Move Over Sherlock

A SCANDAL IN SCARLET
A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop # 4
Vicki Delany
Crooked Lane Books
November 13, 2018 (kindle edition)




Its the height of summer in West London on Cape Cod and transplanted Englishwoman Gema Doyle is very busy with customers at her bookshop, which specializes in Sherlockiana and other mystery fiction and non-fiction. Gemma staggers home late one night, only wishing to fall in bed but her dog, Violet, needs a walk and has other ideas. While on their stroll, Gemma and Violet pass a local historical home, Scarlet House, which operates as a small museum. They smell smoke and see flames and quickly report the fire. After a brief investigation, the fire marshal determines that it was probably started by a docent who carelessly locked up and left a candle burning. There is a lot of damage to the house, but Gemma doesn't see anything suspicious about it. That changes when Gemma, and her partner, Jayne, are asked to host a tea and silent auction to benefit the museum for needed repairs and replacement of lost items.

During the organizational meeting the tensions within the museum staff and volunteers surface. There has been a recent forced change in the leadership of the Scarlet House organization, with accompanying ill-feeling. The new head, Kathy Lamb, is competent, if prickly. Gemma puts that down to a recent messy divorce that has left Kathy much reduced in her circumstances. When she is murdered at the auction, the ex-husband is the prime suspect for a while, but there are plenty of suspects to go around, including the ex's wealthy new wife. A second murder leads Gemma to do what she does best, ask questions and make deductions, causing friction with her policeman boyfriend, Ryan Ashburton. 

I highly recommend this series with its Cape Cod setting, well-rounded characters, and twisty puzzles. I did not catch on to the real perpetrator until the very end of A Scandal in Scarlet. Gemma herself is a bit of an acquired taste with her confrontational style and reckless determination to get to the bottom of things. One of the things I appreciate is the reading suggestions Gemma gives her customers. Even though I am a Sherlock fan, I always discover new books to check into.

Thanks to Crooked Lane and NetGalley for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 4 Stars