Book #262 of 2020: A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro (Charlotte Holmes #1) I like how this Arthur Conan Doyle modernization isn’t a straight retelling of one of the classic stories, but instead a YA ‘next generation’ approach of the teenage descendants of Holmes and Watson teaming up at boarding school to see if …
Continue reading “Book Review: A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro”
Book #155 of 2019: The Final Solution by Michael Chabon This novella offers a sparse but effective character study of an aging detective, unnamed yet clearly intended to be read as Sherlock Holmes. Feeling adrift in the new century, he comes out of retirement to help a young Jewish refugee from Hitler’s Germany — hence …
Continue reading “Book Review: The Final Solution by Michael Chabon”
Book #29 of 2019: The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas (Lady Sherlock #3) With this third novel playing out along similar lines to its shaky predecessors, I think I’ve reached the end of my patience with the Lady Sherlock series. There are some strong character elements that I like in its genderbent version of …
Continue reading “Book Review: The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas”
Book #203 of 2018: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King (Mary Russell #1) This tale of a Jewish teenager being trained as a detective by a retired Sherlock Holmes in the early twentieth century is a lovely bildungsroman and portrait of a budding partnership. Mary Russell is a great character in her own right, …
Continue reading “Book Review: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King”
Book #93 of 2018: A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas (Lady Sherlock #2) Although I really like the character of Charlotte Holmes, she’s yet to have a truly engaging novel built around her. This second adventure at least centers the clever detective more than the first, but it relies far too heavily on coincidence …
Continue reading “Book Review: A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas”
Book #53 of 2018: A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas (Lady Sherlock #1) I cannot over-emphasize how much I love Charlotte Holmes, author Sherry Thomas’s take on the famous consulting detective. She’s every bit as genius as the original figure, and Thomas writes insightfully about the restrictive Victorian gender roles that would stifle …
Continue reading “Book Review: A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas”
The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more