The Sign of Four Spirits (Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery, #9)

by Vicki Delany

Gemma Doyle won’t be spooked when a body shows up at the psychic fair in bestselling author Vicki Delany’s ninth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery.

When a psychic fair arrives in West London, Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, wants nothing to do with it. But somehow, at the urging of Donald Morris, an enthusiastic Sherlockian, she finds herself talked into attending a séance, along with baker and best friend Jayne Wilson, store assistant, Ashleigh, and former pop star Bunny Leigh.

But to her surprise, Gemma finds herself banned from the séance and shown the door. Curious, she listens in from outside the room. The medium informs a disappointed Donald that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will not be able to make it tonight. Then, Gemma hears a voice cut off, a cry for help, a scream. Gemma bursts into the library to see that someone has collapsed on the table--dead. The windows are all locked, and Gemma was guarding the only door. Someone in this room is a murderer. But who?

The game is once again afoot for Gemma Doyle, as she hunts a killer. But, this time, is the killer of flesh and blood or had the medium summoned doom from beyond the veil?

• ISBN10: 1639105395
• ISBN13: 9781639105397
• Publish Date: 9 January 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Crooked Lane Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 1
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781639105397

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

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.