A Curious Incident is the sixth book in Vicki Delany’s highly-entertaining Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery series featuring bookshop owner Gemma Doyle.
Title: A Curious Incident
Author: Vicki Delany
Series: Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery #6
First Published: January 12, 2021
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genres: Mystery,
Acquired: from the publisher via Netgalley
*** Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
“I am not a Consulting Detective,” Gemma Doyle reluctantly tells 10-year-old Lauren Tierney. Lauren wants Gemma to help her mother, who has been accused of murdering her garden club rival.
Sheila Tierney’s garden, which everyone said was the one to beat for the West London Garden Club trophy, had been vandalized the night before the club’s early summer tour. Sheila confronted her former friend and gardening partner Anna Wentworth in a towering rage, and the women nearly came to blows. Later that night, after having won the trophy for best garden, Anna is found murdered and Sheila is the police’s prime suspect.
Despite herself, and despite the disapproval of her police detective boyfriend Ryan Ashburton, the game is once again afoot, and Gemma finds herself and her friend Jayne Wilson using their powers of deduction to ponder yet another curious incident.
Gemma Doyle is a reluctant consultant detective
Gemma Doyle is one of my favourite amateur detectives in the cozy mystery genre. While her famous last name and her interest in Sherlock Holmes is obvious, Gemma herself tries to stay away from blatantly solving mysteries, especially when Ryan is around. But mystery just seems to find Gemma and she can’t help herself (thank goodness). Gemma is smart, resourceful and has a generous heart, which is why she can’t resist helping young Lauren, even though Lauren’s mother is… um… let’s just say she’s not that nice.
The mystery was interesting to watch unravel. There were a couple of red herrings that had me second guessing who my main suspect was and it was a satisfying resolution. Delany is a great writer and the pace of the story never really flags.
Characters to love … and not love
One of Delany’s strengths is that she writes really good, strong characters that are truly memorable (in both good and bad ways).
Alongside Gemma, I really adored the addition of the spunky Lauren. The kid is clever and I can easily understand why Jayne (and Gemma herself) quickly agree to help the young girl out.
Speaking of Jayne, I would love it if every mystery focused on these two solving mysteries together. Jayne is a great friend and the perfect side-kick for Gemma.
Now, the two things I didn’t like in this otherwise amazing story. Ryan and his officer, Louise Estrada. In previous books, Ryan and Gemma had a lot of chemistry and banter, both of which were missing in this book. I’m not sure if this is leading to trouble for our sleuth, but their relationship felt a bit flat this time around.
And Louise…can I just say I outright hate this character? She is the only thing I don’t like about this entire series. I understand that many cozies have someone in law enforcement that doesn’t appreciate the amateur sleuth’s efforts – usually they’re just semi-annoying. But Louise is just so rude and immature, that I can’t stand any scene that she’s in. Ugh. Louise.
Read A Curious Incident for yourself
Aside from Louise, I enjoyed every moment in this book. I can’t wait for the next instalment and this continues to be one of the cozy mystery series that I look forward to.
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