I have read and reviewed the previous books in the series:
I have enjoyed the series thus far and really liked this book too. The rating is dependent on what I thought of this with respect to the previous works. This book focuses on art and French political upheaval, topics I am not as drawn in, and this might be why I am rating it slightly lower than the others. I am stating this upfront because if either of these topics is more to a reader’s taste than mine, they will like this better than I did, which is definitely something to be taken into account.
I would not really recommend reading this without prior knowledge of the series, the kind of person Sherlock Holmes is and the people that make up his family. This builds the appropriate ambience to enjoy these early case files of Sherlock.
At the end of the previous book, we knew that we would head to Paris in this one. Sherlock’s mother and uncle were brought up in the city and have a fondness for the country. There is a lot that was left unsaid about the dark memories that were linked to their past, specifically that of his mother. This is the angle that is explored here. The family is eccentric by the time’s standard, but they still adhere to a semblance of the code of conduct, keeping the scenarios very believable.
Sherlock had a lot of things occupying his mind, especially his increasing feelings for his only friend. Despite that, he has to focus on saving his mother’s sanity and getting her out of the mess that has been lying in wait behind the scenes for years.
It is an intriguing plot with a lot of moving pieces. I saw one thing coming which otherwise I would have enjoyed the reveal of.
I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a very plausible investigation by a younger Sherlock and his enterprising family.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience of this and the previous works in the same series.
Superfluous Reading 