It’s the second year in a row I’ve started the year by bingeing cozy mysteries. 🔍📚

This year it was Vicki Delany's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery series and I was not disappointed.

The more I get to know these characters the more I love them. And the latest installment, The Sign of Four Spirits, coming out Tuesday 1/9, is so much fun.

It’s a take on the classic locked room mystery, but this time our protagonist, the effervescent Gemma Doyle, is locked out of the room and instead listens in as a murder occurs. Intrigued? Then you need to pick this one up. The whole series is delightful.

Thank you to @dreamscape_media for the ALC! Kim Hicks narrates this series brilliantly and I love her interpretations of all the different characters.

I didn't realize this was the 9th in a series when I first picked it up, but that said it was written well enough you could jump right in without the previous books. I enjoyed this fun little mystery that was cozy. I love the theming of her being a descendant of Conan Doyle, I love the bookshop backdrop, and I enjoyed the cozy community where it all takes place.

The main character can sometimes come off a bit snobby about her opinions, but I don't think that's necessarily negative as she is correct every time. It would be nice to feel like she is open to being wrong, but I don't know if this has been addressed previously in the series. Maybe she's super confident because she's come through so many other situations.

Overall a fun read and one I'd recommend.

Bookstore owner, Gemma Doyle attempts to attend a seance in London along with her friends and boyfriend, but inexplicably finds herself barred from the event. As Gemma waits outside, she hears a scream and enters the seance room to discover a dead body under the table. With Gemma blocking the only door, it’s clear that the killer was someone inside the room. Gemma is a quirky heroine that is socially awkward, but that only adds to the flavor of the ninth entry in this cozy mystery series

What a fantastic book to start the new year with. I lovvveeee a good cozy mystery. Then you add in the faux paranormal twist and the plot twist. So good. Highly recommend!!

What worked for me:
1. All the characters I love are back in this one and we get to spend more time with Ashleigh and her mother, Bunny and that was fun
2. A decent story with little repetition [thank you so much Ms. Delany for not jumping on that particular bandwagon]. The whole "psychic phenomenon" and fairs and mediums are so popular again, so it was fun to see a story woven around that world.
3. Jayne's scones. Seriously.
4. Unexpected deaths. I was really surprised with first one.
5. I love how Gemma TRULY strives to not be involved in this one. She does what she does on a daily basis [works in her shop, walks her dogs, eats scones with Jayne, and pays attention to every single thing that happens all around her] and her ability to suss things out isn't really HER fault. ;-)

What didn't work for me:
1. The overall mystery. I knew who the killer [but never guessed a lot of what they were about so that was a plus] was pretty early on [all it took was a comment and I knew who they were] and the reveal was a touch flat [though MUCH better than some I have read as of late].
2. The very idea that two detectives rely on a civilian to solve the case [even with what I said above]. In this one it seemed a touch more ridiculous than it normally does and so it bugged me a bit.
3. Pacing. I found the story dragged in the middle and I wished the pacing had been a little better.
Overall, it was just an okay read for me [though I think some of this lies with the not-so-great for me narrator and not the actually story], though I never had a thought of quitting or rushing ahead with the story - I was fully invested even with the things that bugged me [and knowing who the killer was] and I found myself wishing that I didn't have to wait a year for a new one in this series, so in my mind, that is a big plus. It is a really great series for me and I look forward to the next one.

I also received the audiobook for this and this really might be some of the reason the book didn't hit all the marks for me. I am not a fan of this narrator. She is an excellent British narrator [and should she narrate a book set in the UK with only English characters, I would listen to her in an instant], but her "American" voices are just...well, they are awful. None of them even remotely sound like they were born and raised in Cape Cod [or anywhere else in the United States for that matter], and they almost all sound the same and it really makes for a difficult listen. At the same time, I am extremely grateful for any audiobook at all because I have serious eye issues and cannot read read much anymore and rely almost fully on audiobooks, so even though this experience wasn't the best for me [at all], I have to be grateful I even had the opportunity to enjoy [?] this book and I am grateful for that.

Thank you to NetGalley, Vicki Delany, Kim Hicks - Narrator, Crooked Lane Books, and Dreamscape Media for providing both the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

The newest addition to Gemma’s adventures was riveting. I listened to it in audiobook format and the narrator was great. I thought the mystery was really compelling. I enjoyed the plot twist of who the killer was as my initial guess was incorrect. I had a great time! Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Vicki Delany for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for my copy of The Sign of Four Spirits by Vicki Delany Narrated by Kim Hicks in exchange for an honest review. It publishes January 9, 2024.
First off, Kim Hicks does a wonderful job narrating this series, as always! The only bone I have to pick is the mispronunciation of Oregon, but no one gets it right!
Yet another great addition to this series, I just love all of the subtle, and not so subtle nods there are to Sherlock and his great author. I admit, I was concerned that I might have had to skip this one, as I am uncomfortable with the occult and the various practices surrounding it. However, just like a cozy mystery, where the murder is not too gruesome or detailed, the same can be said for the seance that takes place.

Can a ghost be a murderer? Gemma knows that is the wrong question, but the real question of who the murderer is needs to be answered quickly or more people may find themselves in harm's way! This series is a wonderful twist on a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. Gemma notices minute details that few others do and remembers them fully, her stunted social skills are both funny and endearing. The characters are so well thought out so that their flaws become part of the endearing personalities much as in real life. I think that is what draws me back to Baker Street to Gemma and her gang of pals each time a new book is released, but the outstanding plotting is an absolute part of it too! The plot is wonderfully twisted with multiple potential suspects that must be untangled and understood to finally get to the true guilty culprit. This time I was able to visit the book via audio and I must say that the narration was fantastic. The narrator was fully able to bring Gemma's English background and stunted social skills to life and make her even more realistic and believable. I have to say this may be my favorite mystery in the series so far, but this author never ceases to amaze me by making the next book even better so I'll just say that you should read the entire series to enjoy and decide for yourself!

Thanks to Dreamscape Media & NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vicki Delany's cozies have been on my to-try list for awhile. I know she writes several series, and this one sounded fairly traditional, so I figured it would be innocuous with a sweet-but-tenacious heroine who runs a bookshop. What I ended up reading was more in line with the abrasive Agatha Raisin from the M.C. Beaton series (not a fan).

Gemma Doyle, as portrayed by voice actor Kim Hicks over the series, from what I can see, is a feisty and meddlesome person, which I can deal with, but she is SO arch and difficult to like it's really tough to take. I guess I'm just a sucker for a Miss Marple type who doesn't steamroll everyone around her.

The mystery is good enough and hangs together nicely. There are many and varied characters, but it's often difficult to tell them apart as Hicks uses the same/similar voices for so many, and with wildly not-New England accents (the series takes place on Cape Cod). I have no idea why a British voice actor was chosen when ONE characters is a Brit (I geddit, she's the MC, but c'mon) and scores of others are American, and the VA does a lousy American accent. It was a real detractor from my enjoyment of the book.

I'm not sure if Gemma is truly written as an awful character or Hicks' acting pushes her over the edge, but I'm not curious enough to try another in this series to find out. Exhausting.

The Sign of Four Spirits is the 9th book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop cozy series by Vicki Delany. Due out 9th Jan 2023 by Crooked Lane books, it's 272 pages and will be available in hardback, ebook and audio formats. Paperback due out 1st quarter 2025 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

One of the things that a lot of pastiche bookshop/library cozies have in common is title dropping. This series is no exception but it's fine since that's a great way to find new authors to follow up and read. It does add verisimilitude for fictional librarians and bookshop owners to be able to recommend titles to their patrons. That's a nice bonus to an otherwise engaging and fun light read. In addition, this series is good in its own right, and the author is both prolific and more than competent with the technical nuts-n-bolts of writing.

The pacing is good and the story arc is clever and readable. It's full of appealingly eccentric small town characters and the mystery puzzle is well engineered and twisty. This one can easily be read as a standalone. Suitable for all audiences, the language is clean and the violence isn't graphic or on-page.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 8 hours and 26 minutes and is capably narrated by series narrator Kim Hicks. She has a restful, classically trained voice with rounded vowels and careful modulation. She's easy to understand and does an unobtrusive job of the narration. Sound and production values are high throughout.

Four stars. Cozy mystery fans of Sue Minix. Paige Shelton, and Lynn Cahoon will enjoy this series. With 9 books extant, and no indication that the series is stopping, this would be an excellent choice for a long binge or buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

In the 9th Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery, a psychic fair is taking place. Ashley’s mother Bunny get them all involved in a seance. Gemma goes to the Stanton home for the seance but isn’t allowed in the room. Part way through the seance someone dies.
Gemma doesn’t plan to get involved, but the clues she notices become vital to the case. Gemma spends a couple of nights researching until dawn, which doesn’t sound like being uninvolved to me.
This is a well written mystery. I didn’t clue in to the culprit until reveal.
I listened to the audiobook. I like the voices for Gemma and some of her friends, but the voice for the medium’s assistant was grating.
I enjoy visiting Cape Cod and the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop. I enjoyed reading The Sign of Four Spirits.
Thanks to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books and Dreamscape Media for access to this book.

A fun cozy with an incredibly endearing, voicey narrator!

Premise - Gemma reluctantly participates in a seance (she doesn't believe in psychics) but gets more than she bargained for when the psychic dies mid-seance! Gemma butts right into the investigation and it's a good thing, too, as she's way more competent than the police.

Gemma's voice is the best part of the story. She's snarky, clever, witty, but kind at her core. I adored following along on her adventure!

I wish the order of the resolution had been flipped around. It's very clear who did it from almost the very beginning, but I didn't mind that so much because it's a fun read, even without any crazy twists. That said, even after Gemma has identified who the murderer is, the story goes on for quite a while. This is to tie up 'payback' for a crook, but I would have preferred if they tied up the crook storyline first, *then* resolved the murder mystery toward the end. It's a cozy mystery, so I imagine most readers (like me) are most interested in solving the murder and once that's solved it's hard to maintain steam for the rest of the story if it drags on as much as this one did.

Gemma, however, is a gem (heh) and I would definitely read more in this series!

Thanks, NetGalley and Crooked Lane, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Title: The Game is a Footnote
Author: Vicki Delany
Series: A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery #9
Narrator: Kim Hicks
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pub Date: January 9, 2024
My Rating: 4.6 rounded up Stars
This is 9th book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series. Although the characters are recurring; I believe it can be read as a standalone _ I strongly encourage the audio!
In case this is your first, I will give some background (plus I write making notes helps me remember all the characters!!!)

Setting: West London on Cape Cod.
Gemma Doyle- a transplanted Englishwoman, has returned to the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod to manage her Great Uncle Arthur's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium,
Jayce Wilson – Gemma’s best friend along with
Mrs. Hudson manages the Tea Room that is attached to her book shop.
Ashleigh - is Gemma's assistant.
Bunny Leigh – Ashleigh’s mother is a former pop star.
Ryan Ashburton - is a detective and Gemma’s main squeeze.
Andy Whitehall - is Jayne's fiancé and owner of the restaurant, Blue Water Cafe.
Donald Morris – hopes to speak to the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Non-recurring characters
Madame Lavalier – is the medium and her assistant is Mary Moffat
Daniel Stanton and his wife Eleanor from California are staying with Daniel’s step-mother Rebecca, the hostess for the séance.

Story starts when a psychic fair is taking place in West London. Although Gemma wants no part of it, she is talked into attending as a support to her assistant Ashleigh.as her mom is planning on trying to contact Ashleigh's dad.
Gemma, however, is evicted because she is a non-believer.
(Have to admit this made me laugh out loud!)
The séance begins once the lights are out.
Gemma, of course, has to sit outside. However, she soon hears a commotion and once lights are back on -one of the twelve in the séance is dead has been stabbed in the back of the neck.

I am a Vicki Delany fan. Additionally I love that narrator Kim Hicks continues to be the audiobook performer- to me she is Gemma Doyle- Ms. Hicks performs Gemma’s personality perfectly!

I have always been a mystery book fan but more recently have been reading psychological thrillers; this cozy mystery reminded me why I love mysteries! Most cozy mystery fans enjoy reading a story that includes a book shop. One that has an adjacent tea room has got to be the BEST!
BTW: I actually did a Google search for “Sherlock Holmes Tea Set” and Yes! They are available!

Ms. Delany delivered another enjoyable read. As always I am looking forward to the next adventure of Gemma and friends!
I read "Elementary She Reads]" #1 back in 2017. I immediately liked Moriarty the cat" and delighted he continues to make an appearance and know deep down he likes Gemma even though he acts like he doesn’t. Also dogs Violet and Peony (note cover)
Of course, I love Gemma - we Miata drivers have a special bond!

Ms. Delany is the author of four cozy mystery series: In addition to this, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series from Crooked Lane, The Tea by the Sea series from Kensington Books, and the Year Round Christmas series from Penguin she also writes the Lighthouse Library series under the pen of Eva Gates. I also love that series!)

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media amd Brooked Lance Books for granting me the pleasure of listening to this fun early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 9, 2024

This is such a fun series! I love getting into Gemma’s mind and following her observations to solve the crime. This one was particularly fascinating as it was a locked room during a séance. I loved learning about the history of seances and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s interest in them and then jumping to modern times as Gemma and her friends investigate and plan a wedding. The mystery was well-paced and kept me guessing. I just wish Gemma was a little more likeable; she comes off as pompous, rude, and a know-it-all, much like Sherlock Holmes himself (I’m not a fan of his).

The Sign of Four Spirits is the ninth book in this cozy mystery series focused around a Sherlock Holmes themed bookshop, which is complete with a bookshop owner with Sherlockian intuition, Gemma, and a grumpy shop cat named Moriarty. In this novel, Gemma gets roped into attending a seance despite her skepticism and ends up on the outside of a locked room mystery. As she discovers some surprising connections between the suspects, Gemma must sort out several sorted pasts to figure out who the murderer is.

As always, I enjoyed Gemma’s wit and how she isn’t afraid to be herself. She lets people know about every fact she’s learned, but is working on figuring out when not saying anything is better and over sharing. Still, she doesn’t let anyone push her around and finds justice for victims when even the police are having trouble.

If you haven’t read previous books, I recommend starting from the beginning because every book is good. But if you do start here, there are good descriptors of everyone and only slight spoilers regarding character relationships.

This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series but I don’t love seance stories, so not one of my favorites in the series.

Always love Gemma and her smart deductions, as well as her relationships with the people of West London, Massachusetts.

Can’t wait for her best friend Jayne’s wedding 🥰

Special thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advance copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion

AUDIO: 8h 27m Narrator Kim Hicks

I absolutely loved this. As much as I enjoyed the print version, there is something about having a narrator who is not only great at differentiating character voices as well as nuances of speech that might not be noticed by the eyes. Given that one of the early scenes involves a seance, yep, medium and contacting the dead, there were even more voices for Kim Hicks to provide and she did an outstanding job. She had Gemma's occasionally haughty, very British aristocratic voice as well as her more usual, conversational tone. Bottom line, Kim Hicks is excellent.

I won't detail the plot but will post my original review of the ebook after this quick audio review. The chapter changes are simply introduced as "Chapter..." whatever. The various voices used suited the characters nicely, making it easy to differentiate between speakers. It definitely brought the story to life, from the thunder and lightning outside where the seance was being held to the supposedly unknown male voice that sounded angry during the seance. Things flow, well, aside from Gemma's occacionally long winded explanations of this or that. Let's just say, you'll learn much about the history and use of hat pins. Even those actually flow and you can sense the odd combo of impatience and bemusement from those on the receiving end.

Bottom line, I absolutely loved this audio version. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys audio books or, for that part, simply intriguing mysteries. You won't come away feeling like Gemma is your new best friend but you'll definitely respect her observation skills and ability to put oblique clues together to pinpoint the killer. Thanks #DreamscapeMedia for giving me this sneak listen. Original review follows.

_____ Original Review ______

"Emma isn't going to the seance. Definitely not going. Nope. Not going. So, how'd she wind up there anyway, albeit perched outside the door where the event is taking place?

This has become a favorite series for me although, quite frankly, I still find Emma Doyle more annoying then likable. That said, she's definitely improved and grown on me over the series. I even think I'd like her as a friend, albeit one that'd wear on my nerves quickly. It isn't that she rivals Sherlock Holmes with her observation skills and ability to put complex clues together. That's impressive. It's just that her people skills need work. That said, it's obvious in this book that she's trying to be a better friend. She hesitates and doesn't always spout out what she's thinking, thoughts that are often negative toward the one she's speaking to/about. She doesn't make abrupt phone calls in the middle of the night, showing more awareness. It's Emma's smarts and ability to learn and change, albeit slowly, that keep me coming back. Toss in that Vicki Delaney/Eva Gates is a superb writer and hooks me from the very start and I find myself gravitating to this series, not to mention being so intent upon trying to sort it out that I tend to read the book in one or two sittings.

So, who killed the medium? Why didn't she allow Gemma into the room for the seance? It doesn't matter whether we believe in such things or not, there are characters who do and that is the reason for the gathering. Or, is it? Why was Donald disappointed in the seance even before it really got started? Who was that last angry voice heard? Will Ryan, the detective/boyfriend, accept Gemma's help or not? Will Moriarty the cat ever warm up to Gemma? Why is the medium's assistant so interested in Bunny? Will Rebecca ever make peace with her step-son? And, once again, who is this diabolical killer? Can even Emma's masterful deduction skills find the truth in time?
Bottom line, I loved this book/series. Great cover. The writing flows and the characters are fully-developed, even the minor ones. And, heck, you'll learn quite a bit about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the process of reading, too, so a win-win. Thanks #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for allowing me to spend some time in Emma's world and mind. I think my mind is still spinning at how she put it all together."