotel (the Galtres Lodge) so that Brambles and Daisy could come along for the adventure.
Brambles, in particular, had a great time, we took him for a doggie breakfast at Osborne’s at 68. He has been suffering badly with his arthritis (he is on all of the pain meds plus has recently had stem cell injections done) so we are trying to make sure he’s living his best life.
We managed to find a lot of dog friendly pubs as well including The Swan, The Slip Inn, Golden Ball, The Ackhorne, Duke of York and Shambles Tavern. With Brambles being a Labrador and Daisy a Golden Retriever, plus Brambles needing a dog stroller now, we found these were great choices that could accommodate the size of our two. There were lots of other places that were dog friendly, but if you have larger dogs then these were just right!
A Perfect Blend of Books and Dogs
It was a brilliant day filled with books, dogs and exploring one of my favourite cities. If you haven’t been to Criminally Good Books yet, I highly recommend it – it’s an absolute haven for crime fiction lovers. And if you’re ever in York with your pup, Osborne’s at 68 is a great dog-friendly café to check out. Make sure to get them the doggie breakfast!
Now, I just need to decide which book to start first…
Let me know if you’ve read any of these! And if you have any other dog-friendly York recommendations, I’d love to hear them.
Beth Reads Crime 
Leave a comment