Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781643854748
Crooked Lane Books
304 Pages
$18.79; $13.99 Amazon
January 12, 2021
⭐⭐⭐⭐
"I am not a Consulting Detective," Gemma Doyle reluctantly tells 11-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, has been vandalized thee 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 and runs the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, and is known to have helped the police solve crimes in the past. When a little girl enters her shop begging for her help, Gemma won't commit to it, but tells her she will keep her eyes open in finding Lauren Tierney's kitten. Fortunately, she's able to do so, making Lauren happy. But the next day Lauren wants to hire Gemma to keep her mother out of jail. It seems that Sheila Tierney has been accused of the murder of Anna Wentworth, once her friend. Sheila's garden was touted as the one to beat in this year's Garden Club contest, and when she awoke she found her garden destroyed. Knowing it was Anna, she had a very public confrontation with the woman, coming to blows between them. But when Anna's body is discovered later that evening, Sheila is the prime suspect.
But Gemma isn't so sure, and even though she's warned off the investigation, her innate curiousity and sharp mind won't let it go. Looking high and low for clues, Gemma might have gotten too close to the killer, and once you kill, it's easy enough to do it again...
This is one of the series that have actually gotten better over time. I will admit that I wasn't fond of the first book in the series, but I did especially like the last one and this one. Gemma isn't as pushy as she was, and she's actually kinder to people than she first appeared. She's shown her love and loyalty to those around her just by her actions. I do like the fact that Donald has a bigger role in this book, and he also is showing his affection for Gemma -- even if she's a bit wary of it, and Donald has his own way of doing things. which are rather humorous.
When Anna is killed, there actually are plenty of suspects, ranging right down to Gemma's frail elderly neighbor. But Gemma's mind is always working, and even if she can't get answers from the police, it really doesn't matter, since she's able to come to the correct conclusion on her own. It's actually fun trying to find the murderer before Gemma does; although she always has the reasons why and the murder weapon at hand in the end.
Lauren is delightful, actually acting like an eleven-year-old would act, instead of being a adult in a child's body, as many writers portray them. Her actions are those as they should be, and it shows her eagerness for love and acceptance without actually saying so.
When Gemma starts asking questions, there's no stopping her, and when she gets too close to the killer, they plan to put her out of commission, but still she presses on, this time more deeply, and at last comes to the realization of the identity which we might have known (or not) all along. This is a welcoming addition to the series, and I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to the next. Recommended.
More on Vicki Delany's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/vicki-delany/
No comments:
Post a Comment