The new owner of a Sherlock Holmes-themed bookstore--and its cantankerous resident cat--discovers a rare manuscript and stumbles into a mystery in this charming series debut. Perfect for fans of cozy settings like that of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Gemma Doyle, a transplanted Englishwoman, has returned to the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod to manage her great uncle Arthur's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. The shop--located at 222 Baker Street--specializes in the Holmes canon and pastiche and is also home to Moriarty the cat, who seems to love everyone but Gemma. When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing the first Sherlock Homes story hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne (who runs the adjoining Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room) set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body. The highly perceptive Gemma is the police's first suspect, so she puts her consummate powers of deduction to work to clear her name, investigating a handsome rare books expert, the dead woman's suspiciously unmoved son, and a whole family of greedy characters desperate to cash in on their inheritance. But when Gemma and Jayne accidentally place themselves at a second murder scene, it's a race to uncover the truth before the detectives lock them up for good. National bestselling author Vicki Delany's outstanding series debut is sure to charm the most discerning fan of the great fictional detective. Full of quirky characters and bookish charm, this murder mystery series is perfect for fans of cozy settings, book lovers, and Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts
I bought the first three books and this series. The plots were pretty good, but I didn't care for the characters.
The main character, Gemma, is a smart aleck. She's an unusually intelligent person who hasn't learned to deal with normally intelligent people tactfully. She tries but she doesn't respect qualities other than intelligence in others enough to make her likeable to me.
Jayne, on the other hand, is on the lower end of normal. She's Gemma's business partner and the relationship between them emphasizes her lesser intelligence. I would have like her better if she had been within normal but smarter. I didn't want to think of her as poor Jayne, but that's the way she came across to me.
I don't remember any character who I really liked or found interesting.
All this comes from my personal taste, of course, so others will probably like these books better.
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