Review: A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Lady Sherlock #2)

Note: Top Shelf Text was provided with a copy of this text by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!

If you could only read one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be? Mine would, without a doubt, be mystery. I love reading mysteries set in all different places and time periods, but Victorian England is high on my list for favorite settings. Some behind the scenes secrets about how I get my advanced copies: sometimes, publishers offer a book to you and you get to accept or decline. Other times...you stalk the publisher until they agree to send you a book that is already on your wish list. With A Conspiracy in Belgravia, I practically begged the team at Berkley to send me the book, and was over the moon when it arrived on my doorstep! I read the first book in this series, A Study in Scarlet Women, earlier this summer and absolutely loved it. (In this post, I compared it to another popular mystery series.) I got a lot of feedback from readers who said they also loved the first in this series, so I couldn't wait to share more about this one with you. As with the first, the thing that I loved most about this book was how it pulled me in. By the end of the first chapter, I was fully immersed in Victorian London and steeped in the drama of Charlotte's exile from proper society and the suspense of her newest mystery to solve. With so many of my recent reads falling into heavier categories, this was the perfect escapist book for me!

In A Conspiracy in Belgravia, Charlotte Holmes is still living in London and running her consulting detective business -- though she's still working behind the curtain with her ailing brother as a cover. Things get complicated, though, when she receives a client request from a lady in her former social circle -- and who wouldn't be pleased to find out that Sherlock is really Charlotte. For fear of spoiling one or more of the wonderfully plotted twists in this story, I can't say more here. I can tell you, however, that the ending of this novel left me stunned. After reading the first book, I raved a lot about my love for the characters and the way that Sherry Thomas plays with the Holmes canon, and while those opinions still stand (and are even strengthened) with this second installment, I loved this one even more for the plot. And as in the first book, the tensions between Charlotte and her dashing, devoted but complicated love interest only grow. I cannot wait to follow this series in the future.

Bottom-Line Rating: 5/5

Title: A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Lady Sherlock #2)

Author: Sherry Thomas

Publisher: Berkley Books

Price: $9 on Amazon

ISBN: 0425281418

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Books

Review: The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes #2)

{Goodreads}

I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes -- give me everything from the original stories, to TV reincarnations, to book spin-offs and I'm more than happy to indulge. I read the first book in this series A Study in Charlotte, back in January and though I'm not usually a YA reader, I thought it was a pretty good start to a new series and certainly a fresh take on two of my favorite characters in literature. (Psst - If you think you might be interested in reading, stop here and go back for the first. This is one series you definitely need to read in chronological order.)

In The Last of August, we meet up with Charlotte and Jamie in London, where they are spending time with both of their respective families during the winter holidays. It becomes immediately clear that something is off -- something is not quite right in the relationship between our two main characters. That tension remains throughout most of the book, as the two battle with themselves and each other over what their relationship should look like going forward.

While trying to work out their angst, the two are also on a new case, as Charlotte's beloved uncle has gone missing, and they're pretty sure his disappearance was at the hands of the Moriarty family. I don't want to say much more here about the plot -- spoilers are not so fun in mysteries, you know -- but I can speak more to the experience of reading it. After reading the final page, I will say this: the last 30 pages or so were intense and somewhat confusing and for me that made it worth pushing through to the end. Overall, this book just did not captivate me as much as the first. I think that my waning interest may be due to the greater focus on the relationship between Watson and Holmes. I am much more interested in the mystery aspect than in the lives of the characters themselves, and I have to say that I felt like the mystery was hastily thrown together, and when it came to the big reveal I felt confused. In the end, I didn't appreciate how "genius" the plot was supposed to be, so I think when it comes to this series, the first was worth the read and the second was more take-it-or-leave-it. 

Bottom-Line Rating: 3/5

Title: The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes #2)

Author: Brittany Cavallaro

Publisher: Katherine Tegen, 2017

Price: $11 on Amazon

ISBN: 0062398946

Format: Hardcover

Source: Personal Library

Currently Coveting {January}

If you read my 2017 Reading Resolutions then you know that one of my goals this year is to spend more time reading the books that I love. With that goal in mind, I picked out a few titles that I'm coveting this month. My reading time is pretty packed this month (new releases galore!) but these are some of the books I'm hoping to get to when I have a spare slot in my to-read list. There are a lot of great books coming out this month, but if you want the sneak peek for the whole year, check out The Great 2017 Book Preview from The Millions.

A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn // I read & reviewed the first in this series last year and really enjoyed it. I'm always interested in mysteries but add a strong female detective into the mix and I'm hooked. The historical fiction element is an added bonus. I'm looking forward to picking this up after I've finished the latest installment in the Inspector Gamache novels -- my current mystery read. 

Release date: January 10th

The Chosen Maiden by Eva Stachniak // This story features elements of Russian historical fiction, the world of professional ballet, and that tenuous relationship between siblings who are both prodigies in the same field. I read The Winter Palace by Stachniak and really enjoyed both her writing and her attention to historical detail. 

Release date: January 17th

The Jolly Regina by Kara LaReau // This new series has been compared to A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place  -- two of my favorite series to recommend for middle grade fiction fans. The series features the unintentional adventures of the Bland sisters aboard a pirate vessel. The cover art is adorable and I am so on board for a new witty series. Fun fact: the author for this series edited my all-time favorite (modern) children's novel: The Tale of Despereaux. So I'm willing to bet she'll be an author to follow in the future.

Release date: January 10th

Books for Living by Will Schwalbe // My non-fiction pick for the month. In this, Schwalbe explores the role that books play in our modern society and the books that help us to navigate our universal questions. Each chapter features a book, with stories about how the book influenced him and the people in his life that are tied to it. You know I love books about books, and this seems like a perfect fit for the beginning of a new year.

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What are you looking forward to reading this month?

Currently Coveting {December}

Oh my goodness. I'm ashamed to say that it has been months since I posted a Currently Coveting list.

Not that I haven't been coveting -- and buying -- books in that time.

My most recent purchases have been this and this for my December book club reads, and I am so excited for our book club discussion at the end of this month.

Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine by Sarah Lohman

I've recently started cooking almost all the meals in my family (I just headed up my very first Thanksgiving this year) and I've become really interested in how to use spices to flavor healthy, fresh food. Since I started eating mostly clean a few years ago, I have found spices to be my biggest resource in the kitchen. This exploration of the eight flavors that unite American cooking seems like a great way to learn more about the cultural history of the country, in addition to being a resource for great recipes.

The Glass Universe by Dava Sobel

I'm craving a good story about fascinating, intelligent women and this seems to be just the right fit. It just came out yesterday and tells the story of the women who worked as "human computers" for the Harvard Observatory. Those women went on to make significant contributions to astronomy. 

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny

Are you tired of hearing me talk about Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series? I have been working my way through them since the summer. Shown above is the tenth in the series, which is on my to-read list for this weekend. I have been lucky so far in that my library was fully stocked with every volume in the series except this one, so when I went to snatch it from the shelf I was so disappointed to find that I would have to wait for a hold copy to come in. I'm telling you, this is one of the best series that I have ever (ever) read.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

This has been recommended to me several times (most recently by my grandmother), and I've heard that it is lovely as an audiobook. It's in the same category as The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. I'm looking forward to picking it up soon.

Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder

Sadly, I haven't been reading much middle grade lately. Sometimes (okay, often) being in school all day makes me want to read only adult fiction when I get home. I'm hoping to reignite my love for children's lit this month. Penny Dreadful looks like a great place to start.