Vicki Delany

I'm probably the type of reader that drives some authors wild. I'll find a mystery series that I really like and instead of keeping current with it, I'll save it for when I need a 100% guaranteed good read. Vicki Delany's Constable Molly Smith series is one on that special list. The writing is so good that it doesn't matter how long I go between books, I always know exactly where I am in the lives of the characters. Well, I needed a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool good read, so I picked up Among show more the Departed, the fifth book in the Constable Molly Smith series. I wasn't disappointed. (Hey, that's why this series is on my list!)

From the crackerjack opening involving a lost child, the pace never falters. Once you start learning about the characters involved in the investigation, it's not difficult to piece together whodunit. The real question is how was it done, and Delany certainly knows how to keep us guessing while she advances the lives of her main characters.

Molly and her mother are still grieving over the loss of someone dear to them, but the two women are going through the process in different ways-- which definitely suits police officer Molly and her tie-dye Hippie mother, Lucky. Another interesting character is John Winters' wife who is an aging fashion model. Not only is the marriage a weird pairing-- police officer and high fashion model-- the beautiful Mrs. Winters is turning into a much more delineated character than I'd originally expected. Readers are treated to the daily lives of police officers and, in addition, how a model's life changes once she begins to age. Plus, what's happened to each member of the Nowak family is quite sobering.

Yes indeed. Delany has created a series with a perfect setting, strong stories, and memorable characters. As I was reading Among the Departed, I kept getting the nagging feeling that this series reminded me of another author's. Finally, it came to me: Elly Griffiths and her Dr. Ruth Galloway mysteries. Does that make some of you sit up and take notice? Good! I'd hate for you to miss out on some fine reading. show less

Walt Desmond has been in prison for twenty-five years, convicted of the sexual assault and brutal murder of Sophia D'Angelo. A recent appeal has resulted in his conviction being overturned when it's proven the Trafalgar City Police Department seemed to be setting him up. Walt decides to return to Trafalgar and look for answers on what happened and why the police targeted him. Some residents don't believe he is innocent and even the Police Department is divided into two sides of the fight. show more Many of the townspeople, including some cops and former cops, and the family of the victim, think he is guilty. When someone starts attacking woman in town, Walt is considered the main suspect.

Sergeant John Winters and Constable Molly Smith realize, if Walter isn't guilty, someone else has gotten away with murder, so they open up the investigation. One of the investigating officers is dead now, either from an accident or suicide. The other lives alone and isn’t talking. The investigation also starts to reveal some discrepancies in the perception of Sophia, who might not be the quiet, obedient young woman her family and friends described.

I've been reading this series over the past few months and it's gotten better and better. This is my favorite of the entire series. The author does a great job of making the characters realistic and relatable. The secondary characters really add dimension and personality to each book. I love the city of Trafalgar and all it's citizens. Unreasonable Doubt is a thought-provoking, powerful mystery and I can't wait for another to be published. show less

'Winter Of Secrets' was a pleasant surprise. I picked it up because it's a murder mystery set in a mountain village in British Columbia during a Christmas Eve snowstorm. I knew it was the third book in a series, but I wanted a Christmas-themed book, so I dove straight in.

It turned out to be an engaging police procedural with a strong portrayal of a small Canadian mountain town in winter. I’d expected a cosy mystery, similar to Vicki Delaney's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mysteries, but this show more was quite different. It was much more firmly grounded in reality. It was a sensible police investigation rather than a fanciful story about an amateur sleuth.

The mystery around the deaths at the heart of the story was a good one, but what I liked most about it was that the people involved felt real.. I got a strong sense of the young police officer being part of the community that she’s policing. She grew up there, and she knows everyone. She was christened Moonshine by her hippie parents (her poor brother got landed with Samwise), but now calls herself Molly because Moonshine isn't a serious enough name for a police officer. That the older residents and some of the people she went to school with still call her Moonhine or Moon isn't something she can control.

Although this was the third book in the Constable Molly Smith series, I had no difficulty following the plot. There's clearly a core group of characters who appear in each novel, and much of the focus was on the events in their lives. I liked that the group wasn't limited to the police force and that it covered people of all ages. It evoked the sense of layered relationships that you get in small towns when some of the older adults have known the younger adults since they were children. I also liked that the detective in the story is from the big bad city, and so has to have some of the history and the more complicated relationships explained to him.

Part of the action takes place on the local ski slopes. It was interesting to see the mountain and the tourists through Molly's eyes. She's a local who knows the mountains well, and she's an expert skier who relishes the black runs and who knows the people who make all the tourist services work.

I think this series may become a comfort read for me. There are eight books in the series. I've decided to go forward rather than back.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Carrington MacDuffie. I enjoyed listening to her. She's American but, as far as I can tell, she manages a reasonable range of Canadian accents. show less

My wife and I listened to "Elementary, She Read" on a five-hour car drive. The audiobook is eight hours twenty-five minutes long, so we ended up spending the evening listening to the rest of the book. It made us laugh several times but it also had us discussing the characters (why we liked them, why they liked each other, what we had in common with them) and admiring how cleverly put together the book is.


I was uncertain about the book because it seemed to be set up to press too many show more must-read-that buttons: it's set in a bookshop, it's set in a SHERLOCK HOLMES bookshop, it's set in a Sherlock Holmes bookshop IN CAPE COD, it's set in a Sherlock Holmes bookshop in Cape Cod that is linked to MRS HUDSON'S TEAROOMS, and the main character is A DIFFICULT BRIT WITH A LIKEABLE, PRETTY, AMERICAN best friend and business partner. Add in the fact that the bookshop has an adorable cat (Mycroft) who likes everyone except our main character and that our main character has soft love-me-feed-me pet dog and we have a Royal Flush of cuteness. It seemed to me unlikely that, with that much icing on the outside, the fruitcake inside would be worth eating.


I tried the book anyway because I'd read good things about the series on BookLikes and because, if anyone can pull off a cosy mystery that plays on the foibles of the Brits and the Americans, it's going to be a Canadian writer.


Happily for me and my wife, locked into a long drive across some of England's least interesting Motorways, "Elementary, She Read" turned out to be pretty much perfect. The fruit cake inside the icing was rich, textured, met all my expectations and added a couple of "Hmm, is that cinnamon or quince giving that extra tang?" moments.


What made it work was that Vicki Delany made the story character-driven. Although there was a Sherlock Holmes-related mystery, involving multiple killings and a suspect-rich environment it seemed to me that the real mystery at the heart of the book was the personality of Gwen Doyle, the owner and manager of "The Sherlock Holmes Bookshop And Emporium".


Gwen is a wonderful creation, made even more interesting because we learn about her only through her own eyes. Gwen is very bright, very observant but her complete inability to see the world as anything but a frankly-not-that-challenging puzzle, constantly causes offense and conflict through inappropriate remarks and behaviour. Gwen's logic and determination made "Elementary, She Read" into something much more rigorous in terms of plot than other cosy mysteries I've read. Gwen's lack of social skills and her assumption that it will be obvious to anyone with even half a brain that's she's right, at least, it will once she's taken the time to explain it to them slowly so they can keep up, lands her as the prime suspect in the murder. Watching her dig that hole deeper without realising she's doing it was a lot of fun.


What made Gwen real to me was her relationship with her best friend the petite, pretty, open and honest Jayne. Jayne is a woman other women like and nice men fall in love with but who prefers to spend her time with arty bad boys who know how to have fun. Jayne understands Gwen's strengths and weaknesses and discretely compensates for them, protecting Gwen from her blindspots with regard to personal relationships, her poor ability to assess personal risk and ordering extra portion to accommodate the fact Gwen never orders food but always eats of Jayne's plate.


The friendship between these women works well. It makes the plot run smoothly, adds a lot of humour and avoids Gwen coming across as the kind of arrogant ass Sherlock Holmes so often seems to me to be.


The plot is convincing and kept me guessing. The dive into Sherlockian culture was a lot of fun, referencing every Sherlock movie, TV series and pastiche I've ever heard of and describing the avidity of the collectors and the playful curiosity of the casual readers with gentle humour.



My wife and I have to make the return journey today. I have the next book in the series "Body In Baker Street" (yes, the bookshop is on 222 Baker Street in West London Cape Cod) ready to play. We're both looking forward to it.
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