This isn’t my favorite series of all time or anything, but it is so consistent, and I really think that’s a trait we don’t talk about enough in books and authors. There is nothing worse than loving a book to pieces, and then it becomes a series and each book goes down the hill of quality and fun a little further until you just wish it would just die, and your love maybe curdles into hate. That has not happened here! Sherry Thomas knows what she is doing, and she does it well. I know when I open one of these books exactly what I’m going to get, which is Charlotte Holmes aloofly solving crimes with her neurodivergent brilliance, her sometime lover Lord Ingram pining after her, and some intricate mystery or other to keep your attention. Plus fun side characters and stories that fit in very nicely with the main plot, and fun references to Sherlock Holmes canon.
And here, we have a heist plot!
Mrs. Watson’s former lover approaches Charlotte because she is being blackmailed, and she needs Charlotte and co. to steal the blackmail material for her. It’s all very secretive what she’s being blackmailed for and who she is (someone very important). This means Charlotte and co. end up going to France so they do heisty stuff at a chateau where an infamous annual art auction is held. And when I say “and co.” I mean pretty much everyone. We’ve got Mrs. Watson, Charlotte, Charlotte’s sister Olivia (who is almost finished with her Sherlock Holmes novel!), Olivia’s beau whose name I have temporarily forgotten but who is probably Moriarty’s son, and some other new characters. Things get elaborate, but it’s always fun, and very atmospheric.
I’m excited to see where this is going! But I do hope she has an endgame in mind.
