Gemma Doyle and her friends have packed their bags and headed to London for her sister Pippa’s wedding. Waiting for her in the hotel lobby is none other than Gemma’s ex-husband, Paul Erikson. Paul has a rare book he wants her to see–calling it “the real deal”–so Gemma agrees to meet him at their old shop, Trafalgar Fine Books, the following day. But when Gemma arrives, accompanied by Grant, a rare book dealer, they find Paul dead in his office.
Paul had been down on his luck, but Gemma never expected this. Had he borrowed money from people he shouldn’t have? And where is the valuable book he was so anxious for Gemma to see? It’s nowhere to be found in the shop. Because of their previous relationship, Gemma feels she owes something to Paul and vows to find his killer.
As Gemma and her best friend Jayne Wilson follow Paul’s trail of friends, enemies, clients, and ex-lovers through London to Yorkshire, she realizes the puzzle of Paul’s last days is more twisted than she originally thought.
This mystery is anything but elementary, and Gemma and Jayne have to use all their wit to get to the bottom of it before their time in London–or in life–is over. (Summary via Goodreads)
Having read all but the first book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series I can honestly say that I am a huge fan of these books and have fallen in love with the characters. Author Vicki Delany knows what to write to insure that. And with having ten books in the series, she has to be creative with the stories so that readers do not get bored and are sure to return.
The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime, the tenth book, sees Gemma and close friends traveling to London to attend Gemma's sister's wedding. Pippa is actually marrying Grant, a friend of Gemma's from New London, Massachusetts, where Gemma resides now.
Gemma has to leave the wedding reception early, as she was unable to rest when they arrived as she had to try to track down where her luggage ended up, when jet lag caught up to her. But before she could get through the jotel lobby, she is approached by someone she definitely did not want to see .... her ex-husband Paul. Paul insists that he has something back at the bookstore that she use to own with him that she needs to see. Gemma has to agree to stop over the following day just so that she can make her escape.
Unfortunately when Gemma, Jane and Donald arrive at the bookstore at the agreed upon time, the only two people they see are Paul's employees. But they find Paul in the office and sadly he is dead ... and has been for several hours. Gemma, being Gemma, quickly looks around and is pretty sure Paul was murdered and tries to determine why someone would want to kill him.
Once the police are involved Gemma should walk away but readers know that she won't even if she hasn't seen Paul in seven years. It, eventually, becomes clear that Paul's death is bigger than even Gemma can handle and when Pippa gets involved, she knows it is worse than she thought. However, now that Pippa is involved means that the case is untouchable to Gemma.
I have to say that I believe that The Incident of the Book in the Nighttime is my favorite in this series so far. I am a huge fan of everyone and everything inside this series but I am obsessed with Pippa and love her !!! I love her secrecy, the power that she holds in whatever her job is, her relationship with her sister and everything else about her. There is no reason that a cozy mystery series cannot have two powerful women in it and this one is it !!!
