Tag: Murder Mystery

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A Study in Scarlet Women, Sherry Thomas

“Please don’t think that my circumstances stand between me and a full stomach.” At least not until lately. “It has been all for vanity, of course. I can sustain somewhere between one point five and one point six chins. But the moment I have more than that, my looks suffer catastrophically.”

Mrs. Jebediah laughed, startled. “But surely you exaggerate, my dear.”

“I assure you I do not. Via scientific trials, I have determined the precise weight, to the ounce, at which the shape of my face changes to my detriment.”

Sherry Thomas, A Study in Scarlet Women

I think my love of the Sherlock Holmes type started when I watched The Great Mouse Detective as a child. If you haven’t watched it, you must. Now. That was my first exposure to the concept of a brilliant, slightly mad detective and his stalwart doctor friend. As an adult, I discovered Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Martin Freeman’s Watson. They remain my absolute favorite incarnation of the duo. But never before have I encountered a female Sherlock and a female Watson. I never knew what I was missing until Sherry Thomas’s A Study in Scarlet Women.

The thing I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that, when Thomas reinvented Sherlock Holmes as a woman, she didn’t just slap a dress on Arthur Conan Doyle’s hero. Instead, she made thoughtful and relevant changes to the character, transitioning Sherlock to Charlotte in a way that makes sense. Charlotte Holmes (alias Sherlock, when assisting Scotland Yard) has all of the original’s brilliance, but with a femininity that is neither forced nor false. And Thomas doesn’t ignore the fact that Sherlock Holmes would have a much more difficult time operating as a woman in Victorian England. She acknowledges the obstacles that could stop Charlotte from reaching her full potential and gives her the tools she needs to overcome those obstacles. All together, it makes for a very believable female Sherlock.

I also loved female Watson. In this case, Watson isn’t a retired army doctor, but a retired stage performer. It works very well for the character, and I loved Thomas’s take on Sherlock’s sidekick. What really worked about Watson in this capacity is that she’s able to take on the role of surrogate mother, business partner, and cheerleader for Charlotte. Whereas the original Doctor Watson, while useful, is mostly just there to be in awe of Sherlock, Thomas’s Mrs. Watson helps Charlotte realize the worth of her gifts. She helps Charlotte see what’s possible. It makes the relationship seem more even, gives it a feeling of give-and-take that’s missing in the original.

The plot, while good, was secondary to the character development here. You get a good mystery. I hadn’t a clue who the killer was until it was revealed at the end. It’s a satisfying read. But what I cared about most was Charlotte, Mrs. Watson, and Livia (Charlotte’s beloved sister). I cared about how Charlotte and Mrs. Watson were going to keep pulling off their charade. I cared about how Charlotte was going to help Livia escape the confines of her life with their parents. I cared about whether Charlotte was going to be able to remain free of male influence, living her life as she saw fit.

Really, I just loved this book. It kept me hooked from beginning to end. If you’re in the mood for a feminist, feminine, female Sherlock Holmes (no, those aren’t synonyms), pick this one up. I’m so excited to get my hands on the next one.

Happy Reading!

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The Mother-in-Law, Sally Hepworth

Who are we after we’re gone? I wonder. It’s a good question to ponder. Most people can’t come up with an answer right away. They frown, consider it for a minute. Maybe even sleep on it. Then the answers start to come. We’re our children. Our grandchildren. Our great-grandchildren. We’re all the people who will go on to live, because we lived. We are our wisdom, our intellect, our beauty, filtered through generations, continuing to spill into the world and make a difference.

Sally Hepworth, The Mother-in-Law

While men and women the world over bemoan their fate when they think of their mother-in-law, I have to say that I can’t join them. I’m being honest when I say that my mother-in-law is wonderful. Of course, she’s human and therefore imperfect, but she’s a lovely person who welcomed me into her family and her heart, no questions asked. (Well, a few questions asked. I was about to marry her son, after all.)

That said, I know that I’m one of the lucky ones and that not everyone has a warm—or even cordial—relationship with their mother-in-law. The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth tells the story of one such individual, Lucy, whose mother-in-law Diana is a pillar of the community but quite cold towards her daughter-in-law. This all becomes very relevant when Diana winds up dead of an apparent suicide, but inconsistencies at the scene make investigators suspicious that she may have actually been murdered. Who would want to kill Diana? Maybe the daughter-in-law who’d been butting heads with her for years.

This is a murder mystery, and it’s a pretty good one at that. I certainly didn’t see the ending coming, although in retrospect it all became very clear. But I didn’t like this book only because of a decent mystery. I enjoyed it most because at its core it’s the story of two women who just don’t understand one another. If you read this, you’ll find that neither Lucy nor Diana has bad intentions when it comes to their relationship. Sure, they both do stupid things, but neither one of them is malicious about it. They’re just two very different people bound by marriage who have to rub along together and figure it out. I think that that scenario is true to life for many in-law relationships.

“Someone once told me that you have two families in your life—the one you are born into and the one you choose. But that’s not entirely true, is it? Yes, you may get to choose your partner, but you don’t, for instance, choose your children. You don’t choose your brothers- or sisters-in-law, you don’t choose your partner’s spinster aunt with the drinking problem or cousin with the revolving door of girlfriends who don’t speak English. More importantly, you don’t choose your mother-in-law. The cackling mercenaries of fate determine it all.”

Sally Hepworth, The Mother-in-Law

When I was first starting to seriously look for a life partner, my mom warned me to pay attention to the man’s family. “You don’t just marry the man,” she told me. “You marry the family, too.” It’s true, and for every daughter- or son-in-law who loves their spouse’s parents, there’s another who can barely stand their presence long enough to white-knuckle it through a holiday meal. I feel like The Mother-in-Law speaks to how hard those relationships can be while also giving hope that even ties that you think may be permanently broken can be fixed.

I can’t say that I’ve ever cried at a murder mystery before, but I cried hard toward the end of The Mother-in-Law. If you’re in the mood for a mystery with a heavy dose of family drama, give this one a try. I think you’ll like it.

Happy Reading!