Showing posts with label Sherry Thomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sherry Thomas. Show all posts

Monday, September 11, 2023

A Tempest at Sea Lady Sherlock by Sherry Thomas

Charlotte Holmes is dead. At least that's where she was presumed to be at the end of the last book. Now, she has the chance to come back under the protection of Lord Remington (not a fail safe but no small measure) if she can help him find a missing dossier. It has been some time but she has hopes that she will be able to get some information from a governess, Frau Schmidt, who will be sailing on the Provence. Coincidentally, Charlotte's sister Livia will be on board as will Charlotte's lover, Lord Ingram and his two children. Also boarding the ship are an old adversary of Charlotte's, Inspector Brighton, and the man who made such a massive failure of Charlotte's attempt to ruin herself, Roger Shrewsbury. 
Shrewsbury once again marks himself inept as he makes an unpleasant remark about a young woman boarding the boat with her brother. Her brother, a wealthy man, takes exception to the remark and punches Shrewsbury. So the trip is off to an interesting start. It gets more interesting when the brother is murdered and Inspector Brighton is asked to look into the mystery. Is he actually solving the crime or is he trying to suss out more information about Holmes?
The mystery is not exactly linear as beats of the story are interspersed with more information about what actually happened the night of the crime. I think regular readers will enjoy the story but there is a lot of information that gets tacked on, especially at the end, that has no bearing on this story.

Lady Sherlock #7
Four stars
This book came out March 14, 2023
Followed by A Ruse of Shadows
Borrowed as ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Monday, November 1, 2021

Miss Moriarty, I Presume? by Sherry Thomas

When Moriarty shows up on Charlotte Holmes's doorstep, she is immediately ready to put into place the safeguards she's put up and she gets ready to run. But Moriarty shocks her - he wants Holmes to find his daughter. They were not close but he still worries when he hasn't heard from her in a long while. 
Living as Miss Baxter, the daughter has good reasons not to contact her father. But is she safe behind the walls of the Garden of Hermopolis? Or is it a cult that has sucked her in and will not allow her to leave? And why, when Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to the remote locale, is everyone loathe to talk to Miss Baxter? Or even let them see her?
I enjoyed having the third person view focused on Mrs. Watson. It is definitely a throwback to the Doyle stories and made the story interesting, even if we had a narrator who might not be observing everything and decoding it like Charlotte did. 

Four stars
Followed by A Tempest at Sea
This book comes out November 2nd, 2021
ARC kindly provided by Berkley and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Monday, October 12, 2020

Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas

Thomas has crafted another amazing mystery that not only fits together tightly but advances our understanding of the series characters and the overarching tension of the series itself. This time, much of the focus is on Inspector Treadles: a man who is rigid in his beliefs, both for how
he himself behaves and how he believes others should behave. But now he's in a bind, suspected of killing two men. He refuses to talk about the fact that he was found in the house with the two men. Nor will he discuss what he has been doing so secretively the past two weeks. 
Both Holmes and Lord Ingram are convinced Inspector Treadles is innocent but it will be a race to the finish to make others believe it as well. Especially with Inspector Brighton, specifically brought in to investigate the case, seems so determined to use it to make a name for himself.

Four stars
Followed by Miss Moriarty, I Presume?
This book came out October 6th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

The Art of Theft (Lady Sherlock, #4)Charlotte Holmes is again solving mysteries, this time her mission is somewhat different though as she works to steal back some letters that are very important to a friend of Mrs. Watson's. The letters are, of course, indelicate and could lead to her losing her place of importance in Indian society. Well, it turns out that the woman is willing to turn down the services of Sherlock Holmes when he doesn't react the way she expects. But Charlotte decides to help the woman anyway. So she, Mrs. Watson, Olivia, Olivia's beau Stephen, and Lord Ingram are all off to a ball where the costumes abound.
As good as the rest of the series, I wouldn't recommend starting here but I would recommend reading all of the books to get to here.

Four stars
Followed by Murder on Cold Street
This book came out October 15th
ARC kindly provided by Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss
Opinions are my own

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas

The Hollow of Fear by Sherry ThomasThomas knocks another Charlotte Holmes story out of the park. I didn't love every beat but it was an entertaining story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Charlotte and Mrs. Watson are at Lord Ingram's country estate. Well, the town just outside it. Charlotte is there hoping to be taken up on her proposition.
Unfortunately, a nearby house part has relocated to Lord Ingram's with two of society's most notorious gossips. And they, along with Charlotte's sister Livia are the ones to discovery Lady Ingram dead in the ice house. Though Treadles is one of the people investigating the case, his boss seems hellbent on making sure Ingram is hanged for the crime.
Another good addition to the series. I wish we had seen a little more of Charlotte's quirks but overall a pleasant read.

Four stars
This book came out September 2
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Thursday, August 31, 2017

A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas

A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry ThomasThe first book in this series introduced the world to Charlotte Holmes, the woman behind the myth of Sherlock Holmes. In this book, her life starts to get more complicated. First, the wife of Charlotte's one-true-love (or at least one of the people she cares most deeply for), comes to Sherlock Holmes for help. She wants to find her childhood crush, a man who supposedly met her every year on the Sunday before his birthday. Never meeting or talking, just a distant nod. This year, he didn't show. And it turns out this man has a mysterious tie to Charlotte.
Charlotte also has to contend with a marriage proposal from a man who courts her with puzzles. She has another mystery of a woman who thinks her father is poisoning her. And she has to figure out how to get back her sisters.
The strength of Thomas in this book is her ability to paint her characters. We get more of the inscrutable Charlotte, seeing that she is not completely unfeeling, just rarely does she feel it deeply enough to express it. We learn more about Inspector Treadles, about how deeply he loves his wife but how much that love may be tested against his notions of how men and women should act. We meet the inspiration for Mycroft: Lord Bancroft, Lord Ingram's brother.
I think I may have rated this book higher except that I was judging it against the first. Three and a half stars is still pretty high.

Follows A Study in Scarlet Women

Friday, October 14, 2016

A Study In Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

There seem to be an abundance of mysteries setting Sherlock homes to have actually been a woman. There's at least one other one where her name is Charlotte. But this series is a little bit different. It's told in alternating third person viewpoints between Charlotte Holmes, her sister Olivia (Livia), and Inspector Treadles.
A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry ThomasCharlotte believes herself to be smarter than everyone else in her family, including the father who holds the money. So when she decides to lose her virginity to a now married, ex-suitor, it's very calculated. What she didn't count on was being discovered by the man's wife. And his mother. Or that his mother would die the next day. Or that her sister would be blamed having gone to the woman's house the night before to confront her. She decides to set off on her own and quickly discovers that it is not going to be as easy as she assumed. The world does not have time for intelligent women. Well, except for one man, her childhood friend Lord Ingram.
Lord Ingram was the one to introduce Inspector Treadles to "Sherlock Holmes," the man who has helped him solve a case or two. So when Holmes points out the connection between the newly deceased mother, another Lady, and a gentleman from the country, Treadles listens.
Luckily, there is one other person who seems to appreciate Charlotte's talents, a former dancer named Mrs. Jebediah. At least, that is the alias she uses. She's really more well-known as Mrs. John Watson.
I really enjoyed the way this story was put together. Mrs. Watson, like the fictional male before her, brings talents to Charlotte that she doesn't otherwise have. Unlike Sherlock (at least usually), Charlotte at least seems to understand her value. Also with their relationship, there was a possibility of a Big Misunderstanding but it was nicely avoided. I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

This book comes out October 18
Four stars
Followed by A Conspiracy in Belgravia