Writing rivals clash, but when her ex-husband ends up dead and he is a suspect, they must join forces. Widower Mark Watkins and divorcee Sheryl Homes have written successful books featuring the great detective, Sherlock Holmes, and are fans of each other’s work. When the pair finally meet at a mystery conference, they argue and create a scene. However, when Homes’s ex-husband is murdered, they … Homes’s ex-husband is murdered, they are both brought in for questioning and Mark is a suspect. They decide to work together using Holmesian techniques to solve the crime. But, as the body count rises, the writers end up deeper in trouble with no solution in sight. They also discover a mutual attraction and sparks begin to fly.
Can they find the killer and stay out of jail? Is their new found passion for each other real and lasting?
If you enjoy a puzzle with a developing passion mixed with a bit of comedy, you will love this romantic mystery by husband and wife team, Debra Snow and Arjay Lewis.
Get A Study In Murder and fall in love with this mystery today!
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I’ve read so many different incarnations of Sherlock Holmes, from the original to A Study in Honor (which has Holmes and Watson as black lesbians), so, of course, I figured I would give this one a read.
It wasn’t horrible, but there were two major things that I can’t get over enough where I will be reading any more of these in the future.
The first is the romance aspect. I will not be the one saying it is too smutty. I read erotica and “smutty” romance. I will not be the one saying there wasn’t enough, although I don’t think any of the other reviews said that. What I will say is, the romance felt forced. I don’t know if the two authors each took a part of the book to write, and one focused more on the romance. But to me this is what it felt like. The mystery was written well, the romance was awkward.
The other part was, for anyone who has ever done panels at a conference, you know it is hectic. Not only is one of the main characters doing panels, but they both are, and they are doing numerous ones. If this book’s timeline was over the span of a week, the amount of time they spent not at the conference or looking for clues would have made sense. But it was just a weekend, and there was no way there was enough time for them to do this.
Now I know this is completely nit-picky. And for most readers they won’t even notice. But for me it was a huge sticking point.
The mystery itself was good, if a little rushed at the end. There were a decent amount of red herrings. The dialogue was fine. There could have been a bit more character development, but this is the first book in the series, so they have future ones to do this in.
Others seemed to have enjoyed it, so you may too, but it’s just not for me.
I absolutely loved this story involving two rival mystery writers who team up to solve a real life murder. Even though Mark and Sheryl are fans of each other’s work, their relationship gets off to a rocky start at a mystery writer’s conference, but when they both become suspects in a murder at their hotel, they team up to investigate the crime in hopes of clearing their names. During the course of their investigation, a romantic relationship develops between the pair. The main characters are realistic, quirky, funny and smart as they deal with two additional homicides and a large pool of suspects. Highly recommend!
This author is new to me and I am impressed. When Sheryl Homes is invited to a conference she is looking forward to meeting another writer Mark Watkins. But when Mark falls for the wiles of the woman who stole Sheryl’s husband she takes an immediate dislike to him. But when they are accused of her ex-husbands murder it is up to them to find out the truth. Using Sherlock and Holmes methods they start investigating. The heat is on especially with their attraction to each other.
Elementary, my dear reader! If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes, you will love this story. Framed for murder, authors Homes and Watkins must collaborate and use the skills they’ve honed as Sherlock Holmes authors to solve this mystery. A few red herrings kept me guessing as to the actual culprit in this fast paced whodunnit. I very much enjoyed this novel and do hope this continues as a series.