A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Lady Sherlock, #2)

by Sherry Thomas

The game is afoot as Charlotte Holmes returns in USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas’s Victorian-set Lady Sherlock series.
 
Being shunned by Society gives Charlotte Holmes the time and freedom to put her extraordinary powers of deduction to good use. As “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective,” aided by the capable Mrs. Watson, she’s had great success helping with all manner of inquiries, but she’s not prepared for the new client who arrives at her Upper Baker Street office.
 
Lady Ingram, wife of Charlotte’s dear friend and benefactor, wants Sherlock Holmes to find her first love, who failed to show up at their annual rendezvous. Matters of loyalty and discretion aside, the case becomes even more personal for Charlotte as the missing man is none other than Myron Finch, her illegitimate half brother.
 
In the meanwhile, Charlotte wrestles with a surprising proposal of marriage, a mysterious stranger woos her sister Livia, and an unidentified body surfaces where least expected. Charlotte’s investigative prowess is challenged as never before: Can she find her brother in time—or will he, too, end up as a nameless corpse somewhere in the belly of London?

• ISBN10: 1432846965
• ISBN13: 9781432846961
• Publish Date: 7 February 2018 (first published 5 September 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Thorndike Press Large Print
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 477
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Caffeinated Reasons to add A Conspiracy in Belgravia to your Bookshelf

• Charlotte Holmes is brilliant and a character you won't be able to resist. Refusing to accept her place in society, she resides with Mrs. Watson and poses as the niece of Sherlock Holmes, famous detective who solves crimes and solve mysteries. I wish I was a resident on Baker Street and could join them for tea and biscuits or perhaps berries and cream?


• Fans of Sherlock Holmes that like to explore retellings, will enjoy the gender bender and originality of the tales as Thomas brings both familiar characters and twists. While Charlotte's mannerism are familiar to Holmes, readers and listeners will delight in the execution and personal touches Thomas has brought to these characters.


• Charlotte is presented with several seemly unrelated cases. Some feel very personal, and hit close to home with familiar ties. However, her mind approached all of then analytically. I became completely caught up in the interviews, clues, red herrings and more.


• I had an equally engaging time watching the friendship between Holmes and Watson continue. Watson is a strong secondary character who adds humor, presents questions and the perfect companion for Charlotte.


• There is a romantic thread, if Charlotte were to consider it. A second possible love interest is introduced that comes with an intriguing proposal. I know who I am rooting for and I suspect Charlotte does too. I loved her analytical approach to intimacy, romance and marriage.


• Kate Reading narrates the series and has become the voice of Charlotte Holmes. She offers an array of voices and accents allowing each characters personality to shine through. I cannot imagine the series without her.


• Sherry Thomas skillfully creates mystery and suspense while delivering an entirely new way for me to fall in love with these familiar characters.

This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[lizarodz]

Quite the Novel Idea https://quitethenovelidea.com https://quitethenovelidea.com/liza-reviews-a-conspiracy-in-belgravia-by-sherry-thomas/Pardon how incoherent this review will come across as, but I’m trying to control my gushing enthusiasm and failing.  I adored A Conspiracy in Belgravia, it was even better that A Study in Scarlet Women, and that’s a hard feat to accomplish.

First off, Charlotte.  We get to know her even more in this book.  What makes her tick, what are her fears, what does she loves and hates, and her ingrained sense of responsibility and protectiveness for her sisters.  We also get to see her using disguises, to mask her appearance and demeanor and it was all expertly done and sometimes hilarious.  Charlotte grows as a character due to her fall from society, what she went through before meeting Mrs. Watson and for her more independent lifestyle and professional investigation business.  Charlotte adores food and sweets most of all and thus food is very prominent in the story in a very funny way.

Lord Ingram is Charlotte's best friend.  They've known each other since childhood and although there is romantic tension between them, nothing can happen since Lord Ingram is locked in an unhappy marriage.  He's protective of Charlotte and does what he can to help her.  However, Charlotte appears to be so unfeeling and serious that it's hard for others to tell what she's thinking.

We get to visit with known characters and with a few new ones.  Mrs. Watson, a former actress and wealthy widow is Charlotte's friend and often a mother figure.  She helps her to continue her business by providing an "office", companionship, assistance with investigation and more.  Penelope is Mrs. Watson's nice and she's a med student on vacation from school. She also becomes invested in the investigations and provides a big contrast to Charlotte's innate seriousness and silent demeanor.

Besides from Lord Ingram, Mrs. Watson, and Charlotte, part of the story is also from Livia's point of view (all in the third person).   I liked to know Livia more, she's very anxious of doing the wrong thing, of not finding a husband, of disappointing everyone.  However, she starts writing a book based on Charlotte's cases, but starting Sherlock Holmes.  Inspector Treadles is not as prominent in this books, but still appears as he is very upset of learning Holmes' identity in the previous book.  His narrow-minded view of women's roles in society is very common for the time, but I hope he grows out of it.   Interestingly there is also mention of Moriarty, a criminal and dangerous mastermind and I’m sure we will learn a lot more about that in upcoming books. Oh, and Charlotte get's proposed to again :)

There is more than one case in A Conspiracy in Belgravia. The main one comes from Lady Ingram who is looking for Mr. Myron Finch, a love interest before she got married.  Mr. Finch happens to be Charlotte's illegitimate half-brother and thus she takes the case.  This case is like an octopus, with arms that take different paths that end up with death bodies, treason, coded messages and more.

Sherry Thomas is a master storyteller.  Not only does she crafts an intricate set of stories that seamlessly fit together like puzzle pieces, but she does so without the reader ever guessing what that next piece is.  I have no idea of what happened or why until we were shown and told.  It’s an incredible gift that kept me enthralled and  had me turning page after page.

I cannot recommend the series enough, especially for fans of Sherlock Holmes

 

Overall?
The Lady Sherlock series gets better and better.  I loved to get to spend some time in Charlotte's mind and get to know some of the characters better.  I cannot wait for the next installment!!!This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea