Stevie‘s review of Miss Moriarty, I Presume? (Lady Sherlock, Book 6) by Sherry Thomas
Historical Mystery published by Berkley 02 Nov 21
Charlotte Holmes has crossed paths with arch-crimelord Moriarty several times so far, but this time he needs her help. Moriarty’s daughter has joined the Victorian version of a New Age community. His people have been keeping watch over her, but the past few reports have not featured any actual sightings. So Charlotte and her companions are dispatched to Cornwall to infiltrate the castellated walls around a former tourist resort to find out the truth.
All the fun elements of previous stories are here: Charlotte’s love of cakes, fouffy dresses, and home-made novelty hot-water bottle covers; Lord Ingram’s love for Charlotte and his children; the continuing developments in the lives of Charlotte’s two unmarried sisters; Mrs Watson’s sharp business instincts. We also get to see more marvels of Victorian technology, such as the Maxim machine gun and a Stanhope photographic viewer in the shape of a pen. Nor are major historical events neglected, with some clues being closely linked to Queen Victoria’s Jubilee.
Back to the main mystery, Charlotte and company arrive in a sleepy Cornish village and are greeted by new allies, who are ostensibly working for Moriarty, but with a healthy dose of affection for his daughter. Charlotte, Mrs Watson, and Lord Ingram take up residence in the community where Miss Moriarty has been living and encounter a varied collection of eccentrics, all of whom know Miss Moriarty well, although none have seen her recently. Also suspiciously unseen is the man who had been living in a cottage close to Miss Moriarty’s but who has now moved to a remoter cottage and become a hermit.
Charlotte makes various attempts to spot her quarry – as do others from outside the community – but to no avail, even though the community’s founders insist nothing unusual is going on. Meanwhile, there are other mysteries to investigate connected to Charlotte’s half-brother and to the man her sister is in love with, amongst others. These investigations come with more puzzling clues for the sisters to unravel together and separately, and we get to see more of the workings of the everyday lives of well-off Victorian ladies. Nor is Charlotte’s evolving romance with Lord Ingram neglected. She behaves most shamelessly at times, much to his discombobulation, and he does a fair bit to encourage her as well.
I did eventually figure out which Sherlock Holmes story we were riffing off, and it was fun to see how the story interpreted the major themes of that one as well. I’m glad to report that the novel didn’t end on as big a cliffhanger as I feared, but left enough loose ends for the next stories to pick up on easily. I’m certainly looking forward to those.
Grade: A
Summary:
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?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
