In the explosive conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Charlotte Holmes series, Holmes and Watson think they’re finally in the clear after graduating from Sherringford…but danger awaits in the hallowed halls of Oxford.Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson finally have a chance to start over. With all the freedom their pre-college summer program provides and no one on their tail, the only … no one on their tail, the only mystery they need to solve, once and for all, is what they are to each other.
But upon their arrival at Oxford, Charlotte is immediately drawn into a new case: a series of accidents befell the theater program at Oxford last year, culminating in a young woman going missing on the night of a major performance.
The mystery has gone unsolved; the case is cold. And no one—least of all the girl’s peculiar, close-knit group of friends—is talking.
When Watson and Holmes join the theater program, the “accidents” start anew, giving them no choice but to throw themselves into the case. But as the complicated lines of friendship, love, and loyalty blur, time is running out—and tragedy waits in the wings.
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I started this series unsure if I wanted to continue and I’m finishing it wishing there were 6 more books just focused on Holmes and Watson solving cases in their adult lives. I need more. I have become completely obsessed with Charlotte and Jamie and it has ruined me for other books (for the next ten minutes at least).
The third book was the best in the series, most definitely, but this was a perfect ending piece. It wasn’t a necessary piece, you could have ended with The Case for Jamie quite easily, but this was like a little cherry on top. I loved that it was told from Charlotte’s point of view, especially comparing her point of view in earlier novels to this one. I loved getting to see them work on a case that wasn’t actually incredibly dangerous, where they were really coming into their own as adults and detectives. They were witty and perfectly paired, Jamie always watching Charlotte while Charlotte watched the world. Charlotte’s history with trauma and abuse wasn’t swept under the rug, and I felt for her so deeply. Jamie’s awareness of her every move and supporting her was everything.
I was a little disappointed by the conclusion of the mystery, but it also was perfect. I wanted there to be more to it, to have it as a part of the overarching villain story, but when it wasn’t I realized that was the point. The story wasn’t to add to the Moriarty-Holmes-Watson drama, it was to share how Charlotte chose her own path forward. By the end, I was crying with happiness over her choices, because it was true to her and I was so proud of the character. Ridiculous, but there it is!
I didn’t expect August to come back. Honestly, it threw me for a loop. But his death always bothered me, it always felt strange how it could have happened at all, so this made a strange amount of sense. I was happy to see it, but maybe could have done without it.
So! A perfect cherry on the sundae that has been this series!
PS I really love cherries, can we get 6 more of these? I just need Charlotte and Jamie dialogue-ing through 6 more cases before I’ve had enough!
Strangely, this did not feel like a finale. Reading book 3, it had all the pieces of a dramatic, wild, heart-stopping finale: the wicked villain, the death-threats and danger, the narrow escapes, the moment of romantic redemption. I couldn’t understand how there could possibly be a book 4 – how could you top it? – and maybe that’s why I didn’t fall quite as head over heels for A Question of Holmes as I did with the rest of the series. I kept waiting for something Big to happen, and for 75% of the book, I thought for sure I would get the dramatic reveal and the final, Reichenbach-Falls-style ending I wanted so badly. But oddly, this book sort of just fizzled out. This might not be a popular opinion, but I hated the ending. It didn’t feel right for all the ways these characters had changed and evolved over the course of the series. It didn’t feel true to the canon or to this iteration of Holmes and Watson. There are loose ends that never got tied up, moments I just didn’t believe, and in the end, I found myself hoping that maybe there is just room being left for another series installment, and that this isn’t a finale after all, but rather intermission.
For the first time, the reader getting the story from Charlotte’s POV! The shock and awe that is so characteristic of SH detective stories is alive and well. And since I have gotten so used to Moriarty Mayhem, I was entirely wrong about what happened to Matilda! But I totally called that her Dad was a scum-ball! The ending on this one is so not what I was expecting, but it feels like Brittany Cavallaro is LEAVING HERSELF ROOM TO WRITE MORE BOOKS!! I feel like a junkie demanding more of her fix, but there you have it! Another winner!