Bingo: Adapt (adapted into a Netflix movie, and Enola also has to adapt to dramatically changing circumstances)
For some reason, I tend to start new books with the assumption that they won’t be anything special. This feels pessimistic but on the other hand, maybe it saves me from disappointment when a book actually isn’t special, and it gives me a pleasant surprise when a book is good.
I didn’t expect to like The Case of the Missing Marquess, just because I’m not really a huge fan of the genre of books that riff off an existing story rather than just create something new. But this was actually a very charming and quite engaging book, and a quick read to boot.
Enola Holmes is the younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft, but she never sees them. She lives with her mother on the family estate, but on her 14th birthday, her mother goes missing. Mycroft and Sherlock swoop in to save the day but when no trace of their mother can be found, Mycroft decides that Enola must be sent to a girls’ school to get a proper education. Enola wants no part of this, so runs away to London in disguise to see if she can find her mother herself. Along the way, she gets caught up in the case of a local marquess who’s disappeared.
It really is a charming little story, and also pretty funny. The characters are engaging and the mystery is interesting. It was a little reminiscent of Flavia de Luce, as well as the old Wolves of Willoughby Chase books which I loved as a kid. I may or may not ever bother to watch the movie, but I think I will keep reading the series.
