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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
What a delightful book. I’m a Sherlock fan anyway, in all its permutations, but this version is super cool. Lady Sherlock! Huzzah!
I really enjoyed this, I'll probably try to re-read in paper back to help clear up some bits I lost track of when there was a lot of names being thrown around.
Sherlock Holmes has obviously adapted hundreds of times over, but I still found something new in this gender-switched version set in the original Holmes' times. The mystery plot is excellent (and actually really caught me by surprise in its conclusion) but most compelling are the characters, which are all interesting and flawed. I particularly loved that Charlotte is ultra-feminine and the book therefore avoids the reductive idea that a smart woman cannot be interested in her looks. Also, Mrs. Watson is a total delight and a really really smart take on the character. Sherry Thomas does an excellent job writing about the trappings a female detective in the Victorian age would encounter without making this the entire plot of the book and you can also tell she's an experienced romance writer because the threads of the romance between Charlotte and Lord Ingram are excellent, but here allow for a lot more muddiness than a romance-novel setting would, given that he is married and Charlotte sleeps with one of his friends to start the novel with the express purpose of getting rid of her virginity to make her ineligible for marriage, which she has no interest in (btw this is ploy is ultra-Holmesian in is outrageousness). Overall, very enjoyable and I am looking forward to the next one.
At its core, this book had a good story to tell. Female Sherlock Holmes navigates the same time period as a woman- that’s interesting. But the writing was all over the place, the mystery hard to follow, the beginning way too long and the characters unsympathetic (and confusing, I frequently forgot who was who and they all acted out of character occasionally). With a couple more rounds of very heavy editing, this book could have been something, and I think that’s what frustrates me the most - unseen potential.
Exactly what Megan and Joanie promoted, and exactly what I didn’t even know I wanted right now: such a cozy mystery! Very clever and fun ties to the OG Study in Scarlet which I read a while back (even a Utah shoutout!), and I’m already very attached to these characters. Can’t wait to keep going with the series!
Yes to all of this. Such a clever and fresh take on the Sherlock Holmes story. I've read the original Holmes story this is based on a few times yet the mystery still felt new. Can't wait to dig into the next one tomorrow.
DNF @ 200 pages.
I just can't keep going. I don't even want to pick this up when I have time to. Not meshing with the writing style or story.
I just can't keep going. I don't even want to pick this up when I have time to. Not meshing with the writing style or story.
Such an amazing first book to this series! What if Sherlock Holmes was actually a woman?! No more to say... you gotta read it if you enjoy British historical fiction/mystery.
2.5 stars
I have very mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed some aspects. I liked the characters and loved seeing a female Holmes character. I enjoyed the relationships between the various women. Yet, I think this missed the mark in a lot of ways too. There were parts that seemed to be trying too hard to be clever and came off convoluted instead. The author replaced Holmes's drug addiction with a food addiction, which I did not love. I'm also didn't like that Watson is actually a combination of three different characters in this novel. The romance is kind of eye-roll worthy.
The mystery itself was fine but nothing special or mind blowing.
Despite my complaints it was a fun, easy read and functioned as the palate cleanser I needed. I'll probably give the second book a try to see if some of the kinks get ironed out.
I have very mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed some aspects. I liked the characters and loved seeing a female Holmes character. I enjoyed the relationships between the various women. Yet, I think this missed the mark in a lot of ways too. There were parts that seemed to be trying too hard to be clever and came off convoluted instead. The author replaced Holmes's drug addiction with a food addiction, which I did not love. I'm also didn't like that Watson is actually a combination of three different characters in this novel. The romance is kind of eye-roll worthy.
The mystery itself was fine but nothing special or mind blowing.
Despite my complaints it was a fun, easy read and functioned as the palate cleanser I needed. I'll probably give the second book a try to see if some of the kinks get ironed out.
Clever and enjoyable! A bit clunky/hard to keep all the characters and their connections straight sometimes, but good solid mystery, and I like the reimagining of Sherlock Holmes as a woman and am looking forward to continuing the series