The Game Is a Footnote: A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery

A request from the board of directors of Scarlet House, the oldest building in West London, Mass., which is currently being used as a historical reenactment museum, sparks Delany’s eighth mystery featuring Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium (after 2022’s A Three Book Problem). Scarlet House’s board members are concerned about a series of odd occurrences that some believe are evidence that the property is haunted; random objects have disappeared before reappearing in odd locations, and something spooked the animals in the barn belonging to the house late at night. Gemma’s guess that the incidents were just pranks is disproved when one board member is murdered on the grounds, his neck broken in what first appeared to be an accidental fall. Gemma and her friend Jayne Wilson, who runs an adjacent business, Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room, investigate, endangering their lives in the process. A subtle clue reminiscent of one from a classic Conan Doyle story will please Sherlockians, and Delany plays fair with her cluing. The inventive plot bodes well for the series’ future. Agent: Kimberly Lionetti, Bookends Literary. (Jan.)