For the Sherlock Holmes Lover in Your Life

Charlotte Holmes Series by Brittany Cavallaro

First, I’d like to point out, as much as I like this picture and I love these books, it bothers me tremendously that one book is larger than the others.  It’s my own impatience that caused this, though.  I absolutely had to read A Question of Holmes as soon as it came out.  Therefore, I had to buy the hardcover copy when I owned paperbacks of the first three books.

Now that I have gotten that little disclaimer out of the way, here’s why everyone should read this series.

1. Gender-bent Sherlock Holmes re-telling.
   Charlotte (the current iteration of Holmes) is fierce, confident, intelligent, street-smart, and basically just an all-around kick-ass heroine.
2. It’s mostly narrated by the current Watson (not gender-bent, but still an excellent modernization of the original).
   I normally gravitate toward female narrators but Watson’s storytelling is superb.
3. Four book series – [insert the word for that here] – quadrology? maybe?
   I feel like you don’t see four books in a series that often.  Trilogies and duologies are basically dime a dozen but four books is definitely a rarity.
4. Unrealistic in a good way
   Charlotte and Jamie go on adventures all over the world in a way that is completely unimaginable for teenagers but yet, it’s so fun to image that they are real.  Reading about them made me feel jealous that I wasn’t nearly that awesome when I was 17.
5. Nods to the original stories
   Every book has numerous references to the original Sherlock Holmes stories.  Some are modernizations and others are direct mentions.
6. This series has the one thing the orignal stories is missing (in my opinion) – ROMANCE.
   I loved (pun intended) the back and forth between Charlotte and Jamie.  They still solve mysteries and gallivant around the world but these stories never forget that they are human and that they are so good together.  Sherlock and Watson might have solved crimes but their stories never really featured any romance.
7. Those covers.
   So pretty and so different from anything else I have seen.  They just look so nice.
   Yes, before anyone asks, I am a sucker for a good cover.
8. Finished series
   I can’t tell you how often I start a series only to discover that there is another book coming out later that year, or next year, or basically any time besides already available.  I hate to wait!  Which is why this series is so great – it’s finished.  No waiting for the next volume, no cliff hangers, just the sweet satisfaction of completion.

I’ve now provided you with 8 reasons to go out and read these books (which is 7 more than you should need because they are simply amazing).

Recommendations for Further Reading

• The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill – teenage female crime solving, need I say more?
• Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte – another epic murder mystery.  Also, four books in this series, Four Dead Queens… it’s practially begging to be connected.
• Love, Lies, and Spies by Cindy Antsey – the title basically gives away the rationale here.

Links

Charlotte Holmes Series on Goodreads

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