It is Cozy Prizes Friday, my dear Watson. The game is afoot! How about an entire store dedicated to the master himself, Sherlock Holmes. Vicki Delany has come up with a cozy mystery sleuth who has the incredible memory of Sherlock, and was kind enough to answer some questions about her latest mystery, Body on Baker Street.
I’m a cozy writer and I’m also a keen mystery reader. When I was looking for inspiration for a new series, I thought a bookstore would be fun. The idea popped into my head: A bookstore dedicated to all things Sherlock Holmes. The Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium.
My original intent was that the main character would be a normal cozy character. A nice young woman who owns an interesting bookshop, lives in a pleasant community (in this case, on Cape Cod), and has a circle of friends.
But, by the time I got to page two, Gemma Doyle had become “Sherlockian”. Gemma has an amazing memory (for things she wants to remember), incredible observational skills, and a lightning fast mind. She is also, shall we say, somewhat lacking on occasion in the finer points of social skills.
Not to give too much away, but in Body on Baker Street Gemma decides she will have to break into the West London police station in search of evidence. Her best friend, the every-loyal, always confused Jayne Wilson isn’t pleased with that plan but she agrees to stand guard.
Body on Baker Street is my twenty-sixth book. I’ve written in a wide variety of sub-genres. I write the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin of which the third, Hark the Herald Angels Slay, will be out in November. Under the pen name of Eva Gates, I write the Lighthouse Library series which has just moved to Crooked Lane. Look for The Spook in the Stacks sometime next spring.
I’ve written in several different sub-genres of crime books, including novellas for adult literacy . Now, I’m happy writing cozy mysteries and the literacy books, the latest of which is Blood and Belonging.
A hardcover copy of Body on Baker Street will be part of the Great Escapes Rafflecopter contest. US entries only.
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Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are busy managing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium on Baker Street and adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room in anticipation of the store’s upcoming book signing with the illustrious Renalta Van Markoff, author of the controversial Hudson and Holmes mystery series. But during the author Q&A session, dedicated Sherlockian Donald Morris verbally attacks Renalta and her series for disgracing Sherlock’s legacy, only to be publicly humiliated when the author triumphantly lashes back and gains the upper hand. That is until Renalta collapses on the table―dead.
Donald insists he didn’t do it and pleads to his friends to clear his name. Fortunately, Gemma and Jayne have no shortage of suspects between author’s bullied personal assistant, her frustrated publicist, the hapless publisher, a handsome rare book dealer, an obsessively rabid fan, and a world of other Sherlock enthusiasts with strong objections to Renalta’s depiction of the Great Detective. It’s up to the shrewd sleuthing duo to eliminate the impossible and deduce the truth before the West London police arrest an innocent man in Body on Baker Street
, the second Sherlock Homes Bookshop mystery perfect for fans of Miranda James and Kate Carlisle.
Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than twenty-five books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. Under the name of Eva Gates, she writes the Lighthouse Library cozy series for Penguin Random House. Her latest book is Body on Baker Street, the second in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series from Crooked Lane.
Vicki is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.
www.vickidelany.com Facebook: Vicki Delany & Eva Gates and twitter: @vickidelany and@evagatesauthor
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