Liza Tully

This series debut was a complete delight.  Lead character Aubrey Merritt, the “Greatest Detective,” is a 60 something lady with a pristine reputation for cracking difficult cases, clearly cast in the Sherlock Holmes mold.  As the book opens, she finds her somewhat hapless Watson in the person of assistant Olivia Blunt, an obsessed low level stalker who had always dreamt of working for Merritt. When she’s hired, she happily jettisons her job and informs her fiancé she’ll be away on a case, only to realize too late it might mean missing his off-Broadway debut.  She hopes very much to be back in time, and he’s completely supportive, though he does fruitlessly beg her throughout the book to please call his mother, who is planning their wedding. read more