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