Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Enola Homes and the Black Barouche
Author: Nancy Springer
Book Series: Enola Homes Book 7
Rating: 4/5
Recommended For…: young adult readers, historical fiction, mystery, thriller, sherlock holmes stories.
Publication Date: August 31, 2021
Genre: YA Mystery Thriller
Recommended Age: 15+ (murder, violence, slight gore)
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 272
Synopsis: Enola Holmes is the much younger sister of her more famous brothers, Sherlock and Mycroft. But she has all the wits, skills, and sleuthing inclinations of them both. At fifteen, she’s an independent young woman–after all, her name spelled backwards reads ‘alone’–and living on her own in London. When a young professional woman, Miss Letitia Glover, shows up on Sherlock’s doorstep, desperate to learn more about the fate of her twin sister, it is Enola who steps up. It seems her sister, the former Felicity Glover, married the Earl of Dunhench and per a curt note from the Earl, has died. But Letitia Glover is convinced this isn’t the truth, that she’d know–she’d feel–if her twin had died.
The Earl’s note is suspiciously vague and the death certificate is even more dubious, signed it seems by a John H. Watson, M.D. (who denies any knowledge of such). The only way forward is for Enola to go undercover–or so Enola decides at the vehement objection of her brother. And she soon finds out that this is not the first of the Earl’s wives to die suddenly and vaguely–and that the secret to the fate of the missing Felicity is tied to a mysterious black barouche that arrived at the Earl’s home in the middle of the night. To uncover the secrets held tightly within the Earl’s hall, Enola is going to require help–from Sherlock, from the twin sister of the missing woman, and from an old friend, the young Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether!
Review: To start off, I didn’t know that this was the seventh book in this series. I don’t remember if it was listed or not, but I totally glossed over that fact when I got a chance to review this book. I did feel like the book did need some previous book context, but this can stand alone if you wanted to just read this one. The book alone was fairly well written though and I did enjoy the plot. I also really liked the world building and the banter between the characters.
However, I did feel like the character development was a bit too quickly done and that the relationship between Enola and Sherlock was too quickly repaired. I don’t know if the other books dove into their relationship, but if it did then you would need the context of them. I also felt like the pacing was too fast for me.
Verdict: It’s great, but needs context.
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