Stevie‘s review of The Hollow of Fear (Lady Sherlock, Book 3) by Sherry Thomas
Historical Mystery published by Berkley 02 Oct 18
I love the premise of the Lady Sherlock series: a young woman contrives to make herself unwelcome in Society, then sets up as a consulting detective – ostensibly the go-between for Sherlock Holmes, a great mind too weakened by illness to meet his clients in person – aided by the redoubtable Mrs. Watson, a former actress. Their cases range from the mundane to the high stakes world of international espionage, and it’s the latter that repeatedly brings her into contact with the dastardly Moriarty, generally via her great friend, Lord Ingram, his brother, and Ingram’s estranged wife – who is now once again allied to Moriarty. I also very much appreciate the devotion Holmes shows towards her siblings, even though her attempts to take care of them from afar often lead her into trouble.
Devotion to the younger of her unmarried sisters leads Charlotte to spend her summer – with Mrs. Watson, of course – in a rented cottage close to the estate of a cousin by whom her sister is invited annually to a house party. The fact that this location is also close to the summer residence of Lord Ingram doesn’t pass unnoticed and the pair arrange to visit the grounds of his house as casual tourists, hoping not to run into him or anyone else Charlotte knows, in the process. Their prior knowledge of the gardens and its buildings comes in handy when, not long after, domestic issues force the house party to decamp to Lord Ingram’s home and, in the course of the upheaval, a body is found in the ice house and identified as that of Lady Ingram.
Lord Ingram is the obvious suspect, although Charlotte suspects Moriarty’s involvement. Soon, Inspector Treadles has been summoned from Scotland Yard, and Charlotte decides to investigate, disguised as Sherlock Holmes’ brother, Sherrinford. This mystery is not the only one she’s investigating. She’s also been hired to find a missing woman, and then there’s the puzzles of where Lord Ingram’s children have gone for the summer, and who has been stealing food from Lord Ingram’s kitchens. All those mysteries turn out to be linked one way or another; however, a separate mystery, chiefly of concern to Charlotte’s sister, regarding the whereabouts of the third unmarried, and unmarriageable, sister turns out to have a much less sinister solution than she at first feared.
As always, it was a delight to watch the unravelling of the various puzzles and spotting the connections between them, as well as those leading back to Charlotte, aka Sherlock, aka Sherrinford, Holmes. While the future is not entirely certain for any of the three Holmes girls at this point, there is hope that all of them will get a happy ending eventually and that at least one of the two with a love interest will resolve the issues keeping them apart eventually. My one gripe was the conceit whereby we learned late in the story exactly what had been planned by our heroes sometime earlier in the proceedings, leading to some assumptions that were handed to us being turned completely around. That aside, I’m definitely looking forward to Holmes’ next case.
Grade: B
Summary:
Under the cover of “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective,” Charlotte Holmes puts her extraordinary powers of deduction to good use. Aided by the capable Mrs. Watson, Charlotte draws those in need to her and makes it her business to know what other people don’t.
Moriarty’s shadow looms large. First, Charlotte’s half brother disappears. Then, Lady Ingram, the estranged wife of Charlotte’s close friend Lord Ingram, turns up dead on his estate. And all signs point to Lord Ingram as the murderer.
With Scotland Yard closing in, Charlotte goes under disguise to seek out the truth. But uncovering the truth could mean getting too close to Lord Ingram–and a number of malevolent forces…
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
