Vicki Delany - Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels

The seventh in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Series

Library Journal Starred Review!

Tourist season is over in West London, Cape Cod, so Gemma Doyle, owner of Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, along with her best friend, Jayne Wilson, owner of Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room, have time to work a Sherlockian country house weekend. Gemma’s boyfriend, Ryan, even takes the weekend to be sous chef instead of a police detective. Gemma provides props and games, while Jayne caters the event for David Masterson. Gemma understands the prominent and rich Sherlockian rented Suffolk Gardens House to host a group of like-minded friends, so she’s puzzled by the guests. Some don’t seem to care about Holmes. Some don’t seem to like Masterson at all. When a poisoned dart kills the host, there’s a large group of suspects. Fortunately, the observant Gemma is on the scene. It’s a perfect opportunity for an amateur sleuth with Holmes’s observational skills.

VERDICT Fans of country house mysteries, readers of the series, and those who enjoy Holmes pastiches will appreciate this entertaining follow-up to A Curious Incident.

“Plenty of Sherlock-ian lore and local color make for an enjoyable read.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“[Captures] the feel and discourse of a gathering of Sherlockians. This is her best series entry to date.”
—Publishers Weekly

FIRST in a new series. Coming September 7 from Penguin Random House

DEADLY SUMMER NIGHTS

A summer of fun at a Catskills resort comes to an abrupt end when a guest is found murdered, in this new 1950s set mystery series.

It’s the summer of 1953, and Elizabeth Grady is settling into Haggerman’s Catskills Resort. As a vacation getaway, Haggerman’s is ideal, and although Elizabeth’s ostentatious but well-meaning mother is new to running the resort, Elizabeth is eager to help her organize the guests and the entertainment acts. But Elizabeth will have to resort to untested abilities if she wants to save her mother’s business.

When a reclusive guest is found dead in a lake on the grounds, and a copy of The Communist Manifesto is found in his cabin, the local police chief is convinced that the man was a Russian spy. But Elizabeth isn’t so sure, and with the fate of the resort hanging in the balance, she’ll need to dodge red herrings, withstand the Red Scare, and catch a killer red-handed.

“An immersive setting with details of running a Catskills resort in the 1950s (think Kellerman’s in Dirty Dancing) beautifully frame a story with plot twists and a cast of well-delineated characters.”–Booklist