Last Updated on April 22, 2026
There are some authors who make writing a long-running mystery series look effortless, and Vicki Delany is very much one of them.
With more than fifty books to her name and multiple cozy series on the go, she has built a career on sharp plotting, memorable settings, and characters readers genuinely want to spend time with.
Her latest instalment in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, The Devil in the Details, is the eleventh outing for Gemma Doyle, the observant and quietly determined owner of the Holmes-themed bookshop in West London, Massachusetts.
Even this deep into the series, the world still feels fresh. The book opens with a celebration that quickly turns tragic, setting up a mystery that is as much about community as it is about clues.
I was delighted to have the chance to put a few questions to Vicki about the book, her writing process, and how she keeps both Gemma and her wider work feeling new.
Vicki Delany Interview
Q. The Devil in the Details works very well as a standalone. When writing book eleven, how aware are you of new readers coming in fresh?
A. It’s definitely a tricky line to navigate. You want to fill new readers in on background, but not bore long-time readers.
I hope I can drop just enough backstory to make new readers want to go to earlier books in the series to find out what brought the characters to where they are.
Q. This book opens with a celebration and moves quickly into tragedy. Do you enjoy starting a mystery with a strong contrast like that?
A. To me, that’s the heart of a cozy mystery. A pleasant setting, good friends, maybe good food. And then, everything is upset and the world has to be set back to rights
Q. The victim in this story is someone few people really know. What made you choose that angle instead of a more obvious “unliked” character?
A. I’ve written more than fifty books now, so it’s a matter of trying to avoid a ‘rut’. I want my victims to be a variety of people, with a variety of reasons for their demise.
I found it interesting to create a character that almost no one knew, but as the story develops, it turns out several people have motives for committing the crime.
Q. Was there a moment in this book where Gemma surprised you while you were writing her in this book?
A. I like to think by book eleven, I know Gemma pretty well. But yes, it was a bit of a surprise when she dove into the icy water.
She’s not really physically adventurous, although she is a good swimmer, and she’s also not the type to act without thinking everything through first.
Q. Without giving spoilers, was the ending always clear in your mind, or did it shift as you wrote?
A. I usually outline pretty well, so I knew what I wanted to happen, although the step-by-step details of the climax did come to me only as I wrote it.
Q. Gemma has strong observational skills without feeling like a copy of Sherlock Holmes. How do you keep that balance?
A. I call her my interpretation of Sherlock Holmes as a modern young woman.
I think being a woman makes that character more empathic than the Victorian-era man we know so well.
Plus, she has close friends and a romantic interest, which makes her more a relatable human than Holmes himself sometimes is.
Q. After eleven books, how do you keep Gemma feeling fresh to write?
A. I like that innate, insatiable curiously she has, and her determination to sometimes go where she is not wanted.
I’ve twice taken the characters to England, to show Gemma in her home environment, and I’m hoping to do that again soon.
Q. You move between multiple cozy mystery series, darker crime, and historical fiction. How do you mentally switch between those styles?
A. I don’t actually. I used to write suspense and historical mysteries as well as a police procedural series, but now I strictly write cozies.
I have four cozy series on the go, and although they are similar in tone, I think they are all quite different, largely because of the different characters of the protagonists.
I write one book at a time, beginning to end, so as not to have any overlap in my thoughts.
Q. Do you write different genres in different ways, or is your basic process always the same?
A. I used to have a much more ‘pantser’ style, meaning write as I go, but now I outline after initially starting just off the cuff.
Once I have the scene set and the characters in motion, I stop and outline.
Q. When you sit down to start a new book, what do you need first: the crime, the setting, or the character?
A. It definitely varies. With the Sherlock Holmes bookshop series in particular, I often start with just a word or a phrase. “Country House murder”, “séance”, “haunted house”. And I go from there.
For The Devil in the Details, I wondered how I could best upset Jayne’s wedding.
Q. You’ve written more than fifty books. Does finishing one still feel special?
A. It still does but I don’t have any way of celebrating or marking the occasion.
As I aways say, “what do you do when you finish a book? You start the next one.”
Q. Which part of the writing life do you enjoy more now than you did early on?
A. Knowing that I can trust my instincts as a writer.
Q. When you look back at the first Sherlock Holmes Bookshop book, what feels most different now?
A. I think Gemma has matured a bit, and is learning to be a bit more sympathetic toward other people’s feelings.
She knows she’s always the smartest person in any room, but now she tries not to show that she knows.
Q. Finally, if you could sit down in Gemma’s shop for an hour, would you rather talk books with her or quietly observe the customers?
A. I’d love to talk books with her. Wouldn’t that be fun?
We could have a cup of tea and some baking from Mrs. Hudson’s Tearoom.
Thank You Vicki Delany!
My thanks again to Vicki Delany for taking the time to answer these questions with such kindness and insight.
It’s always a pleasure to hear how a seasoned writer approaches her craft, especially when that craft has produced more than fifty books and counting.
The Devil in the Details is another strong outing for Gemma Doyle and the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, and it’s reassuring to know there is still plenty more life left in this world.
If this book is anything to go by, readers can look forward to many more clever puzzles, seaside secrets, and cups of tea in the shop.
And of course, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mysteries are only one part of Vicki’s cozy output. Readers can also explore her Tea by the Sea series, the Year-Round Christmas Mystery Series, the Catskill Summer Resort Mystery Series, and the much-loved Lighthouse Library Series written under the name Eva Gates.
Plenty to keep us busy while we wait for Gemma’s next case!
