By Ruby, sales clerk at Sherlock Holmes Bookshop from Elementary She Read by Vicki Delany
I suppose, if I have to work for a living there are worse places. West London is a pleasant little town on Cape Cod, lively enough in the summer, but I hate to think what a backwater it must be in winter.
Still, I hope to be on my way come winter.
Still, I hope to be on my way come winter.
The Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium is sorta interesting. I learned a lot about The Great Detective from my dad, who was an absolute fanatic, so I could pretend to be interested at my job interview.
Who would have thought you could stock an entire store with nothing but All Sherlock, All the Time.
Not only the original books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but non-fiction about his life and times, new pastiche novels and short story collections, and all the stuff that goes with it. Playing cards, tea-sets, action figures, games, puzzles, cardboard cut-outs, DVDs. The list is endless. There’s even a fake-marble bust of some old time actor playing Holmes. Plus a whole shelf of what the store calls Gaslight, meaning books set in the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras.
The job’s okay. Not too difficult, pleasant enough customers by and large. And I get a staff discount at Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room next door.
So, not too difficult. Except for her. The boss, Gemma Doyle. Not that she’s mean or anything. She’s nice enough. She just seems to have this way of knowing things. I mean, she keeps track of the entire inventory of the shop in her mind.
Like this:
“I’m going to have to reorder The Beekeeper’s Apprentice,” I said to Ruby. “I see you had a rush on it. As well as four of the boxed sets of the complete canon. And that hideous Robert Downey Jr. puzzle moved at long last. Nice to see the Jeremy Brett poster was sold, and three sets of playing cards and two of that Scotland Yard game.” The game didn’t actually have anything to do with Sherlock, but we pretended it did.
“The puzzle didn’t sell,” Ruby said. “I put the mugs on top of it.”
I was horrified. “How many times have I told you, don’t do that. How am I supposed to keep inventory if things are always moving around?”
“Most people these days keep their inventory on the computer,” Ruby said.
“The computer is a functioning backup,” I admitted.
Elementary, She Read, by Vicki Delany
I swear, sometimes I think she’s reading my mind.
And that will never do.
Meet Gemma Doyle, Jayne Wilson, and all the gang in the new Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series by Vicki Delany. The first book in the series, Elementary She Read, will be released on March 14 by Crooked Lane Books.
To get you in the mood for a visit to Cape Cod, Vicki is offering a prize pack consisting of a New England cookbook, a magnet showing Moriarty, the shop cat, at the beach, and an Elementary She Read Fridge Magnet. Leave a comment to enter! US and Canada entries. Contest closes, February 20.
Posts
Sherlock Holmes in one of my favorite characters. I shall have to explore these.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at gmail dot com
ooh i would love to read this. great goodies! [email protected]
ReplyDeleteThanks for the opportunity. Can't wait for March 14th. amysue511 (at)gmail (dot)com
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading this new series. [email protected]
ReplyDeleteAnother great book from Vicki can't wait to read it. Thanks.
ReplyDelete[email protected]
Sounds great!!
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Thank you for the chance to win...Always looking for clam chowder variations and love the magnets too. [email protected]
ReplyDeleteYum, Clam chowder.
DeleteThe book sounds good.
ReplyDeletesgiden at verizon(.)net
Vicki's novels are always captivating and special. Thanks. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDelete:)
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