Miss Moriarty, I Presume? (Lady Sherlock #6) by Sherry Thomas

 

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Strong language, off page sex, suggestive themes

A most unexpected client shows up at Charlotte Holmes's doorstep: Moriarty himself. Moriarty fears that tragedy has befallen his daughter and wants Charlotte to find out the truth.

Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to a remote community of occult practitioners where Moriarty's daughter was last seen, a place full of lies and liars. Meanwhile, Charlotte's sister Livia tries to make sense of a mysterious message from her beau Mr. Marbleton. And Charlotte's longtime friend and ally Lord Ingram at last turns his seductive prowess on Charlotte--or is it the other way around?

But the more secrets Charlotte unravels about Miss Moriarty's disappearance, the more she wonders why Moriarty has entrusted this delicate matter to her of all people. Is it merely to test Charlotte's skills as an investigator, or has the man of shadows trapped her in a nest of vipers? 

 

Have I really read 6 books in this series? For some reason it doesn't seem like it. Some of them have been more enjoyable than others, and I must admit that this one was a bit of a slow start for me, but in the end there was great payoff. Finally, there was the much anticipated face off between Charlotte Holmes and Moriarty, and while there were some tense moments with that meeting, I felt a little let down at Moriarty himself. His daughter, however, was something else entirely.

 

I think I'm a little disappointed that he was eclipsed by his daughter, but I'm not surprised, as I feel this series is all about showcasing how clever the women are. This is, after all a gender swapped version of Sherlock Holmes. And although Lord Ingram and Inspector Treadles are both clever in their own ways, no one comes close to Charlotte Holmes, except for maybe Moriarty's daughter. I just think I would have liked Charlotte to be pitted against Moriarty himself in cleverness instead of his daughter.

 

 

Don't go into this series expecting it to be realistic for the time period. Charlotte and company are much too independent to be realistic, but still fun to read about. I've been able to overlook this and enjoy the series for what it is.

What I mostly enjoyed about this book is the fact that we get answers to some long awaited questions, and also progress on the relationship front, although Charlotte's preoccupation with wanting to bed Lord Ingram was a bit overdone, especially when she was seeing suggestive gestures in the way his hand touched a throw cushion. Overall, I thought the mystery was woven really well, and it kept me guessing about some things for a long time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of this book.