The prologue (love a good prologue!) sets a backstory for the mystery to come – the mystery part a foregone conclusion with a book titled A Baker Street Wedding. Gangly tall Laura Penobscott, with braces to correct the gap in her front teeth and nicknamed Scarecrow, makes a point of dancing with the most embarrassing boy in her class at the Winter Holiday Dance.
Skipping twenty years, author Michael Robertson begins with a death of a young woman on the moor and a wedding characterized by a flight to an undisclosed location to avoid the paparazzi. Discovered by the reporters in spite of all precautions, the couple escapes with a flight on a hidden plane piloted by the bride, none other than Laura Penobscott. Now known by her stage name of Laura Rankin, she flies to a honeymoon in a remote village where she spent a couple of her school years. Her new husband Reggie Heath is bewildered about why she has chosen this location and uneasy about her volunteering to star in the local play at the request of her old theatre teacher.
The mystery lives up to its connection to Baker Street and those who answer letters still arriving there for Sherlock Holmes, has a bit of Agatha Christie quirkiness, and ends on an O. Henry kind of note. Bits from the prologue pop up like chocolate chips in a cookie. I had not read the others in this series of Baker Street mysteries, but had no problem following the plot since it stands alone though I may go back for the rest now that I’ve had a sample. Fans of Sherlock, Agatha, or O. will enjoy this good read.