Winner of the Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Mystery
A selection in Parade’s roundup of “25 Hottest Books of Summer 2018”
A Paste Magazine’s Most Anticipated 25 books of 2018 pick
A Medium’s Books pick for We Can’t Wait to Read in 2018 list
Set in a near future Washington, D.C., a clever, incisive, and fresh feminist twist on a classic literary icon—Sherlock Holmes—in which Dr. Janet … future Washington, D.C., a clever, incisive, and fresh feminist twist on a classic literary icon—Sherlock Holmes—in which Dr. Janet Watson and covert agent Sara Holmes will use espionage, advanced technology, and the power of deduction to unmask a murderer targeting Civil War veterans.
Dr. Janet Watson knows firsthand the horrifying cost of a divided nation. While treating broken soldiers on the battlefields of the New Civil War, a sniper’s bullet shattered her arm and ended her career. Honorably discharged and struggling with the semi-functional mechanical arm that replaced the limb she lost, she returns to the nation’s capital, a bleak, edgy city in the throes of a fraught presidential election. Homeless and jobless, Watson is uncertain of the future when she meets another black and queer woman, Sara Holmes, a mysterious yet playfully challenging covert agent who offers the doctor a place to stay.
Watson’s readjustment to civilian life is complicated by the infuriating antics of her strange new roommate. But the tensions between them dissolve when Watson discovers that soldiers from the New Civil War have begun dying one by one—and that the deaths may be the tip of something far more dangerous, involving the pharmaceutical industry and even the looming election. Joining forces, Watson and Holmes embark on a thrilling investigation to solve the mystery—and secure justice for these fallen soldiers.
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I don’t want to say too much, for fear of spoiling, so just know A Study in Honor is immersive, compelling, and not a littler unnerving in its prospective future. It also features engaging, intriguing characters, and I can’t wait for the next outing of this newest iteration of Holmes and Watson.
A gritty, fast-paced investigation with a memorable and compelling duo of main characters. I can’t wait to see what Janet and Sara get up to next.
I really enjoyed this two book series. The characters are intriguing and strong women.
Plausible storytelling but Holmes was too omnipotent, and Watson was too insecure to be likable. There are too many unresolved plot lines and no real closure in those plot lines which were resolved
If you like Sherlock Holmes pastiches and AUs, try this book. It’s got gender-swapped Watson & Holmes in a near-future SF setting, and Holmes is SO VERY Holmes. Brilliant, maddening, secretive, & apparently needing a Watson for reasons never quite voiced. It’s great.
I really wanted to like this more than I did. It’s a near-future retelling of Sherlock Holmes with two black women as protagonists. However, I felt this was missing many of the elements of the original stories. There is a lot time at the beginning only with Watson, detailing her re-integration into society from a traumatic discharge from the military. The story largely focuses on her, to the exclusion of Holmes. The whole point of Sherlock Holmes was that the two were a pair and worked very closely together. It was only near the end that I started recognizing elements of A Study in Scarlet.
This is well written, and would be a great near-future, dystopian thriller on its own, but my expectations were heavily weighted by the connection to Holmes and the title. Aside from the character names, it just doesn’t have enough of the team of Sherlock and Watson for me.
A very new and novel twist on the Holmes-Watson stories.
Fascinating, with an imaginative twist on the Sherlock Holmes myth, and totally , grittily real depiction of life after war for a disabled black female vet. Can’t wait for the next one.
Looking forward to more in this series! Thought provoking, I found it informative from a political viewpoint, which often differed from mine in a profound way.
All set-up and very slow going; premise is interesting, but dwells to much in background at the expense of plot.
A very interesting Sherlock Holmes homage, with a futuristic dystopian twist.
near future detective story set in a racially motivated civil war. people coming to grips with loss and death.
A Study in Honor is a fast-moving, diverse science-fictional Holmes and Watson reinterpretation set in near future Washington DC. As a deliciously intersectional makeover of a famous literary duo it’s enormously satisfying. Clean, clear, and vastly enjoyable.
An entertaining and empathetic dystopian procedural that navigates the capital of an America at war with itself, tracking the path to recovery from personal and national trauma.
A twenty years from now take on Sherlock Holmes and Watson, I bought the book because I like Doyle’s mythos, but I’d have enjoyed it even with the characters serial numbers filed all the way off. I look forward to more from the author.
Fabulous debut that upends the Holmes/Watson canon with an exciting near future tale of two women brought together by a mystery. Can’t wait for the next story!