A Study in Charlotte

December 7, 2015
Debut author Cavallaro brings Arthur Conan Doyle’s sleuths (or their distant relatives, anyway) into the 21st century, casting Holmes as a brilliant young woman and Watson, who narrates, as her admirer and accomplice. Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson are descendants of the famous crime-solving duo, each inheriting their forebears’ talents for deduction and bringing murderers to justice. They are students at a Connecticut boarding school, where someone is killing their classmates and framing the two of them as the culprits. Cavallaro gives Charlotte the cold, calculating persona of Holmeses ranging from Doyle’s original to the stars of shows like Sherlock and Elementary, including the tendency toward detailed deductions about people and a drug addiction. This Holmes was sexual assaulted by her now-murdered classmate, but Cavallaro uses the assault as a way to throw suspicion on Holmes as the possible murderer, sidestepping the seriousness of that crime in its own right. This aside, readers will find this to be an involving murder mystery, and a promising start to a planned trilogy. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lana Popovic, Chalberg & Sussman.

Narrator Graham Halstead deftly meets the challenge of re-creating the meeting of Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson, the great-great-great-grandchildren of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. This first of a trilogy is told from the perspective of Jamie. It takes murder to bring the two together when they are accused of killing a classmate. Halstead skillfully captures the intelligent, aloof Holmes and the more appealing but uncertain Watson. Listeners will enjoy hearing references to several actual Holmes stories as the 21st-century Holmes and Watson sift through clues, looking for the murderer. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine


katniss122 - This book looks so good!! I love love LOVE mystery novels and really hope I can get this book from the library soon!!