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Summary
Summary
Just in time for Sherlock Holmes's 166th birthday, the fifth installment in national bestselling author Vicki Delany's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery takes Sherlockania to the max with a Holmes convention and historic 221 Baker Street.
Gemma Doyle and her friends travel to London for a Sherlock Holmes convention--but will Gemma's father take the fall for a felonious forger's fatality?
The 6th of January is Sherlock Holmes's birthday, and lucky for Gemma Doyle, January is also the slowest time of the year at both the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, and Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room. It's a good time for Gemma and her friends to travel to England for a Holmes Convention. For Gemma, the trip provides an opportunity to visit her parents, Jayne Wilson is excited about seeing all the sites London has to offer, and Ryan Ashburton just wants to spend some time with Gemma. But the trip is immediately derailed when Gemma's father Henry recognizes his brother-in-law Randolph Denhaugh, who disappeared more than thirty years ago on the night he stole a valuable painting from his own parents.
Henry, a retired detective with Scotland Yard, has been keeping tabs on the man's career as a forger of Old Masters and he warns Randy to stay away from his family. It's up to Gemma, with the help of her friends, to plunge into the "lowest and vilest alleys" of London to save her father from prison.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Delany's diverting fifth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery (after 2018's A Scandal in Scarlet), bookstore proprietor Gemma Doyle attends a Sherlock Holmes conference in London, where she bumps into her disreputable artist uncle, Randolph Denhaugh. Randolph, who stole a priceless family painting in his youth, claims to be producing sketches based on the Holmes canon and seems to be entangled in an art scam. His subsequent murder implicates Gemma's father, a former Scotland Yard officer who had an earlier confrontation with his brother-in-law and was found near the body with no memory of what occurred. Gemma, aided by such allies as her cop boyfriend, Ryan Ashburton, and her business partner, Jayne Wilson, delves into her uncle's shady activities in the guise of a wealthy American and discovers a slew of people with grudges against the dead man. The smart Gemma, the steadfast loyalty of her circle, and the intriguing art milieu keep the reader turning the pages. Cozy fans who are Sherlockians will have fun. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary. (Jan.)
Kirkus Review
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 parentsHenry, who's retired from the Metropolitan Police, and Anne, an attorneythey'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. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gemma Doyle, co-proprietor of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium in West London, Massachusetts, is in London, England, for a Holmes convention. With her are Jayne, who runs the coffee shop attached to the bookstore; Grant, a rare-book dealer; Donald, a devoted Holmes fan; and Ryan, her boyfriend and a West London police officer. As they leave a dinner with her parents and Gemma's sister Pippa, they are accosted by Randolph Denhaugh, Gemma's mother's brother, long estranged from the family for stealing a valuable Constable painting from his parents. Henry, Gemma's father, retired from Scotland Yard, had followed Randy's career as an art forger and warns him off. But Randy turns up as an exhibitor at the conference, putting him in the hotel when the family is gathered for an award dinner. Afterward, Randy is found dead, Henry standing over him, confused. After a police-department nemesis charges Henry with murder, Gemma and friends begin a shadow investigation. Not only will this latest in the series delight Holmes fans, it will also engage armchair travelers as the group visits many of London's best-known tourist sites.--Karen Muller Copyright 2020 Booklist