Love Sherlock Holmes? Ever wonder what he’d be like as a teenage boy? Liese Sherwood-Fabre pens another fabulous mystery in the young Sherlock series and as usual, her work is inventive, engaging, and contains keen insight into both Sherlock and his time period.

My thoughts

In the third book of the series, Sherlock, Mycroft, and their mother end up at the scene of a tragedy. A young man has drowned. While authorities believe it is suicide, Mrs. Holmes examines the body and believes otherwise. A lot is at stake: suicide would leave the young man’s family destitute, while murder raises questions of motive. When the victim’s sister tries to blackmail Mycroft, Mrs. Holmes and Sherlock decide to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Sherlock

Liese Sherwood-Fabre’s prose feels effortless as it pulls the reader into the world of London and the Holmes family. Sherlock still has a great deal to learn about eliciting information and coming to accurate conclusions (particularly about the female mind). Yet his mind is in top-notch form already. It’s fun for Sherlockian fans to note the origin of his well-known characteristics. Sherwood-Fabre deftly uses details from the Sherlock canon to create a rich, nuanced portrait of the detective as a young man.

Each new adventure exposes Sherlock to new, seamier aspects of society, far beyond the polite parlors of his upbringing. Here, he ventures into a brothel for the first time, accompanied by his brother and his mother (!), disguised as a young man (!!). We also see the development of his friendship with his mother’s maid Constance, and the difficulties of socially unequal relationships. Sherwood-Fabre does an incredible job researching this time period and bringing its realities to life for twenty-first century readers.

His family

The family dynamics are genuine and realistic for this time period. They are predictably unpredictable and it’s intriguing to see what they do in any given situation. While they love each other, there is often an uneasy tension in how they investigate or whether they even should.

Mycroft prefers his routine and solitude, preferring to let someone else do the “exercise” of leaving home.

Mother knows how to manipulate other women (and her beloved but conventional husband) yet outside authorities don’t take her seriously.

Father prefers that the family do their duty and then leave well enough alone.

Sherlock, though still outwardly deferential, can be impulsive and overstep his bounds with his elders. He’s beginning to chafe at the limitations placed on him. And while Sherlock still respects his brother, his resentment grows at Mycroft’s arrogance; I definitely see seeds of more discord between the brothers in the future. It will be interesting to see how these dynamics play out as Sherlock grows older.

His mother

Sometimes I wonder if Sherlock is the protagonist or his mother is! Violette Angelique Parker Holmes is formidable, intelligent, and undaunted by even the most daunting tasks, whether that’s breaking painful news to relatives, entering a hospital morgue, or solving a murder. She’s often the one who drives forward the investigation, usually in the face of male opposition. This book (and this series) isn’t only a book about young Sherlock. It’s about an equally intelligent woman who has to rely on others to follow her passion for uncovering the truth.

Plot

The story moves rapidly. I really didn’t see the ending coming, nor did I anticipate most of the plot turns. The book comes to a satisfying conclusion, one that promises a sequel in the future.

Another solid mystery from Liese Sherwood-Fabre. Well-written and engaging. I heartily recommend this book and this series to any Sherlockian fan!

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

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Read the series

If you haven’t read the first two books in the Young Sherlock series by Liese Sherwood-Fabre, that’s okay. Each works as a standalone. But you’ll want to catch up on what’s happened before this adventure! In The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife, Mrs. Holmes is accused of murdering a local midwife; the family must work together to clear the charges against her and find the real culprit. In The Adventure of the Murdered Gypsy, a gypsy is found dead on the Holmes property; meanwhile, Mycroft is behaving strangely . . . Could he be in love? Both books are available on Amazon, but also on bookshop.org (a site that helps support indie bookstores.)

Also check out her essay collection about Sherlock Holmes, The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes: Essays on Victorian England, Volume 1, also available on bookshop.org.