By Sherry Thomas
Berkley, 2016. 334 pgs. Mystery
Charlotte Holmes has been cast out, and she couldn’t be happier. She is determined to live life on her own terms, free of her family’s wishes or the expectations of high society. Charlotte hadn’t intended to go as far as becoming a social pariah in the process, but no matter. She will find a ladies home and a means to feed and clothe herself while she builds an investigative reputation as “Sherlock” Holmes. When a string of murders points to both Charlotte’s father and her beloved sister Livia as the culprits, she must reach out to old friends and new allies if she is to bring the true suspect to justice.
I’ve read a few of the plethora of Sherlock retellings published since the success of the BBC miniseries of the same name and found them enjoyable. I am also a fan of Sherry Thomas, so picking up her latest, which is a mystery, was a no-brainer. As always, Thomas’s prose is delightful and even better, she’s brought an original eye to a female retelling of Sherlock Holmes. Charlotte’s powers of deduction are very Sherlockian but instead of being cold socially, she knows the ruling families of high society and how to use her social skills to her advantage. I loved seeing how all the pieces of the Sherlock canon fell together. I can’t wait to read more.
HSG
2 comments:
I loved this book! I like the perspective of Sherlock being a fancy cherubic woman who is brilliant. I loved the complexities of the case that she solved. I especially loved listening to it. The reader was fantastic and it was so engaging.
Besides the great writing and satisfying mystery, Sherry Thomas managed to make familiar characters feel brand-new. This book was no lazy gender-bend, simply swapping in female for male; Thomas got deep into it, resulting in a realistic-feeling narrative with characters who are completely their own, despite their familiarity. What’s more, she took the opportunity to examine how a female “Sherlock” would have to navigate the stuffy Victorian Society, with all its high morals and strict standards of behavior – especially for young women.
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