This was one of the few series that I have started and didn’t care for but actually decided to go back and give another chance to because everything about this book series promised to be right up my alley! I was so glad that I decided to give it another go because I have fallen in love with the characters (especially Lord Ingram) and I have loved all the books so far!
Obviously when this one came up, I couldn’t WAIT to see what some of my favorite characters had been up to since the last book plus things are really heating up when it comes to the Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty rivalry. If you have not read this series yet, I highly recommend going back and reading the other books first. This series builds on a lot of back stories and inter personal relationships so if you don’t have that context then it makes it more difficult to appreciate the larger narrative.
This book was a great weekend read and I enjoyed this one, though perhaps not as much as some of the others in the series but it was still what I would consider a solid read and I am really looking forward to the next book in the series as this one left things on a high note and I am eager to see what happens next.
Summary
Charlotte Holmes comes face to face with her enemy when Moriarty turns to her in his hour of need, in the USA Today bestselling series set in Victorian England.
A most unexpected client shows up at Charlotte Holmes’s doorstep: Moriarty himself. Moriarty fears that tragedy has befallen his daughter and wants Charlotte to find out the truth.
Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to a remote community of occult practitioners where Moriarty’s daughter was last seen, a place full of lies and liars. Meanwhile, Charlotte’s sister Livia tries to make sense of a mysterious message from her beau Mr. Marbleton. And Charlotte’s longtime friend and ally Lord Ingram at last turns his seductive prowess on Charlotte–or is it the other way around?
But the more secrets Charlotte unravels about Miss Moriarty’s disappearance, the more she wonders why Moriarty has entrusted this delicate matter to her of all people. Is it merely to test Charlotte’s skills as an investigator, or has the man of shadows trapped her in a nest of vipers? (summary from Goodreads)
Review
This book for me was the bridge book. The best way for me to describe this book is to use another literary analogy. This book felt like the Order of the Phoenix book of the series. The earlier books felt more like introduction to characters and established the relationships and Sherlock/Charlotte Holmes as the superior detective but then things take a darker more serious turn as the one true villain emerges and threatens to topple everything Holmes and her friends have created for themselves. It was a good bridge installment and one that was necessary but for me it felt like there was a lot going on but also nothing actually happening if that makes sense. There wasn’t really a murder to investigate and Holmes and Lord Ingram’s relationship seemed to stall when it was really picking up in previous books. Livia and Mr Marbleton are also in a weird place along with all the other characters in the series when it ends.
Things definitely felt unfinished by the end of this one and but that’s to be expected as clearly the next book in the series will answer a number of questions lingering in this one. But for me this one felt less action packed and more like setting the stage for something bigger to come similar to the Order of the Phoenix book in the Harry Potter series. It wasn’t bad by any means and in many ways I expected that this one would be a little less action packed than the other books in the series just based on the fact that Moriarty is the ultimate Holmes villain and as such requires more than just a single book to set up and resolve their plotline.
While this book might have felt a little less action packed than some of the previous books and even if I was hoping for more progress with Lord Ingram, overall I felt like it was a satisfying read and left me wanting more Holmes and more books which obviously is the intent! I am so excited to see how things unfold in the forthcoming books based on how this one ended. If you are a fan of this series this is no doubt you’re going to grab this one and devour it as I did, if you are new to the series, go back and read the other books and you will appreciate this one so much more!
Book Info and Rating
Format: 368 pages, paperback
Expected publication: November 2nd 2021 by Berkley Books
ISBN: 9780593200582
Free review copy provided by publisher, Berkley Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.
Rating: 4 stars
Genre: historical fiction, mystery, detective novel
The Lit Bitch 