I have enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes stories for as long as I remember. I’ve read The Complete Novels and Stories – both volumes – and have watched many of the incarnations of Holmes on screen. In short, I would enjoy visiting a Sherlock Holmes themed bookstore, such as the one owned by Gemma Doyle in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series by Vicki Delany.

In the third installment of the series, The Cat of the Baskervilles, Gemma and her best friend Jayne, who co-owns the next door Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room, agree to host a Sherlock-themed charity tea for the upcoming community stage production of The Hound of the Baskervilles. When one of the actors ends of dead and Jayne’s mother the prime suspect, Gemma jumps into investigation mode.

Similar to Sherlock, Gemma can make connections between seemingly insignificant details. Though a simple bookstore owner, she can deduce familiarity between familial facial structures, relationship connections, and setting anomalies. For the rest of her armature sleuthing, she relies on sticking her nose where she must, much to the chagrin of her ex-boyfriend and chief detective.

Gemma also knows how to help people feel comfortable sharing their secrets with her. Because of this skill, she discovers information that she either wishes she didn’t know or details the police hadn’t yet discovered. This last often lands her in hot water, but she presses on. Whether she will stop the murderer before the murder stops her is the real question.

I thoroughly enjoyed all three books in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series and The Cat of the Baskervilles was an entertaining read. Gemma’s stubbornness could get a tad irritating, just as it did for the characters around her, but beneath her gruff exterior, she deeply cares for her friends. In the end, The Cat of the Baskervilles was fun book in a series that played so well off The Great Detective, Mr. Holmes.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I checked out this book from the library for my personal use. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”