A Curious Incident by Vicki Delany Series: Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery #6
Published by Crooked Lane Books on January 12, 2021
Source: Purchased
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
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It's up to Gemma and Jayne to root out the killer in national bestselling author Vicki Delany's sixth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery when the winner of a garden tour trophy is left pushing up daisies.
"I am not a Consulting Detective," Gemma Doyle reluctantly tells 10-year-old Lauren Tierney, when the little girl comes to the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium to beg Gemma to find her missing cat, Snowball. Gemma might not be able to follow the clues to find the cat, but her dog Violet follows her nose to locate the missing kitten in a neighbor's garden shed. Gemma and Violet proudly return Snowball to her grateful owner, and Gemma basks in praise for a job well done. But a few days later Lauren is back with ten dollars in hand, wanting to once again hire a consulting detective, and this time for a far bigger job: Her mother has been accused of murdering her garden club rival.
Sheila Tierney's garden, which everyone said was the one to beat for the West London Garden Club trophy, had been vandalized the night before the club's early summer tour. Sheila confronted her former friend and gardening partner Anna Wentworth in a towering rage, and the women nearly came to blows. Later that night, after having won the trophy for best garden, Anna is found murdered and Sheila Tierney is the police's prime suspect.
Despite herself, and despite the disapproval of her police detective boyfriend Ryan Ashburton, the game is once again afoot, and Gemma finds herself and Jayne Wilson using their powers of deduction to ponder yet another curious incident.
Gemma Doyle owns a Sherlock Holmes-themed bookshop, which I loved. As with most cozy mysteries, she often stumbles across the crimes in her small town, in this case West London on Cape Cod. She’s also dating a police detective, Ryan Ashburn, which of cour leads to some tension.
This time around, Gemma decides to help a young girl, Lauren, clear her mother of murder charges. The dead body of Anna, a well-known gardener, is found in the darkest part of the park. There were no witnesses and little evidence, but Anna and Sheila, Lauren’s mom, had a major fight the morning of the murder.
A Curious Incident is fun and the mystery is put together well. We have several suspects and Gemma does a good job putting the clues together. Gemma is a good character, observant, smart, and nice. Her friends add charm to the story and they all make me smile.
About Vicki Delany
Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than thirty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing three cozy mystery series: the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House and, as Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series, for Crooked Lane Books.
Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.
Sounds charming, thanks for sharing your thoughts
It’s a fun series. And I do have a weakness for anything Sherlock related.