Vicki Delany. A Scandal in Scarlet. New York: Crooked Land, 2018. Print.
A Scandal in Scarlet is a new book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery set. Like its predecessors, this light, cozy mystery is set on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In this one, two rival yacht clubs figure prominently as does a restored colonial home now open to the public with docents in colonial dress doing colonial cooking.
The title suggests a couple of actual Holmes stories, A Study in Scarlet and “A Scandal in Bohemia.” The story might be a bit closer to the second title, but it does not borrow much from either tale.
Our narrator-sleuth Gemma Doyle runs a Cape Cod bookshop that specializes in mysteries, especially those connected in some way to Sherlock Holmes. the Holmes tributes and spinoffs go beyond books to include tchotchkes, games, all kinds of adaptations, DVDs, and even life-sized cardboard figures of Benedict Cummerbatch. (Mr. Cummerbatch plays Holmes in a current BBC/PBS Holmes series.)
Compared to Elementary, She Read, this book drops a lot more names of Holmes stories that continue to be written and various other mysteries with Victorian settings. I learned, for example, that Christopher Plummer once played Holmes in a film. I am happy to say that one title the author dropped was Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone, a favorite of mine.
The Scarlet House, the colonial farmhouse with the re-enactors, has suffered a serious fire. It can be rebuilt, but it lost a number of antique furnishings. The foundation behind the house organizes an auction in town for the repairs and refurbishing. Gemma’s Uncle Arthur, the silent partner in the bookstore and a Holmes aficionado, donates a first edition of The Lost Valley (1914), the last of the four Holmes novels. Gemma and best friend Jayne, who runs the adjacent tea shop, help out at the auction.
Right before the auction begins, the chairwoman of the Scarlet House committee is found strangled to death in a side room. Clearly, it is murder. And clearly Gemma is going to help solve it.
Like Sherlock himself, Gemma is observant and notes things and connections that other people miss. But it is a real mystery. Kathy, the victim, was popular with most people in town, though the committee, like most nonprofits, did have some members who had different plans for the Scarlet House than Kathy did. But that hardly seems a motive for murder.
Her ex-husband Dan, left Kathy for Elizabeth, a wealthy widow whose first husband died under mysterious circumstances seven years before. Most people in town dislike Elizabeth. She is a suspect, as is Dan.
The ill-tempered gift shop owner Maureen is also suspected because she was seen arguing and threatening Kathy. She “hires” Gemma to help her. At least, she asks for help and uses the term hire even though both she and Gemma know she’ll never pay anyone for any kind of assistance.
Dan’s two adult children have each expressed their unhappiness with their father because he abandoned Kathy for Elizabeth. Elizabeth is actually Dan’s third wife. His first wife died, leaving him with a young son. His daughter is Kathy’s child.
Just when it seems that many of the clues are pointing to Elizabeth for the murder, Elizabeth herself is murdered. Now what?
A few allusions to original Holmes works may or may not be dropping hints, but they do add to the overall enjoyment of the novel. One of the characters is named Mrs. Musgrave. “The Musgrave Ritual” is one of the more curious Holmes stories. Perhaps the reader will come up with a book or film list from the works Gemma recommends to different customers.
Though the book mentions The Valley of Fear a number of times, little appears to relate to that novel in A Scandal in Scarlet. However, there is a great quotation from “The Bascombe Valley Mystery.” While A Scandal in Scarlet has an original plot, an alert reader familiar with “Bascombe Valley” might figure out who the murder was a little sooner.
This character-driven cozy is a pleasant read, just like many of the original Holmes stories.