Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Trade Paperback; [Audio CD]; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781683314714; 9781683318064; [9781520096797]
Crooked Lane Books [Dreamscape Media]
320 Pages
$19.47; $10.99; [$26.62]; $10.99 Amazon
October 9, 2018
⭐⭐⭐
Legendary stage and movie star Sir Nigel Bellingham arrives on Cape Cod to star in a stage production of The Hound of the Baskervilles put on by the West London Theater Festival. When Sir Nigel, some of the cast, and the director visit the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop at 222 Baker Street, Gemma Doyle realizes that Sir Nigel is not at all suited to the role. He is long past his prime and an old drunk to boot.
The cast, in particular the much younger actor who previously had the role, are not happy, but the show must go on.
Before the play opens, Leslie Wilson, mother of Gemma's best friend Jayne, arranges a fundraising afternoon tea to be catered by Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room. The tea is a huge success, but when it's time to leave, Sir Nigel has gone missing -- on;y to be found at the bottom of the rocky cliff, dead. Along with the dead body, Gemma finds evidence incriminating Leslie Wilson. When the police, in the presence of handsome detective Ryan Ashburton and suspicious detective Louise Estrada, focus their attention on Leslie despite the numerous other suspects, the game is once again afoot and it's again up to the highly perceptive Gemma and the ever-confused but loyal Jayne to clear Jayne's mother's name.
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
Gemma Doyle owns the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop in Cape Cod, and her best friend Jayne owns Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room next door. When a famous actor, along with others in the cast who are performing The Hound of the Baskervilles for a local theater festival show up at the shop, she's at first pleased to have them until the lead, Sir Nigel Bellingham, is rude to everyone around him and is obviously a drunkard.
After being railroaded by Jayne to help out at a tea being given in honor of Sir Nigel, she notices several people are angry at him. But it isn't until Jayne's mother Leslie confronts him about his behavior, and Sir Nigel goes missing, that Gemma wonders what is really going on. When she later discovers him lying at the bottom of a cliff, she once again finds herself involved in a murder investigation - without the police's consent. But with the main suspect being Jayne's mother, she's determined to find the killer since the police don't seem to be looking anywhere else...
I'm of two minds about this book: I really love Sherlock Holmes and the idea of an Englishwoman come to America and opening a bookshop dedicated to all things Sherlock intrigued me. I do realize that Gemma is supposed to have the qualities of Sherlock, but they don't work so well for her.
For one thing, Holmes would never disturb a crime scene by removing evidence and hiding it. I also don't think he would treat people the way Gemma does. I may be the only one who notices it, but she "talks down" to everyone, as if she thinks they're beneath her. For example, instead of having a talk with her employee about what she wants for her shop, she puts her off or changes the subject. She also makes dates that aren't dates - she's basically using Grant as a device to get information, while poor Grant can't figure this out.
I do understand that she's supposed to be as analytical and logical as Holmes; but while he was charming despite this, Gemma has a rude side to her that she needs to focus on. (She also needs to spend more time with Violet and discover why Moriarity doesn't like her). I also don't understand why Estrada despises Gemma. Yes, I understand many authors need for a 'nemesis' as it were, but Estrada is over the top. I fully expect them to get into a brawl eventually. I, for one, don't much care for the nemesis angle, but that's just me, and I won't ding a book because of it.
However, I did think that there were a few red herrings thrown in, and the mystery was done quite nicely, so kudos for that. When the ending comes and the killer is revealed, it is satisfying enough so that I will read the next in the series.
https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Baskervilles-Sherlock-Bookshop-Mysteries/dp/1683318 064/ref
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2135606358
More on Vicki Delany's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/vicki-delany/
No comments:
Post a Comment