The Art of Theft sees the return of one of my favorite heroines, Charlotte Holmes, who had opened a consulting business under the fake name of Sherlock Holmes, whom she pretends is her brother. In this book, an old friend of Mrs. Watson's is in trouble. She's being blackmailed, and our heroine must steal a priceless artwork in order to safeguard her secrets.
This series just keeps getting better and better. All my favorite characters are back, including Lord Ingram, as proper and stick-in-the-mud as ever while tortuously pining after Charlotte; and Livia, Charlotte's lovable but full of self-doubt sister. And all these characters rally around Charlotte. They must all work together to steal the artwork, which makes for an interesting and unusual dynamic this time around.
Charlotte is as sharp and in command of her acumen as ever. It's just so much fun to follow along as she smartly lays out their plans and deduces what's going on. Her competence and wit is brilliant and entertaining, especially when juxtaposed against the Victorian time period of this story when women are valued more for their looks than their brains.
This book picks up pretty much where the last one left off, and it references things that have happened in the previous books, so this is probably a series best read in order. The mystery in here is fun, though don't expect any Agatha Christie-level "aha" moments or anything like that. Still, I adore this series and am already eagerly waiting for the next book.
Readaroo Rating: 4 stars
0 comments:
Post a Comment