A Scandal in Scarlet

September 3, 2018
A fire at Scarlet House, one of the oldest properties in the Cape Cod town of West London and now the headquarters of the local museum, kick-starts Delany’s well-plotted fourth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery (after The Cat of the Baskervilles). A fundraising auction is quickly organized to offset the cost of repairing the building at Mrs. Hudson’s Tearoom. Before Kathy Lamb, a member of the museum board and designated auctioneer, can bring down the hammer on the first lot, she’s strangled in the tearoom’s storage area. Following in the footsteps of the great detective, Gemma Doyle, who manages her great-uncle Arthur’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, investigates. However, as she observes: “As well as not having a retail business to interfere in the pursuit of his cases, or customers to interrupt his thinking, Sherlock Holmes hadn’t been trying to have a love life either.” Each of the many suspects has at least one plausible motive. Delany’s liberal sprinkling of references to real pastiche novels and reference books makes this cozy a treat for Holmes buffs. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary.