Author: Vicki Delany
Series: A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery (Book 10)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (January 14, 2025)
Description: Bookshop owner Gemma Doyle heads to London for a wedding, but when a body is found in connection with a rare book, Gemma sets out to sleuth the slaying in bestselling author Vicki Delany's tenth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery.
Gemma Doyle and her friends have packed their bags and headed to London for her sister Pippa’s wedding. Waiting for her in the hotel lobby is none other than Gemma’s ex-husband, Paul Erikson. Paul has a rare book he wants her to see—calling it “the real deal”—so Gemma agrees to meet him at their old shop, Trafalgar Fine Books, the following day. But when Gemma arrives, accompanied by Grant, a rare book dealer, they find Paul dead in his office.
Paul had been down on his luck, but Gemma never expected this. Had he borrowed money from people he shouldn’t have? And where is the valuable book he was so anxious for Gemma to see? It’s nowhere to be found in the shop. Because of their previous relationship, Gemma feels she owes something to Paul and vows to find his killer.
As Gemma and her best friend Jayne Wilson follow Paul’s trail of friends, enemies, clients, and ex-lovers through London to Yorkshire, she realizes the puzzle of Paul’s last days is more twisted than she originally thought.
This mystery is anything but elementary, and Gemma and Jayne have to use all their wit to get to the bottom of it before their time in London—or in life—is over.
My Thoughts: Gemma and her friends Jayne, Ryan, Andy and Donald are in London to attend Gemma's sister's wedding to their friend Grant. Things are going well until she meets her ex-husband Paul in the hotel lobby. He convinces her to come to his shop to see something he calls "the real deal."
Gemma reluctantly agrees and arrives at the bookstore that was once hers with a couple of friends only to find Paul dead in his office, an obvious victim of murder. Although she doesn't want to investigate, she can't help her curiosity or her powers of observation.
Finding her ex's address book, she sets herself and friends off on a quest to question those who knew him better. She believes that the "real deal" he was talking about is a rare book and is surprised when her distant cousin, known to be financially embarrassed, is on the list.
Gemma has asked just one thing. She doesn't want Gemma to involve the secret government department she represents, but somehow, before things are over, Gemma and her department are intimately involved.
This was another excellent addition to the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series.
