[review] There's a Murder Afoot by Vicki Delany * book frolic

There's a Murder Afoot by Vicki Delany

There’s a Murder Afoot is the latest book in a fun cozy mystery series by Vicki Delany. Sherlock Holmes’ birthday anniversary is on January 6, so it’s timely that this book was released on January 7.

Title: There’s a Murder Afoot
Author: Vicki Delany
Series: A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery #5
First Published: January 7, 2020
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Categories: Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher via NetGalley

*** Thank you to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***

January is the slowest time of the year at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. Owner Gemma Doyle takes advantage of the downtime to visit her family in England and attend a Sherlock Holmes Convention. She leaves the bookshop in the hands of her Uncle Arthur and her assistant Ashleigh.

All of Gemma’s closest friends decide to join her on the trip. Her best friend, Jayne Wilson, is excited about seeing London for the first time. Meanwhile, Gemma’s boyfriend, Ryan Ashburton, is hoping to spend some quality time with Gemma. Ryan’s plans are slightly put off when Gemma’s former love-interest, Grant Thompson, tags along. To complete the group, Holmes fanatic Donald Morris wouldn’t miss the convention or visiting Holmes-related London spots for anything.

The family reunion gets off to a rocky start when Gemma’s father, Henry, gets into an altercation with his brother-in-law, Randy Denhaugh. Henry is a retired Scotland Yard detective and warns Randy, who is an art forger, to stay away from the family. Randy hasn’t been welcome since he disappeared more than 30 years ago, along with valuable painting he stole from his own parents.

When Randy is found dead with a dazed and confused Henry standing over him, Inspector Sam Morrison jumps at the chance to charge Henry with the crime. It’s up to Gemma, with the help of her friends, to clear her father’s name.

It’s time to meet Gemma Doyle’s family

There's a Murder Afoot by Vicki Delany

While I missed the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop setting, it was nice to visit London and meet Gemma’s family. Her father Henry is a retired police detective from a working background while Gemma’s mother, Anne, is a prominent lawyer whose family comes from nobility. Together they make a loving couple and they seem very supportive of both of their daughters. Gemma’s sister, Pippa, is more mysterious. At the book’s beginning, we learn that Gemma and Pippa aren’t very close and Pippa’s job, which is described as being an “assistant of some sort for the government”, is probably something much more important. (If you’re a Holmes fan, I definitely got ‘shades of Mycroft’ from her).

Uncle Randy (whom Gemma she didn’t know existed until this now) is the black sheep of the family and catching his killer is complicated since he had so many enemies. It was well known that Henry didn’t want Randy anywhere near his family, so it looks bad when he’s the one found hovering over Randy’s recently-murdered body. To make things worse, the Inspector on the case, Sam Morrison, has his own reasons for disliking Henry, so he almost gleefully exclaims that it’s an open-and-shut-case.

There’s lots of love in this cozy mystery

This is currently one of my favourite cozy mystery series so it was nice to learn more about Gemma’s family and background. The Doyle family is awesome and I really hope that we get to see them again in a future book.

There was one aspect of the story that I wanted more of – mainly the parts with Gemma and Pippa. When Gemma arrives in London, she and Pippa have barely spoken in years. But the sisters quickly become close friends and allies during this book. This abrupt change can be easily explained by the fact that they were banding together to clear their father’s name.

There’s another part of the story involving Pippa that also felt rushed and out of character but I can’t talk about it without giving away some character plot points so I’ll leave it to the reader to discover on their own. (Argh – the pain of writing non-spoiler reviews!). Overall, I would have loved to have spent more time with Pippa and felt like this was a character that could have been flushed out in more than one book as she was really interesting.

However, the rest of the book hummed along brilliantly. I especially LOVED how Gemma’s friends rallied around her and her family when Henry was arrested. Although they were originally there for a vacation, they dropped everything and refused to return home until Henry was cleared. It was really heart-warming to read. Even Donald, who is a Sherlock FANATIC, didn’t think twice about skipping the Holmes’ convention (his first in London) to help Gemma. I know these people are all fictional, but the love in their friendship just really made me happy.

Is the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop still standing?

One HILARIOUS theme that ran throughout the book was the series of escalating emergencies happening back home at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium while Gemma in in London. Each phone call or text from Gemma’s assistant seemed to be worse than the previous one. They were all semi-vague regarding the exact nature of the disasters (from a damaged computer to a small fire) so the reader’s imagination was left to run wild along with poor Gemma’s. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that we don’t find out what shape the shop is in by the end of the book – guess we’ll have to wait until Book 6 to find out! One thing’s for sure… I don’t think Gemma will ever leave Uncle Arthur in charge of the shop again! LOL.

Overall, I found the inclusion of Gemma’s family to be a lovely addition to the series. And while I’m ready to head back to the US and the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop (if it’s still standing!) I’d love to come back to London and visit the Doyles again soon.