Stevie‘s review of A Tempest at Sea (Lady Sherlock, Book 7) by Sherry Thomas
Historical Mystery published by Berkley 14 Mar 23
Having faked her own death to avoid the murderous attention of her arch-enemy Moriarty, Charlotte Holmes needs to keep a low profile. However, a new case is hard to resist, particularly one involving matters of national security and documents hidden in plain sight. Her investigation leads her and Mrs Watson, both heavily disguised, to embark on a cruise to the Mediterranean, on board a ship whose passengers include various members of Charlotte’s estranged family, as well as her lover, Ash, Lord Ingram Ashburton. Even less welcome than Charlotte’s mother (a last-minute addition to the passenger list) are Roger Shrewsbury and his wife, the pair responsible for Charlotte’s original expulsion from polite society.
Even before the ship leaves England, Shrewsbury is causing trouble amongst the passengers, claiming that the sister of a newly wealthy man had previously indulged in most unbecoming behaviours. Then, while Charlotte and Ash are creeping about the ship, using a raging storm as cover for their retrieval of the missing documents, the man is killed and Shrewsbury is one of the main suspects, as is Charlotte’s mother. Even more unfortunately for our heroes, the one person from amongst the passengers who is authorised to investigate the crime is a police officer they believe to be in league with Moriarty. Ash finds himself in the middle of the new investigation, taking notes for the seasick detective, while Charlotte and Mrs Watson have to be ever more vigilant in their assumed personas and not allow their disguises to slip for a minute.
The new case turns out to be overpopulated with red herrings, some of which seem to implicate Charlotte’s mother, if not in the murder then certainly in harbouring vindictive feelings towards the dead man, which all leaves Charlotte and her allies treading a difficult path between keeping those close to them safe from wrongful accusations and keeping Charlotte’s true identity carefully hidden from all of Moriarty’s associates.
I really enjoyed this book. It brought the full shipboard experience to life and made every member of the extensive cast into a recognisable individual. The solution to the larger mystery came as a surprise initially, but once I knew who the culprit was, the way that the clues had led up to the big reveal became obvious. The way all the characters have developed and gained further depth throughout the series is a delight, and I’m still anticipating more of that from future books, along with ever more enticingly twisty mysteries that riff superbly off the original Sherlock Holmes novels.
Grade: A
Summary:
Charlotte Holmes’s life is in peril when her brilliant deductive skills are put to the test in her most dangerous investigation yet, locked aboard a ship at sea.
After feigning her own death in Cornwall to escape from Moriarty’s perilous attention, Charlotte Holmes goes into hiding. But then she receives a tempting offer: Find a dossier the crown is desperately seeking, and she might be able to go back to a normal life.
Her search leads her aboard the RMS Provence. But on the night Charlotte makes her move to retrieve the dossier, in the midst of a terrifying storm in the Bay of Biscay, a brutal murder takes place on the ship.
Instead of solving the crime, as she is accustomed to doing, Charlotte must take care not to be embroiled in this investigation, lest it become known to those who harbor ill intentions that Sherlock Holmes is abroad and still very much alive.
Read an excerpt.
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