A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas

 
Charlotte is living mostly happily in exile form her family after the events from the first book. Her sister Livia is less lucky, still having to trudge through the (mating) season that is part and parcel of being an unmarried young woman in Victorian England. When not working on a way to help Livia and their other sister Bernadette, Charlotte is solving mysteries. After advertising his/her services for cases big and small, a Mrs. Finch shows up asking for Sherlock’s help in finding her first love. Sherlock immediately sees through Mrs. Finch’s ruse and recognizes her as Lady Ingram, the wife of one of Charlotte’s closest friends. Alas, Mrs. Finch/Lady Ingram is not the only one pretending to be someone she is not. 

I must admit to finding the plot slightly confusing. There was a dead body, Moriarty or at least people connected to Moriarty, and people pretending to be someone else. At various points I forgot what mystery Sherlock was trying to solve. Nevertheless, this was a fun and intriguing read. Lady Sherlock is the best Sherlock. In some renditions Sherlock is little more than a stock character with lots of annoying quirks that people put up with because he’s brilliant. Ms. Thomas makes her Holmes feel as if she could be a real person.

One of things I enjoyed most about A Conspiracy in Belgravia (and in the first book in the series, A Study in Scarlet) is how Ms. Thomas infuses the politics of being a woman in Victorian England into the story in a meaningful ways. One of those meaningful ways here takes the form of Inspector Treadles and his wife. Treadles admits that the learning Sherlock’s true gender identity was a shock. He is even more troubled when he realizes that at one time his wife had ambitions other than being a wife. He wonders why she must “desire power and unwomanly accomplishments."

It is such a treat to discover a new series and a new author. I am so glad Sherry Thomas is writing the Lady Sherlock series and that I get to read it.