Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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A satisfying heroine; not Sherlock Holmes

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

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CBR12 BINGO: Red A Study in Scarlet Women has been on my radar since last year’s “Classics and Retellings” book club, when a number of Cannonballers reviewed it as an adaptation/retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous work. I was excited that CBR12 BINGO gave me an excuse to pick it up from my library. My enthusiasm arc for this novel can be visualized as a bell curve: I went from “hmm, ok but. . .,” to “wow, this is great!” back down to “mildly positive” […]

Lady Sherlock makes for great audio books

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas

The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas

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I mentioned having read A Study in Scarlet to my book club in a conversation about classics and someone mentioned having heard of a gender-swapped detective series of which the first book was A Study in Scarlet Women, so we added that for 2020. I accidentally borrowed the audio book instead of the ebook from the library but hey, it’s our nightmare of 2020 and I’m going for a lot of very long walks, why not give it a try. And reader, these are great audio books. […]

The Curse of Being At Near Maximum Capacity of Chins While in France

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

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This is the fourth novel in the Lady Sherlock series, and will contain spoilers for the previous novels since the character relationships are very much dependent on actions in previous novels.  While all the novels have their own stand alone plots, they very much build on each other for wider context and aren’t the type of mysteries that are relatively stand alone and independent of each.  Having said that, Thomas provides enough context throughout the novel that it’s not necessary to reread the previous novels […]

No Need for a Training Montage in this Version of Mulan

The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas

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I hate to admit it, but my only exposure to the legend of Mulan has been the Disney movie.  As a result, I kept waiting for Mulan’s peers to discover her gender and turn on her, but as it turns out that was a Disney addition. However, Thomas added her own twist that I quite enjoyed: Mulan has spent her whole life training for a duel with a rival family of martial artists and fighters.  As the family legend goes, a master swordsmen had a […]

Charlotte plans an art heist

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

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This is the fourth book in a five book series. It’s not really the best place to begin. This review will also possibly contain spoilers for earlier books in the series. A Study of Scarlet Women is where you want to start. Official book description: As “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective,” Charlotte Holmes has solved murders and found missing individuals. But she has never stolen a priceless artwork—or rather, made away with the secrets hidden behind a much-coveted canvas. But Mrs. Watson is desperate to help her old […]

The Lady Sherlock Series Book 3

The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas

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I’ve gotten myself hooked on yet another mystery series. The first book in the series is A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas. The series centers around Charlotte Holmes, a female version of Sherlock Holmes. Charlotte was able to get away from her horrible parents and make a life for herself solving crimes under the name of Sherlock Holmes. The Hollow of Fear (2018) is the third book in the series. Charlotte is a unique heroine. She is smart, insightful, deductive, and unemotional, which makes her perfect for […]



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