Sherlock Holmes’ methods work once more in a charming combination of history and mystery.
A ghost hunt turns to murder.
British expatriate Gemma Doyle owns the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium and, with her partner, Jayne Wilson, half of the adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room in West London, Massachusetts. An expert on all things Sherlock-ian, Gemma has used the Great Detective’s methods in the past to solve crimes, so she’s naturally asked to discover who’s haunting Scarlet House, built in 1648 and currently owned by the historical society. The disappearance of several items that later turn up in odd places and the fact that the animals in the barn are carrying on for no discernible reason sound less like the work of spirits than of practical jokers, but Gemma reluctantly agrees to investigate. With Ryan Ashburton, her detective boyfriend, out of town, Gemma beds down for the night in Scarlet House with Jayne and Andy, her boyfriend, while animal caretaker Dave Chase, a retired veterinarian, and neighbor Craig Jones stay in the barn. Several odd and scary things happen, but it’s not until Dave takes a fatal tumble from the hayloft that Gemma takes things seriously. It’s rumored that the historical society is in financial trouble and that Scarlet House may be for sale. Though there are no glaringly obvious suspects, many people involved with the house seem to have conflicting agendas. When Gemma’s older sister, Pippa, who has a hush-hush job for the British government, suddenly arrives, Gemma doesn’t think for a minute that she’s just come for a visit.
Sherlock Holmes’ methods work once more in a charming combination of history and mystery.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-63910-145-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crooked Lane
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The always delightful heroine and her sleuthing family do not disappoint in this mélange of mysteries.
The fearless and soignée Phryne Fisher investigates several mysteries as intriguing as they are perilous in post–World War I Australia.
In addition to excellent taste in clothes and men, the Honourable Miss Fisher has something else: a disdain for rules that’s served her well as a private investigator. She can tell that something’s bothering Dot Williams, her lady's maid and companion, who reveals that an anonymous letter reading only REPENT! was left in Phryne’s mailbox, kicking off the first of her investigations. Her two adopted daughters, Jane and Ruth, are helping out at the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind for a school project, and one of the teachers asks Jane to use her math skills to check over the institute's books, where it seems "there's something amiss." Meanwhile, Phryne drops in on Jeoffrey Bisset, a lecturer in classics and English, who invites her to dinner at his home in Williamstown the next evening. When the time comes, they enjoy each other more than the food, but Phryne finds herself involved in opium smuggling when an after-dinner stroll reveals a man stabbed to death on the beach. Phryne’s sometime lover Lin Chung, a respected leader in the Chinese community, is called to identify the body and resolves to look for whoever’s smuggling opium, a scourge in the community. Phryne sets her adopted son, Tinker, to investigate the anonymous letter while Jane and Ruth try to sniff out an embezzler at the Institute for the Blind. Reserving for herself the dangerous job of tracking down the murderous smugglers with a little help from her friends, Phryne uncovers some surprising answers.
The always delightful heroine and her sleuthing family do not disappoint in this mélange of mysteries.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781728279244
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
Charming characters and settings make for a pleasant stop before trying your hand at the fudge recipes.
A kindhearted hotelier and fudge maker just can’t catch a break from murder.
Allie McMurphy is attending Mackinac Island’s first Midsummer Night’s Festival with her best friend, Jenn; her boyfriend, Rex Manning, a police officer; and her bichon-poo, Mal, when a fuss erupts over the disqualification of an entry in the competition to be named queen. On her way home with Mal, who’s afraid of the fireworks, Allie discovers the body of festival head Winona Higer, shot dead. This isn’t the first time Mal and Allie have found a corpse, and she’s developed a reputation for messing with murders, much to the displeasure of Rex, whose job description calls for him to solve Mackinac’s crimes. Despite being more than busy running her hotel and making fudge for her shop, Allie can’t resist a little snooping. The first suspects are naturally the family of the girl who was disqualified, but that kerfuffle seems a thin motive for murder. So does Winona’s argument with her gardener over her roses, which she thought he'd poisoned with the wrong fertilizer. Threatening notes to pageant judges precede another dead body, once again sniffed out by Mal. More shootings and break-ins raise the question of why the killer is targeting the festival judges. Or are these attacks just a series of red herrings to obscure a hidden motive? Allie needs to find the answer before she becomes the killer’s next victim.
Charming characters and settings make for a pleasant stop before trying your hand at the fudge recipes.Pub Date: May 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4967-3553-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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