Today’s featured author is Vicki Delany, whose latest release, The Sign of Four Spirits, is book nine in her Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery series.
In the interview to follow, Vicki and I chat about her Holmsian knowledge, how she approaches writing different series, and her advice for authors earlier in their careers. As you’ll learn, Vicki is a busy author, writing multiple series and celebrating three more releases this year—so, four new books total in 2024!
Connect with Vicki on Instagram, Facebook, and her website. Grab a copy of The Sign of Four Spirits from your retailer of choice here.
Hi Vicki, thanks so much for joining! The Sign of Four Spirits is book nine in your Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery series, starring sleuth Gemma Doyle and her inherited mystery bookstore. What do you love about blending this classic detective with a contemporary cozy series? Are there any fun Sherlockian facts or details that you’ve especially enjoyed including in the books?
Gemma Doyle is my version of Sherlock Holmes recreated as a modern young woman, and I thought she could comfortably fit into the cozy genre as an amateur sleuth who owns a bookshop. I know quite a lot about Sherlock Holmes, but I am by no means an expert, and I’m not writing for experts. But I enjoy throwing in the occasional “Easter egg” to amuse those who do know the finer points of the canon.
For example, there are seventeen steps in the bookshop, and there were seventeen steps at 221B Baker Street. The shop cat is named Moriarty [like Sherlock Holmes’s famous nemesis], and he hates Gemma. That stuff is always fun, as is simply thinking, What would Sherlock Holmes do? and having Gemma do it.
In The Sign of Four Spirits, Gemma investigates a séance that results in a murder—one that could only have been committed by someone inside the séance room. How did you approach plotting this mystery? What did you enjoy about including supernatural elements like a séance?
“Possible” supernatural elements. I started this book with a one-word idea: séance. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a very committed spiritualist and he wrote quite a few books on the subject. I’ve always found that interesting considering his greatest creation was such a non-superstitious person. Like Holmes would do, Gemma goes to the seance as a total non-believer, because someone has asked her to accompany them. The medium immediately picks up on her powers of observation and bans Gemma from the room. So she, naturally, listens from the other side of the door.
Are there supernatural elements in this book? That’s for the reader to discover. Gemma doesn’t think so.
You have several mystery series under your belt, including the Year-Round Christmas Mysteries, the Tea by the Sea Mysteries, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates). Do you have a favorite series to write? Does your writing process change depending on the series?
I love them all! But I have to say I particularly enjoy writing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop books because it is fun to try to recreate the Great Detective while keeping the character modern and female.
In the Lighthouse Library series, the classic novel the library book club is reading is loosely reflected in the plot of my book, and I enjoy finding, and reading, a classic that suits the theme I’m wanting to develop.
The writing process between the series is the very same. I’m a semi-outliner, meaning I start writing by the seat of my pants and write about a quarter of the book. Then I stop, and outline the rest.
Having written so many novels, what advice would you give your younger self? Do you have advice for newer writers and authors hoping to find similar writing success?
I don’t know that I’d give younger self any advice other than that which I’d give to newer writers: Persistence is the key. It’s a tough business and it’s getting tougher, so you just have to keep going in terms of writing and trying to get published, if that’s your goal. My other advice is to read, and read often and widely. Reading is how we learn our craft.
One thing I did have to learn is to trust yourself as a writer. Don’t give up when you hit a bad point in the book. Work through it.
Lastly, what’s next for you? I see you have some upcoming releases on the horizon—can you tell us about those, and/or anything else you’re looking forward to?
The next book out will be A Stranger in the Library, the eleventh Lighthouse Library book (written as Eva Gates) in June. The fifth Tea by the Sea book, Trouble is Brewing, comes in July, and then the seventh Year Round Christmas book, A Slay Ride Together With You, in September. So, a busy year. In personal news, I’m writing this on a plane to Ecuador where I’ll be visiting the Amazon basin and the Galapagos, so I’m really looking forward to that!
Thanks so much to Vicki for the interview. Sleuths, I hope you enjoyed it! If you aren’t already subscribed, please be sure to sign up for the Cluesletter and get author features like this alongside other mystery goodies, delivered to your inbox every other Tuesday.