When it comes to mysteries, we all know Sherlock Holmes as the iconic detective with the pipe and slueth hat who lives at 221B Baker Street. Thank you, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for your wonderful creation.
I just finished reading Die Again, Mr. Holmes by Anna Elliott and Charles Veley, a father daughter writing duo. Anna was delighted to offer her services in writing for the character, Lucy James, and giving the character her own voice. Her father, Charles wrote the first two (of eight) books in this series and loves writing for the character Dr. Watson. These two really make a great pair and have definitely been successful in writing a set of fresh adventures for Mr. Holmes. They are kind of like each other's Holmes and Watson.
The newest adventure in this eight part mystery series takes readers from the Old Bailey courthouse and the seacost lairs of smugglers to a grand British country estate and the high end headquarters of Lloyd's of London. For the survival of our characters, they will need immense courage, sacrifice, and acts that go far outside the law.
When the story begins, we meet a young woman who begs Sherlock holmes to help find her missing fiance, but the Detective ends up making an atypical mistake. Then Sherlock's daughter, Lucy James, takes on a missing person's case of her own. But Lucy must also keep a vicious criminal away from Becky, Lucy's ten-year-old sister-in-law, and little Becky soon becomes dangerously involved in both cases.
No one foresees the devastating news that Sherlock Holmes has been.... Murdered!
It took me a while to get through this book, mostly because of my busy schedule, but also because I found that the book had a lot of descriptions and dragged on a little bit, which isn't a huge deal. i really liked the length of the chapters, because it kept me reading. They were a nice length.
Being a huge mystery and Sherlock Holmes book, this book was way up my alley. It was somehow perfectly catered to my interests. I have some huge love for old-time mystery stories (my favourite show on the planet is Murdoch Mysteries--- if you haven't checked it out, you need to ASAP) and I just find it really interesting when it comes to solving mysteries in those times versus now. I like seeing the contrast in technology and the way that people had to live so differently from the way we currently do,
I think the book did a really great job of keeping true to the characters of the original Sherlock Holmes. He was very quick witted and smart, and always very determined. Anna and Charles do an exceptional job of chanelling the characters and giving them their own voices.
One big thing that really stuck out to me with this was Lucy's character. She was such a vibrant and strong character in the novel. A heroine that ended up doing a lot of good for several people in the story. We don't often see women having strong dominant roles in this time period, so it was really refreshing to be able to watch Lucy stand her ground and have a valid opinion about things.
If you are a fan of history and/or mystery, then this novel is absolutely for you! It has a little bit of everything in it though, so more than mystery fans can enjoy it. It's packed with adventure and readers are really able to connect with the characters. It's definitely worth the read, so go give it a try!
I also want to say a huge thank you to Anna and Smith Publicity for sending me this review copy to add to the bookshelf. I will treasure it forever.
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