The Game is a Footnote by Vicki Delany Book Review

About the Book:

Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are back on the case when a body is discovered in a haunted museum in bestselling author Vicki Delany's eighth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery.

Scarlet House, now a historical re-enactment museum, is the oldest building in West London, Massachusetts. When things start moving around on their own, board members suggest that Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, might be able to get to the bottom of it.  Gemma doesn’t believe in ghosts, but she agrees to ‘eliminate the impossible’. But when Gemma and Jayne stumble across a dead body on the property, they’re forced to consider an all too physical threat.  

Gemma and Jayne suspect foul play as they start to uncover more secrets about the museum. With the museum being a revolving door for potential killers, they have plenty of options for who might be the actual culprit.

Despite Gemma's determination not to get further involved, it would appear that once again, and much to the displeasure of Detective Ryan Ashburton, the game is afoot.

Will Gemma and Jayne be able to solve the mystery behind the haunted museum, or will they be the next to haunt it?

My Review:

This is the eighth book in a series and the second I have read. I found it read well on its own. It did get off to a bit of a slow start as a murder doesn't happen until well into the story. Gemma is a suitable amateur sleuth. She notices things others miss. Her character is hard to like at times and I do wonder why her policeman boyfriend seems so enamored of her. Her sister pays an unexpected visit and I really liked her. She added a note of international intrigue to the novel. The past pop music star that visited town and the drama surrounding her was strange and detracted from the mystery plot.

I like the series because Gemma manages her uncle's bookstore specializing in Sherlock Holmes items. There is a cat in the bookstore too. The bookstore makes a great base of operation for Gemma. In general, this novel is a good and entertaining cozy mystery.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

 

About the Author:

Vicki Delany is one of Canada's most prolific cozy mystery writers. She writes under her own name and her pen name, Eva Gates, for a total of more than forty novels. She is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. You can find out more at http://vickidelany.com/  photo: Iden Ford Photography

Crooked Lane Books, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.