THERE'S A MURDER AFOOT

A group of friends traveling to England use their diverse skills to solve a murder.

When Gemma Doyle’s great uncle Arthur, who owns the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop on Cape Cod with her (A Scandal in Scarlet, 2018, etc.), wins an award to be presented in England at an academic conference on Sherlock Holmes, she takes advantage of the slow winter season to go to London to pick it up for him, taking along several friends: Jayne Wilson, her partner in Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room; rare book dealer Grant Thompson; Donald Morris, retired lawyer and fanatical Sherlock-ian; and Ryan Ashburton, her boyfriend. Soon after they arrive, while they're having a drink with Gemma's parents—Henry, who’s retired from the Metropolitan Police, and Anne, an attorney—they're approached by Randolph Denhaugh, Anne's younger brother, an art forger who's the black sheep of the family. Gemma has never met Randolph before, since the family cut him off when he stole his parents' valuable Constable painting. Later, at the conference hotel, Gemma runs into Randolph while searching vendor booths for possible buys for her shop. He’s selling cleverly executed pastiches of classic Sherlock-ian illustrations and making enemies of other vendors. After Gemma’s acceptance speech at the award ceremony, as the group is about to get their coats, a waitress finds a dead body in a nearby meeting room: It's Randolph with a rope tied around his neck, and Henry is kneeling by his side holding the rope. It’s especially unfortunate that Henry’s been coshed and remembers nothing, because the officer assigned to the case is Inspector Sam Morrison, who’s long disliked Henry and longs to find him guilty. Gemma’s sister, Pippa, who holds a mysterious government job, uses her considerable pull to get their father released. Gemma won’t leave England until Henry’s cleared, and her friends rally around to support her. Randolph was evidently up to his old tricks and had enough enemies to provide reasonable suspects if only Morrison were looking for them. Since he isn’t, it’s up to Gemma’s group of amateur sleuths and Pippa’s mysterious contacts to find the real killer.

A treat for Holmes fans with plenty of twists and turns in the best Sherlock-ian style.