The game is afoot as Charlotte Holmes returns in USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas’s Victorian-set Lady Sherlock series. Being shunned by Society gives Charlotte Holmes the time and freedom to put her extraordinary powers of deduction to good use. As “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective,” aided by the capable Mrs. Watson, she’s had great success helping with all manner of inquiries, … all manner of inquiries, but she’s not prepared for the new client who arrives at her Upper Baker Street office.
Lady Ingram, wife of Charlotte’s dear friend and benefactor, wants Sherlock Holmes to find her first love, who failed to show up at their annual rendezvous. Matters of loyalty and discretion aside, the case becomes even more personal for Charlotte as the missing man is none other than Myron Finch, her illegitimate half brother.
In the meanwhile, Charlotte wrestles with a surprising proposal of marriage, a mysterious stranger woos her sister Livia, and an unidentified body surfaces where least expected. Charlotte’s investigative prowess is challenged as never before: Can she find her brother in time—or will he, too, end up as a nameless corpse somewhere in the belly of London?
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The plot was somewhat disconnected but overall an enjoyable read.
Writing style and characters were a bit hard to follow at first but story was worth the effort. I will probably read more of the series.
Second in series that I have read. Clever, clever, clever.
I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes originals and take-offss–this is my favorite. Besides having a female as the smartest one in the room, I love how the character of Holmes has been presented. Some people may not believe that there are people out there like her (I will not give away anything here), but, as one, I know they do. I can so relate with her confusion of people. I also like the clever way the author has brought in the other ‘Sherlock Holmes’ regulars. I think Moriarty should have been more of a abstract here–let the series come to recognze him–rather than having his name thrust into the story with no real context. But, otherwise, very well written and fun to read.
Made an “imposter” Sherlock believable!
I had to wait a long while for this book in audio form. What a great series—Charlotte Holmes and Mrs. Watson are wonderful characters.
“Love, the saboteur of all defenses.” (quote from the book)
Decidedly delicious! Delightfully delectable! Another thrilling, tantalizing and totally tremendous continuation to the debut novel, ‘A Study of Scarlet Women (Lady Sherlock #1)’!!! Highly recommend you start with Lady Sherlock #1 as this book picks up immediately after it.
The writing is so eloquent and elegant, that I could gush for hours on the very three-dimensional characters that have such depth. Their foibles, insecurities and strengths are laid bare so deftly. The close friendship of Charlotte and Lord Ingram simmers off the page.
“And the sensation zipping along all her nerve endings – as if she were taking on solidity and existence for the first time, as if until now she had been an apparition drifting in the shadows, a mere shimmer under the sun.” (quote from the book)
Inspector Treadles is still reeling from the revelations his wife told him in book one. He is having great difficulty processing and handling it. Livia, in the meantime, has her own series of shocks and surprises to deal with…making her more fragile.
The story flows seamlessly as the various cases are unraveled by Charlotte ‘Sherlock’ Holmes and Mrs. Watson, as they assemble and disassemble the various information they glean and are given. The aspect of ciphers in this case was absolutely fascinating. The family secrets revealed and the intrigue around her half brother, Myron Finch, just kept building. And as Charlotte battles her ‘Maximum Tolerable Chins’, she is also given self-defense lessons from the ever capable Mrs. Watson.
I just loved how all of these cases are slowly revealed a little at time and how inexplicably they are all tied, until it all comes together in the end. I never saw the bombshell coming that dropped either. Bravo Ms. Thomas for another brilliant novel! Off to order ‘The Hollow of Fear (Lady Sherlock #3)”
Another decent installment of this interesting series in which Sherlock Holmes is actually a woman. This second book actually felt smoother than the first. The characters seemed less trite and the story flowed a bit better. The explanation for the overall mystery does fall a little flat, but the subplot of Charlotte’s personal life (romantic entanglements and family affairs) was what truly held my interest.
Loved the whole Charlotte Sherlock series.
Another fantastic Lady Sherlock book by author Sherry Thomas. Brilliant language, interesting tale, engrossing. On to the next one.
This was an interesting book. I’m on the fence about how I feel about it. Overall, I enjoyed it, but there are a few things that niggled at me. One thing is completely my fault — I didn’t realize this was book two in a series. I HIGHLY recommend you start with book one, as it was a bit confusing in places (though I was able to follow along, so props to the author for helping a girl out).
I haven’t read the original Sherlock Holmes but, knowing the time period in which it was written, I assume it was written in omniscient (as was popular then). This book follows that style, but there were a couple of times when I was confused by who was speaking so I had to go back. Overall, though, it worked.
There were a couple of instances when the dialogue/content felt too contemporary, and that pulled me out of the story. I’m not usually a stickler for history, but when two women are casually discussing retiring together to have a lesbian relationship, it jumps out at you — the acceptance of that lifestyle is too modern for characters of that time period to be so open and willing to talk about it. That really pulled me out of the story.
The only other thing that slowed it down for me was all of the explanation. Personally, I didn’t need to see all of the codes and know the details about how to lay them out and solve them. Once would have been enough; it seemed like there were several sections that took the time to explain the whole process. I would have preferred to just see what happened.
Overall, though, it was a fun book. I’m not sure that I’ll read the others in the series, but this was a fun way to kill some time.
This novel would probably benefit from a reader willing to take copious notes to
keep everything straight. If you love to work out puzzles and codes, you can do that
too. For me, it’s more a matter of enjoying the characters and the world.
I lapse off into incoherence when I try to talk about why I love this series so much.
You should just read it.
You won’t regret it, I promise!
I was not expecting to like this series, but was pleasantly surprised. The first one, A Study in Scarlet Women, was hard for me to follow at the beginning. I had to reread the first forty pages. Then I could follow who was who and why. I am anxiously waiting for the next in the series.
I love this series. It surpasses all expectations.
Really enjoyed this second book in the Lady Sherlock series. I especially liked the addition of Penelope Redmayne, Mrs. Watson’s niece. Livia and her mysterious admirer is also an element that I am really looking forward to in the next book!
Another clever twist on the Sherlock Holmes story line.
Following up on book one, the characterizations continue to work well and engage the reader.
This is an intriguingly atypical woman of her time with similarly unusual friends and acquaintances.
I found it delightful to see how her mind works. This was particularly entertaining when she is dealing with Lord Bancroft!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book (via Audible). I give the first book, Study in Scarlet Women, a very firm 5/5 stars. This 4/5 only because it was so firmly dependent on the first book and could not stand alone. I enjoyed it, but it ended abruptly and, though I love that I didn’t see the conclusion coming, it felt like it was missing something. While I didn’t expect the BIG MYSTERY to be solved, the cases in this book and the way they impacted the key characters left me waiting for the rest of it.
I will absolutely read the next book. I love the whole premise and how the author writes Charlotte Holmes’s thought process.
I’m a teacher who works daily with students within the autism spectrum and my nephew is more like a Bernadine than Charlotte, so it is all very real to me and I respect the honesty and many facets of the author’s portrayal in this series.