Author: Barbara

Avid reader/reviewer of historical romance and historical mysteries.

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Victorian Era (1837-1901)1 Comment

The Art of Theft (Lady Sherlock, #4)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Lady Sherlock #4
Publication Date: 10/15/19
Number of Pages: 304

Sherry Thomas has done the impossible as far as I am concerned. I am never a fan of re-worked, re-vamped, reimagined lives of fictional characters – except – this author has created a clever, absorbing, fast-paced, interesting newly imagined Sherlock Holmes and I am in awe. The series maintains the shadowy, misty, shivery mood of the original Sherlock series while imbuing it with a bit of humor and showing how women chafe under the societal strictures of the times. The series is filled with mysteries that are filled with unexpected twists and turns, vile villains and yes, of course, romance.

As with all of the earlier books, there are a lot of people populating this book as well as a lot going on. Several romances at different stages, several mysteries and many people at different stages of life and choices. As always, Moriarty is the overarching villain of the book and the series. For me personally, I hope Moriarty is wrapped up fairly quickly and doesn’t haunt all of the books, characters and romances. Yes, I know he was the original Sherlock Holmes nemesis, but since this is a reimagined Sherlock, why can’t he be resolved within the first five or six books?

Sherlock Holmes received a request for a consultation from “A Traveler From Distant Lands”. However, once the person appears for the consultation and realizes that Sherlock is bedridden, she declines to employ him. Later, we discover that the person was a very close friend from Mrs. Watson’s past and she’s really desperate. The client, the Maharani of Ajmer, is being blackmailed by someone who is holding letters that could cause her and her small kingdom a lot of trouble and embarrassment. The letters are hidden behind a Van Dyck painting in the French chateau, Vaudrieu. It seems that the Maharani needs a cat burglar rather than a mystery solver. However, no matter the risk, Mrs. Watson cannot refuse her old friend.

As Charlotte and company investigate, they learn there is much more to the Chateau Vaudrieu than they originally thought. There are plots within plots and very real danger to Charlotte and her friends. When Lady Ingram shows up, we add yet another layer of intrigue to the mystery – not to mention the nasty Moriarty making an appearance. There are so many twists and turns that your head will spin, but our intrepid Charlotte is, as always, up to the challenge.

When we closed the last book, I thought things with Charlotte and Ash would be moving forward quickly, but in this book, they seem to have regressed and are sort of each in their own little worlds again. We also see the romance between Livia and Stephen grow, but it is going to be a very rocky road for the two of them I’m sure.

The set-up for the next book was well done and leaves you breathlessly waiting for the next episode. Excellently done!

BTW — I would recommend reading the series in its entirety rather than reading this as a stand-alone. If not the entire series, then at least read the first book in the series prior to this one. Otherwise, you just won’t understand – and probably won’t like — Charlotte.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hell Bay by Will Thomas

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Hell Bay (Barker & Llewelyn #8)Barbara’s rating: 2 of 5 stars

Series: Barker & Llewelyn #8
Publication Date: 10/25/16
Number of Pages: 301
** Maybe 2.5 Stars **

The first book I read in this series was book #10, Blood Is Blood, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought I’d go back and catch some of the earlier books in the series to see if it was consistent, and, I have to say, I was disappointed. I always start off thinking a book is at least a 4-star read, and then it is up to the author to keep that rating, add to that rating or – detract from that rating. When I read Blood is Blood, I just enjoyed the read, but with this one, while it started out well, I soon started thinking that this author had to be an American and that perhaps he hadn’t done a lot of research. Add to that – misused homonyms such as bare rather than bear, and spelling and punctuation – not to mention all of the inconsistencies. For instance, was the cook a good one or a poor one – it depends on which paragraph you are reading.

In the previous book I read, I had come to appreciate Barker and Llewelyn’s abilities and was looking forward to adding to their legend. This book sure didn’t add to my admiration for the two. Llewellyn, who is basically the narrator in the story, comes across as a twit and Barker – well – I just didn’t like Barker and he came across as sorely incompetent in most of the book. Barker was hired to protect a French Ambassador (who was also an idiot) during treaty negotiations on a remote island. Barker shows up on the island acting more like a guest than someone providing security – he didn’t even carry his weapons. Barker and Llewelyn were certainly inept and ineffectual in this outing.

I did like the IDEA of the story, but I liked it better when Agatha Christie did it in And Then There Were None. The gist is: France and England are going to negotiate a treaty regarding their respective colonies in Africa. It needs to be hush-hush, so they decide to hold the negotiations between only two people on a remote island and they’ll cover that by having a house party under the guise of trying to marry off the son of the English negotiator. Almost immediately, the English negotiator, Lord Hargrave, was shot. After him, the bodies started to stack up – and most were murdered in different ways with different weapons. Was there more than one killer? Or, was that one killer deadly efficient and thoroughly enjoying what he was doing?

I didn’t like that Barker was so cavalier with Llewelyn’s life while he sat back and basically, did nothing but think. In general, Barker treated Llewelyn abominably and had this been the first book I read in the series, I wouldn’t even look at another one. Don’t get me wrong – Llewelyn was a putz and certainly didn’t endear himself to me, but there was no call for Barker to treat him as he did. No wonder Barker’s last assistant was killed in the line of duty!

Bottom line is – I loved Blood is Blood and didn’t care for this one, so I’ll wait for the next book, Lethal Pursuit, and see if I like it before I continue with the series. I will read the couple of other books I’ve already bought, but won’t be in any hurry to do so. Maybe the series has gotten better as it has aged.