Final Fall

October 1, 2017
The origin of an antihero.When readers first met Mori (Lock & Mori, 2015), it was hard to see how she'd eventually become the dreaded Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' nemesis. Didn't this white teen solve crimes with her schoolmate, Lock? Hadn't she defeated her abusive, serial killer father? But now Mori has spent the last four months locked in a horse stall. Alice, an old friend of Mori's con-artist mother, the salvation she'd been convinced would rescue her younger brothers from abuse, turns out to have conned her. Alice wants Mori's help restarting a criminal enterprise, and she holds her brothers hostage. When Mori gets out of this place--and she will escape--she's going to make sure Alice can never hurt them again. Nothing, not even the disapproval and grief of her beloved Lock, will prevent Mori from utterly stopping the crooked cops and greedy thieves who've hurt her. Mori herself is such an engaging, well-rounded character that the villains' incoherent choices seem even more cartoonish by contrast, but the cinematic tension of her final fall makes it hard to worry about flaws in the plotting. This isn't a Sherlock Holmes mystery: this is the villain's back story.Mori's crackerjack characterization (balanced between appealing and appalling) and the tight pacing overcome this finale's weaknesses of plotting and prose. (Mystery. 13-15)

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November 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-This final series installment opens with Mori imprisoned in a temporary cell, desperate to find a way out and save her brothers from Alice, the woman who deceived her and now threatens her siblings' safety. After a failed escape attempt, she comes to a grudging agreement with Alice that she will train to be her "sword;" but she secretly plots to kill Alice and rescue her brothers. After successfully freeing herself and whisking her brothers off to America to tentative safety, Mori returns to her London home, seeking vengeance from her father. Ultimately she succeeds but loses her ally, friend, and possible lover, Lock, as he discovers what she is now capable of doing. This continuation of a modern-day Sherlock and Moriarty tale provides readers only light mystery and very tepid characters. Despite several fight scenes and mysterious notes, there is no real menace or sense of urgency to the plot. Mori is an angsty and conflicted protagonist, lacking any of the real skill or subtlety that Sherlock Holmes fans crave. VERDICT For readers wanting a solid, exciting modern-day Sherlock Holmes story, purchase Brittany Cavallaro's "Charlotte Holmes" series.-Kristen Rademacher, Marist High School, IL

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