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Gemma and friends travel to London for her sister Pipps's wedding. Gemma's ex-husband Paul approaches her as she leaves dinner at a local restaurant and arranges to meet her the following day at his bookshop to discuss an item he wants her to check out. When Gemma and Grant, Pippa's soon-to-be husband, arrive they find Paul murdered in his office at the back of the shop.
Gemma tells Paul's two employees, Faye and Tamara, what has happened and the police, who are soon to arrive advise them to close the shop. Tamara reports that two "big blokes, short hair, thick necks" visited Paul, followed by loud arguments in his office. It seems Paul owed money to unsavory types.
No one seems to know what Paul wanted Gemma to check out, so when she discovers his notebook with a list of contacts looking for specific books, she calls them to see if she can determine what he wanted her to see. Gemma finally determines that what Paul was concerned with was contained in a box he secretly moved around London in his final days. Locating the box becomes Gemma's primary concern since she believes its contents will lead to Paul's killer.
The subplots around the wedding planning, Pippa's role in the British government, and the family interaction provide nice relief to the complexity of the clues Gemma continues to uncover.
Vicki Delany writes a well-conceived, cozy mystery with familiar characters, twists, and imaginative red herrings. THE INCIDENT OF THE BOOK IN THE NIGHTTIME is Delany's tenth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series and is an exceptional entry.
§ Ruth Castleberry has worked as an investigator for Pinkerton's, a city desk assistant on the Charlotte News, free-lance writer, marketing/business strategy consultant, competitive intelligence practitioner and digital marketing consultant.
Reviewed by Ruth Castleberry, December 2025
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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