THE INCIDENT OF THE BOOK IN THE NIGHTTIME

A trip to London involves a Cape Cod bookseller and her friends in yet another case of murder.

Though she’s British, Gemma Doyle lives in West London, Massachusetts, where she manages her great-uncle Arthur Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium along with her friend Jayne Wilson, who runs the tea room. Now her sister, Pippa—who works for the British government in a secretive role—is marrying her friend Grant Thompson, an American book dealer, and Gemma and Jayne are flying there for the wedding along with Det. Ryan Ashburton, Gemma’s boyfriend; Sherlock devotee Donald Morris; and Jayne’s fiance, Andy Whitehall. As Gemma leaves the wedding venue, she’s amazed to be accosted by her ex-husband, Paul Erikson. The bookshop they used to own together is in trouble financially, but Paul claims to have a rare book that might save it, and he asks her to come take a look at it. Despite her misgivings, Gemma goes to the shop with Grant the next day, only to find Paul dead in his office, seemingly murdered. His two employees saw nothing, and there’s no rare book in sight. Gemma—whose mother is a high-powered lawyer, and father a retired detective chief superintendent—recognizes DI Jasmine Patel, the detective in charge, from the last murder she got tangled up in. Gemma can’t help but do a little sleuthing with her friends. The few clues that turn up take the case in a whole new direction that involves a high-born relative of Gemma’s mother.

Plenty of suspects and a well-hidden motive give the sleuths a run for their money.