A THREE BOOK PROBLEM

A modern murder at a country-house party poses a pretty problem for a detective steeped in the ways of the great detective.

Wealthy Sherlock-ian David Masterson wants Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson, who run Cape Cod’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium and the adjacent Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room, to plan and cater a traditional English house party at Suffolk Gardens House, which he’s rented for a week while it’s up for sale. Along with his guests, Masterson is housing his resentful niece and nephew, who’ve been pressed into service as maid and butler, and Gemma’s boyfriend, police detective Ryan Ashburton, who’s taken time off to work in the kitchen. Gemma immediately notices that the expensive and expansive house has been poorly maintained and that a number of the guests seem strangely uninterested in Sherlock Holmes. When Masterson is killed with a poisoned dart right before Gemma’s eyes, she uses her noted Sherlock-ian skills to help the police investigate. Apart from devoted Holmes fan Jennifer Griffith, who seems to have been in love with Masterson, everyone acts unmoved by his death except for their interest in who might inherit his fortune. His wife, who wasn’t among the guests, has an alibi, but his niece and nephew had expectations. So did Jennifer, who tells Gemma that David was divorcing his wife to marry her and had changed his will in her favor. Masterson was harboring a lot of secrets, and Gemma must winkle them all out to solve the crime.

Maybe not the best of Delany's books, but plenty of Sherlock-ian lore and local color make for an enjoyable read.