The Bookshop Detectives: Dead girl gone by Gareth Ward and Louise Ward

Drop the ‘e’ out of Gareth and add it to Louise (the authors’ first names) and you have the two lead characters Garth and Eloise, former UK coppers, now bookshop owners turned detectives. The Bookshop Detectives is a collaboration between the husband and wife authors, each taking a turn to write a chapter, drawing on their experience running a bookshop in little Havelock North, New Zealand.

It’s a fun story with a bunch of quirky characters and a twisty plot. A mysterious package delivered to the Sherlock Tomes bookshop ignites Garth’s and Eloise’s detective instincts, and the two find themselves drawn into investigating a decades-old missing schoolgirl case. It soon becomes apparent that other individuals are keen to leave the case unresolved and forgotten.

A challenge for the two bookshop owners is the surprising request to host a fabulously renowned author’s book launch in their little shop, and each chapter is a countdown to the eventful day; at the same time as their attention keeps being distracted by new clues in their investigation. And it really is a puzzle, little pieces gradually added to the picture, never sure just where they fit or what they mean. The whole book has a light-hearted and playful tone, which will keep you guessing until the end.

For book lovers there are lots of little book title and author references, which will make you smile; it’s just so much fun recognising them. And the humour is very comedic, easy to imagine as quirky television series. This book will most definitely have a captivated readership waiting for a follow-up, because it just has to be the beginning of a cosy detective series.

Themes: Bookshop, Books and reading, Detectives, Missing person, Humour.

Helen Eddy