Vicki Delany Follow

Two families gather at Cape Cod for a wedding with the groom's family staying at Victoria-at-Sea, the B&B Lily's grandmother Rose owns and where Lily makes the breakfasts before going across the lawn to her tea room. An incident at the bride's shower at the tea room puts a damper on the day two days before the wedding. The next morning the groom's father is found dead in his room. No one in his family seems to get along with each other, and none seem that broken up by his death, with his wife accusing the brides mother of doing the deed. Lily, Rose and their friends end up helping the police sort out a very strange reason for the murder and get an arrest of the right person.
(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy)

Gemma Doyle is part owner of a bookstore dedicated to the great Shelock Holmes and has a great intuition for solving mysteries. With her best friend, Jayne Wilson, Gemma agrees to check out the town historical site Scarlet
House's recent strange activities. A few strange events happen the night they spend at the house, but Gemma is sure they can be easily explained without her looking into them any further. But after Gemma and Jayne find one of the volunteer workers dead, Gemma is sure more is going on.

Gemma is very observant, as befits a Sherlock themed book. Ironically, she isn't a big Sherlock fan, that would be the uncle who gave her the shop. Jayne runs the adjoining Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room and is Gemma's BFF. She makes a good sidekick.

Jayne's mother gets more of a role in this book - but she is keeping a secret that complicates matters. Police detective Ryan Ashburton is the standard potential love interest who keeps his distance because of issues with her sleuthing. Ryan's partner, Louise Estrada, doesn't trust nor like Gemma, at all, and makes it clear at every opportunity.

The setting of West London on Cape Cod is quaint. Much of this book takes place at the mansion where the fundraising tea takes place, giving a great backdrop for the murder.

The plot is driven by the concept of never knowing what a person's history is, what has happened in ones past. This concept is highlighted well in this story. The plot takes that and gives us a tangled web of secrets.

The climax was a classic rounding up of all the suspects and revealing the killer. Not the nail biting confrontations I love, but it is a standard mystery reveal. The wrap up answers all questions.

For those days when I want a good contemporary cozy mystery this is an excellent choice. I like Gemma, the mysteries are well developed, and have a good cast of characters in an interesting town. If you haven't given this series a try, I heartily recommend you begin.