Mudpie Interviews...Moriarty from Elementary, She Read (w/Review & Giveaway)

Elementary, She Read: A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery by Vicki Delany

From the publisher: 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. The shop--located at 222 Baker Street--specializes in the Holmes canon and pastiche, and is also the home of Moriarty the cat. When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing the first Sherlock Homes story hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne (who runs the adjoining Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room) set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body.

The highly perceptive Gemma is the police’s first suspect, so she puts her consummate powers of deduction to work to clear her name, investigating a handsome rare books expert, the dead woman's suspiciously unmoved son, and a whole family of greedy characters desperate to cash in on their inheritance. But when Gemma and Jayne accidentally place themselves at a second murder scene, it's a race to uncover the truth before the detectives lock them up for good.

If you're already a Sherlock Holmes aficionado this book will make you happier than a chocoholic in a Godiva factory; if you're not, you will be by the time you finish reading. I was so inspired that I used a precious Audible credit to purchase the entire Holmes canon in audiobook format...nearly 63 hours of listening pleasure!

Gemma Doyle, a transplant from the UK, has taken over her Great Uncle Arthur's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium in West London on Cape Cod. In the same building is Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room, run by her best friend Jayne. After a busy afternoon Gemma locates a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing a beloved Sherlock Holmes story and attempts to return the item to it's owner, only to find the mysterious stranger dead. One of the lead detectives on the case is Gemma's former boyfriend and the other takes an immediate dislike to her (and the feeling is mutual), and circumstances wind up placing her on top of the suspect list.

Gemma is a very unique character. Her keen mind and powers of observation are very Sherlockian, although she doesn't come off as the most likable protagonist. I found her to be rather abrasive and abrupt, but that being said, it works! Her personality "fits" the character's life experience. The bookshop is a character all it's own; the author's descriptions of it make you wish such a store existed. I only hope the second book in series gives us a better chance to meet Gemma's great uncle Arthur...I think he'll be a really fun character.

Of course every bookshop needs a resident feline, and in this case it's handsome house panther Moriarty. He and Gemma have sort of a love/hate relationship, although he knows how to turn on the charm when it's warranted. Mudpie was excited to have the opportunity to ask him a few questions!

Welcome Moriarty! Thank you so much for chatting with me today. Could you start by telling us a little about yourself and how you came to live at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium?

I was a lost, abandoned, frightened, starving little kitten, huddling in a dark alley when Arthur Doyle found me. He brought me into the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium and gave me a bowl of fresh cream and shelter. I have ever been grateful.

(Now the true story: I was pretending to be a lost, abandoned, starving kitten, and I threw myself under Arthur Doyle’s feet and whined pitifully. Keep your friends close, they say, and your enemies closer. Where else would a cat named Moriarty want to be?)

What's a typical day like for you?

I prowl the bookshop in the early morning to make sure no mice have gotten in. If they have, I dispose of them in my ruthless way. Then I have a nap in my bed under the center table until Gemma arrives to open the shop. If I’m very lucky, she’s carrying a take-out cup of tea and a muffin, not watching where she’s going, and I might be able to trip her. When the customers start arriving I spend most of the day letting them admire me. Oh, yes, I can do the sweet little kitty along with the best of them. While all that admiring is going on, I keep an eye on Gemma. She’ll slip up one day, and then I’ll have her.

Tell us about Elementary, She Read, the first Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery that you star in... 

I’d be happy to. Transplanted Englishwoman Gemma Doyle owns the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium in the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod, specializing in the Holmes canon and pastiche, and the adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room. When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing the first Sherlock Homes story hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne Wilson set off to find the owner. What they find is a dead woman and Gemma’s house ransacked.

The highly perceptive Gemma is the police’s first suspect, so she puts her consummate powers of deduction to work to clear her name, investigating a handsome rare books expert, the dead woman's suspiciously unmoved son, and a whole family of greedy characters desperate to cash in on their inheritance. But when Gemma and Jayne accidentally place themselves at a second murder scene, it's a race to uncover the truth before the detectives lock them up for good.

Do you assist Gemma in any way in solving the mysteries she stumbles upon?

As if she’d let me. Oh, no Gemma has to do everything her own way. She thinks I’m a harmless cat. One day, I’ll show her.

Is your purr-sonality anything like your namesake, criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty? 

You mean brilliant, clever, diabolical, master of evil? Then yes. If only I wasn’t trapped in this ten pound body.

Can you give us any clues as to what's next for you guys?

When a famous author comes to visit the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop, I am unceremoniously carried upstairs and dumped in the office. (See above, trapped in a ten pound body). Gemma will attempt to solve the subsequent crime in Body on Baker Street (coming in September) and I will continue to attempt to make her life a misery. Good times.

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