A scandal in scarlet

It's high season in West London, on Cape Cod. Following a destructive fire at the local historic museum, Scarlet House, the museum's board and the shopkeepers along Baker Street have quickly organized a benefit tea and silent auction at Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room, which adjoins the Sherlock Holmes Book Shop, both run by partners Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson. The event looks like a success, with a selection of valuable jewelry, paintings, and first editions listed in the auction booklet, and all tickets sold out until Gemma and Jayne find the recently elected museum-board president, Kathy Lamb, dead in the back room. Suspects abound, from the previous board chair to the divorced husband, the second wife, Gemma herself, an enthusiastic museum volunteer, and a local artist whose work Lamb rejected for the auction. Despite being told to stay out of it by her police-detective boyfriend, Gemma sometimes with Jayne visits the likely suspects, crashes gatherings at the local yacht clubs, and . . . finds another body. Gemma is a delightful sleuth, and the tidbits of Sherlockiana will engage both cozy fans and Holmes devotees.--Karen Muller Copyright 2018 Booklist

A fire at Scarlet House, one of the oldest properties in the Cape Cod town of West London and now the headquarters of the local museum, kick-starts Delany's well-plotted fourth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery (after The Cat of the Baskervilles). A fundraising auction is quickly organized to offset the cost of repairing the building at Mrs. Hudson's Tearoom. Before Kathy Lamb, a member of the museum board and designated auctioneer, can bring down the hammer on the first lot, she's strangled in the tearoom's storage area. Following in the footsteps of the great detective, Gemma Doyle, who manages her great-uncle Arthur's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, investigates. However, as she observes: "As well as not having a retail business to interfere in the pursuit of his cases, or customers to interrupt his thinking, Sherlock Holmes hadn't been trying to have a love life either." Each of the many suspects has at least one plausible motive. Delany's liberal sprinkling of references to real pastiche novels and reference books makes this cozy a treat for Holmes buffs. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, is walking her dog late one evening when they see the Scarlet House, a local museum, is on fire. When the museum needs to host a fundraiser, Gemma's friend, Jayne Wilson, co-owner of Mrs. Hudson's Tearoom, offers to hold an auction there. Just before the auction starts, the chair of the Scarlet House board, Kathy Lamb, has an argument with one of the shop owners, Maureen Macgregor. When Gemma finds Kathy murdered in the backroom, all fingers point to Maureen. Although Gemma and Maureen dislike each other, Gemma thinks the police have picked the wrong suspect. Kathy had her share of people who didn't like her, including her ex's new wife. Even Gemma, with her uncanny ability to analyze people, finds there are too many suspects. Then, a second murder destroys Gemma's theories. Cozy readers who appreciate a quirky, idiosyncratic sleuth will enjoy Gemma's attempts to have a romance with a police detective while beating him at the detecting game. VERDICT Suggest for fans who enjoy humor in the Sherlock Holmes pastiches or readers of Carolyn Hart's "Death on -Demand" mysteries.-Lesa Holstine, -Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Sherlock Holmes is reinvented as a curious bookshop owner.British-born Gemma Doyle and her wealthy great-uncle Arthur share a home on Cape Cod, where Gemma is the owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop. Jayne Wilson, her best friend and sometime sidekick in crime solving, is a partner in Mrs. Hudson's Tearoom. While walking her dog, Gemma spots a fire at Scarlet House, a historic dwelling built in 1648, and calls 911. Her good deed involves her in yet another murder (The Cat of the Baskervilles, 2018, etc.), much to the dismay of Detective Ryan Ashburton, whose on-again, off-again relationship with her is definitely on. After Gemma and Jayne agree to host an invitation-only auction at the tearoom to raise money for the expensive repairs needed to Scarlet House, all goes swimmingly until Kathy Lamb, chair of the Scarlet House board, is found strangled among the valuable items donated for the auction and kept in the storage room at the back of Mrs. Hudson's. The storeroom's outside door is unlocked, but the murder weapon, a pink rope strung with miniature teacups that was being used as decoration for the auction, suggests that the killer may well be among the bidders. Gemma channels her inner Sherlock by casually chatting with the suspects and examining the physical clues. Kathy was not totally welcome as the new chair. Many thought she was using the position to help her get over a nasty divorce and a contentious relationship with her ex's wealthy wife, Elizabeth Dumont, whose first husband died under suspicious circumstances. Those casual chats turn up a lot of information about past and present animosities that eventually lead to another murder for the brainy Brit to solve.Each new entry in this series has been better than the last. Delany's down-to-earth heroine wraps up this investigation with even more than her customary panache. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

It's high season in West London, on Cape Cod. Following a destructive fire at the local historic museum, Scarlet House, the museum's board and the shopkeepers along Baker Street have quickly organized a benefit tea and silent auction at Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room, which adjoins the Sherlock Holmes Book Shop, both run by partners Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson. The event looks like a success, with a selection of valuable jewelry, paintings, and first editions listed in the auction booklet, and all tickets sold out—until Gemma and Jayne find the recently elected museum-board president, Kathy Lamb, dead in the back room. Suspects abound, from the previous board chair to the divorced husband, the second wife, Gemma herself, an enthusiastic museum volunteer, and a local artist whose work Lamb rejected for the auction. Despite being told to stay out of it by her police-detective boyfriend, Gemma—sometimes with Jayne—visits the likely suspects, crashes gatherings at the local yacht clubs, and . . . finds another body. Gemma is a delightful sleuth, and the tidbits of Sherlockiana will engage both cozy fans and Holmes devotees. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.

Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, is walking her dog late one evening when they see the Scarlet House, a local museum, is on fire. When the museum needs to host a fundraiser, Gemma's friend, Jayne Wilson, co-owner of Mrs. Hudson's Tearoom, offers to hold an auction there. Just before the auction starts, the chair of the Scarlet House board, Kathy Lamb, has an argument with one of the shop owners, Maureen Macgregor. When Gemma finds Kathy murdered in the backroom, all fingers point to Maureen. Although Gemma and Maureen dislike each other, Gemma thinks the police have picked the wrong suspect. Kathy had her share of people who didn't like her, including her ex's new wife. Even Gemma, with her uncanny ability to analyze people, finds there are too many suspects. Then, a second murder destroys Gemma's theories. Cozy readers who appreciate a quirky, idiosyncratic sleuth will enjoy Gemma's attempts to have a romance with a police detective while beating him at the detecting game. VERDICT Suggest for fans who enjoy humor in the Sherlock Holmes pastiches or readers of Carolyn Hart's "Death on Demand" mysteries.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

A fire at Scarlet House, one of the oldest properties in the Cape Cod town of West London and now the headquarters of the local museum, kick-starts Delany's well-plotted fourth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery (after The Cat of the Baskervilles). A fundraising auction is quickly organized to offset the cost of repairing the building at Mrs. Hudson's Tearoom. Before Kathy Lamb, a member of the museum board and designated auctioneer, can bring down the hammer on the first lot, she's strangled in the tearoom's storage area. Following in the footsteps of the great detective, Gemma Doyle, who manages her great-uncle Arthur's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, investigates. However, as she observes: "As well as not having a retail business to interfere in the pursuit of his cases, or customers to interrupt his thinking, Sherlock Holmes hadn't been trying to have a love life either." Each of the many suspects has at least one plausible motive. Delany's liberal sprinkling of references to real pastiche novels and reference books makes this cozy a treat for Holmes buffs. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary. (Nov.)