Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are busy managing both the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium on Baker Street and the adjoining Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room in anticipation of the upcoming book signing with the illustrious Renalta Van Markoff, the author of the controversial Hudson and Holmes series. However, tragedy strikes during the author Q&A session of the signing when a dedicated Sherlockian verbally attacks the series for disgracing Sherlock's legacy and is then publicly humiliated when the author triumphantly lashes back and gains the upper hand-that is, until she collapses on the table and is pronounced dead. Fortunately, there's no shortage of suspects-the author's bullied personal assistant, her frustrated publicist, her hapless publisher, a handsome book dealer, an obsessively rabid fan, and a world of Sherlock enthusiasts with strong objections to Renalta's depiction of the Great Detective-so the shrewd sleuthing duo quickly begin to eliminate the impossible and deduce the truth .