Author: Vicki Delany
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781639101450
Crooked Lane Books
320 Pages
$26.99; $13.99 Amazon
January 10, 2023
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Scarlet House, now a historical re-enactment museum, is the oldest building in West London, Massachusetts. When things start moving around on their own, board members suggest that Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, might be able to get to the bottom of it. Gemma doesn't believe in ghosts, but she agrees to 'eliminate the impossible.' But when Gemma and Jayne stumble across a dead body on the property, they're forced to consider an all too physical threat.
Gemma and Jayne suspect foul play as they start to uncover more secrets about the museum. With the museum being a revolving door for potential killers, they have plenty of options for who might be the actual culprit.
Despite Gemma's determination not to get further involved, it would appear that once again, and much to the displeasure of Detective Ryan Ashburton, the game is afoot.
Will Gemma and Jayne be able to solve the mystery behind the haunted museum, or will they be the next to haunt it?
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Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, has special skills that allow her to discover things about others. She has superb observation skills. It's served her well in helping to solve more than one murder. But now she's been asked to see if Scarlet House is haunted. It seems things have been moving around at night when no one is there. Not really wanting to, but since the asking came from her best friend Jayne's mother Leslie, she agrees to do so. So she finds herself, along with Jayne and Jayne's fiancé Andy, spending the night in the old house. The only other people there are out in the barn: a retired veterinarian who cares for the animals, and volunteer Craig Jones. Gemma, who doesn't believe in ghosts, spends time walking through the house at various hours to see if there is any activity.
But when there's noise in the kitchen, nothing seems to have been disturbed. And when there's noise in the barn, it seems the animals have been spooked by something unknown. Then a body is discovered on the premises and Gemma calls the police, with her boyfriend Detective Ryan Ashburton arriving to check it out.
Now, Gemma is once again in pursuit of a killer, with clues few and far between. She'll need all her wits about her to solve this murder, even if the police don't want her involved.
Then there's a bit of a complication: Gemma's sister Pippa shows up out of the blue, claiming she's taking a bit of a vacation while her employer is in Washington on business. Gemma, ever alert as she is, knows something else is up with Pippa. Pippa is Mycroft Holmes to Gemma's Sherlock, and together they might just be unstoppable...and now the game is afoot...
This is the eighth book in the series, and I have read them all. While in the first book I wasn't fond of Gemma, I have now grown to love her. She's extremely intelligent, loyal to her friends and family, loves animals, her shop, and, of course, Ryan. She's an extraordinary woman, and she doesn't actually accuse anyone without having facts to back it up. She also has a sudden problem with one of her employees, and while she'd like to leave it alone, her curiosity gets the better of her and she needs the answers she's looking for.
But now Pippa has come on the scene, with the story that she's on vacation, but Gemma doesn't believe it one whit. She knows there's something going on, and she's determined to figure it out. What she finds out from Pippa isn't what she expects, and she's surprised at it. Watching both Gemma and Pippa together is a lot of fun, and makes your brain work just a little bit harder to try and figure it out before they do.
It's a delightful romp of a book, bringing the staid British together with the emotional Americans, and watching the two combine and deliver conclusions at the end is quite worthwhile. It leaves us wanting more and waiting impatiently for the next in the series. I enjoyed this book so much that I have decided to revisit the great Holmes himself in A Study in Scarlet. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Vicki Delany's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/d/vicki-delany/
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