MYSTERY

The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime

Crooked Lane. (Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery, Bk. 10). Jan. 2025. 288p. ISBN 9781639109265. $29.99. M
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Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop in West London, MA, packs up her friends and heads to London, England, for her sister Pippa’s wedding. Gemma arrives safely in London, but her luggage doesn’t, meaning that she doesn’t have time to rest from the flight, since she has to shop for replacement clothes. Gemma is tired and jetlagged when she runs into her ex-husband, Paul, in the hotel after the wedding reception. Paul’s even seedier than when he cheated on her and caused their break-up. (He later bought out Gemma’s share of the London bookstore they once co-owned.) He says he has a priceless book to show her and asks her to meet him the next day. Gemma doesn’t trust Paul, so she asks Pippa’s new husband, a book dealer, to accompany her to the bookstore. When they arrive, they find Paul’s strangled body in his office. Feeling inexplicably guilty, Gemma drags her friends around London as she searches for the priceless book Paul mentioned, clues to Paul’s secrets, and his killer.
VERDICT Cozies don’t often work when the author removes the amateur sleuth from their usual environment, but Gemma’s gang comes along to comfort series readers. Fans who traveled to London with the crew in There’s a Murder Afoot will enjoy the return.
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