This is the fifth book in the City of Mystery series – not sure if any of you have read them, but if you like mystery stories, it’s definitely a good series to try. Especially if you like historical mysteries, where people can’t just check on each other using cell phones and whatnot.
Anyway, this installment has our fledgling forensics team from Scotland Yard visiting Edinburgh, which apparently has a lot of stone buildings. The group also encounters a guy named Arthur Conan Doyle – you may have heard of him. Seems that one of the group (Emma, the sister of the Ripper’s last victim) has received a gift similar to one in Doyle’s story The Sign of the Four.
It seems the team is being drawn inexorably to Doyle, especially when his publisher turns up dead in Edinburgh. But was the whole thing a stunt, or was he really murdered? So they all pack up and head to Scotland to find out what happened, with Sherlock’s creator in tow. Some things at the murder scene are items from stories Doyle hasn’t even written yet, and how could that be?
With some old fashioned sleuthing, some new fangled forensics, and a little bit of luck, our gang figures out what happens, and maybe learns something about themselves along the way.
A word about this book – I’m not sure who is in charge of editing for the author, but this was one of the first times I felt the need to go on to Amazon and make a comment not about the story, but about the proofreading. Spelling, grammar, and typos are rampant, and seem to get worse toward the end of the book. As if someone got tired. It actually detracted from the story in places. Let’s hope they can get that fixed.
