The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime

by Vicki Delany

Gemma, the protagonist of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series, and a small group of friends and relatives travel to London for the wedding of Gemma’s sister Pippa. At the wedding, Gemma is approached in the hotel’s lobby by her ex-husband Paul with whom she also owned a bookstore before their divorce and her move to the U.S. He claims to have a “rare find” and implores her to come to their former bookstore to look at it. She agrees to come in the morning, but when she arrives at the bookshop, which is now in disrepair, she finds that Paul has been murdered.

There are many possible motivations for his murder. He is clearly in debt so perhaps a gang member was trying to settle up. He is somewhat of a lothario, so maybe a disgruntled husband or boyfriend settled their jealousy problem. It could be that someone had caught wind of a rare book at the shop and decided to steal it. There are many other threads. Gemma decides to get to the bottom of Paul’s murder before her time in London is up. The conclusion is a surprise, and I enjoyed this mystery with its many allusions to Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Mystery, Fiction

Notes: #10 in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series. This could be read as a stand alone as the author explains who the characters are in the context of the current story. I had only read one of the earlier books in the series but still enjoyed this one. Donald had a major role in this book, and I did feel like I would have enjoyed that character with his Sherlockian obsession more if I had read some of the previous books. I have read several cozy mysteries in her Tea by the Sea series and enjoyed them more.

Publication:  January 14, 2025—Crooked Lane Books

Memorable Lines:

He gave me that crooked grin I’d once found so charming. Now I found it full of nothing but loneliness and regret.

I’d been getting bored with this conversation. The best way of getting out of a police interview, I’d discovered some time ago, was to start asking them questions they didn’t want to answer.

“I’m not one for gossip, you understand.”  “I totally understand.” And I did. Everyone who reassures me they are not a gossip turns out to be eager to dish the dirt.