A Study in Charlotte

By Brittany Cavallaro

Rating: 3/5 Stairs

I’m torn on this book. I really, really wanted to just love it. I enjoy modern takes on Sherlock, and this book sounded like a real winner. Ms. Cavallaro re-imagines Sherlock and Watson meeting as teenagers in boarding school in the United States. Oh, and Sherlock happens to be a girl. Sounds fun, right? But going in my expectations were just set too high, and the book fell a little flat for me.

I think I know where it went awry. The descendants of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson have inherited the traits of their great-great-great grandfathers for sure. I mean, aside from the fact that Holmes is now Charlotte, they are basically (younger) clones of their ancestors. Given the premise that they are related but not the actual Holmes and Watson, I would have liked to see some of their own personality injected into the story.

In addition to the characters being carbon copies, the murderer too is purposefully cloning various Holmes mysteries. But I think this plot would have worked better for me if Charlotte and Jamie had been more unique. It just added to the deja vu all over again (as Yogi Berra would say).

It’s fun to see what the duo may have been like if they were in boarding school together. Making Holmes a girl puts a nice twist to their relationship as well. It will be interesting to see where Ms. Cavallaro goes with the characters in her next installment.

I think a reader who is unfamiliar or new to Sherlock Holmes will really enjoy the book and the mystery. I will be giving the series another shot when the next book comes out.