Monday, January 09, 2023

The Game Is a Footnote by Vicki Delany

 
First Line: Despite being the oldest house in West London, Massachusetts, Scarlet House has led a quiet, peaceful existence.
 
When things start moving around of their own accord in historic Scarlet House in West London, Massachusetts, board members think Gemma Doyle can get to the bottom of things. Owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, there is no doubt in Gemma's mind that Scarlet House is not being overrun by ghosts, but no matter how she protests, the board members and docents keep bringing up the topic.

However, when Gemma and her friend Jayne stumble across a dead body on the property, she knows that she's no longer trying to eliminate the impossible, she's hunting for a killer.
 
 
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Although The Game Is a Footnote brought my attention to how museums and historic places suffered-- and continue to do so-- due to the pandemic, it is filled to the brim with the things that I love about this series. There is an excellent mystery here in which, although I deduced the whodunit early on, it took me a long time to put together the whydunit.

Gemma is her usual irascible yet brilliant self. Jayne still follows her around in a fruitless attempt to keep her out of trouble. There's a surprise visit or two. Gemma's employee Ashleigh causes her own problems, and Moriarty the shop cat gets to chew the scenery and steal a scene.

I love the interplay between the characters, and I especially enjoyed how the history of Scarlet House and its family was woven into the mystery. Somehow prolific author Vicki Delany knew that, if a mystery involves an old house, I'm usually the first one up the porch steps to knock on the door.

The Game Is a Footnote is a thoroughly enjoyable mystery that has me looking forward to the next installment and smiling at one of the lessons learned in the story's climax. What lesson? Why, never underestimate a woman who knits, of course!

The Game Is a Footnote by Vicki Delany
eISBN: 9781639101467
Crooked Lane Books © 2023
eBook, 320 pages
 
Cozy Mystery, #8 Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery
Rating: A
Source: Net Galley

10 comments:

  1. I really like the way Vicki Delany writes, Cathy. She draws characters quite well, and she does such an effective job of depicting those relationships. I like the wit in the way she writes, too. And a bookshop mystery series - who can resist?

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  2. I've had this series on my radar for several years but every time I check the price of the first book for Kindle it's £9.49 which I think is quite a lot for an ebook. And the library doesn't have any of them sadly.

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    1. I agree with you about the price. The only time I pay that sort of money is if someone gives me a gift card. Here's hoping that either the publisher or the library comes to its senses soon!

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  3. Scarlet House sounds like a great setting for a mystery. And I think I'd really like Gemma.

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  4. This sounds like a series I need to get started on!

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  5. Love the title. Puns for all these cozies show. I keep promising myself to read a Jenn McKinley library series book. I have to.

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    1. And Delany's title is more than a pun, but that's all I'm going to say about it.

      McKinlay was a librarian, and it shows.

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