Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: Lady Sherlock 37
Publication Date: 3/14/23
Period: Victorian (At Sea)
Number of Pages: 336

Another stellar entry into the Lady Sherlock series. The writing, as always, is unparalleled and the growth of the characters from book to book is excellently done. Everyone is trapped on a ship, Moriarty’s spies are likely looking for Charlotte, yet, with a murder to solve, Charlotte has to manage the investigation while avoiding being detected. Can she do it? Of course, she can!

Charlotte has spent the last year hiding out at the hunting lodge on the Duke of Wycliffe’s country estate. After faking her own death to protect herself, her friends, and her loved ones from the attentions of Moriarty, she is sorely tired of missing everyone she cares about. At least she hasn’t been totally alone because Mrs. Watson has been with her at the lodge since she had to disappear as well as Charlotte. Now, however, the duke has presented her with an opportunity to escape the estate for a while – and perhaps provide a serious blow to Moriarty at the same time. As an added bonus she’ll be reunited with Lord Ingram Ashburton (Ash) and her sweet sister, Livia. Even with them all on board a ship and in disguise, it will still be wonderful to all be together again.

Some very important information has been stolen from Britain and they are sure it is en route to Germany. It is Charlotte’s mission to recover the information and return it to the proper place. In return, the Duke of Wycliffe will officially offer her his protection against Moriarty. Will that do any good? Moriarty doesn’t seem to pay heed to any other threats or cajolery, so why would he listen this time? Charlotte is sure there is at least one Moriarty spy aboard the ship and she has to identify who that is so she can thwart their mission – while still accomplishing her own.

A conflagration starts before they are even aboard the ship and it continues once onboard. It continues right up until there is a murder. Since the murder doesn’t have anything to do with Moriarty (does it?), Charlotte is happy to allow the police inspector, who just happens to be aboard, to handle the investigation. That is, she’s happy with that until he starts to consider that the murderer might just be Charlotte’s mother. How is she going to manage the investigation from behind the scenes while keeping to her disguise? Thank goodness for Ash coming to the rescue.

You’ll be surprised by the identity of the murderer – at least I was, and I normally have them identified early on. There are lots of tangled and intertwined hints, motives, and possible perpetrators. The murderer could be anyone on board because nobody had an alibi – and several had motives.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read because the mystery was an excellent one and you had to really work to follow the clues and figure out who was the guilty party. I also loved the way Charlotte had changed emotionally during her year of isolation. You’ll see a softer, more human side to Charlotte that is wonderful to see. No, she hasn’t become an overly emotional creature, but she is softer and she finally has begun to recognize her true feelings for Ash.

I can definitely recommend this very exciting and well-written mystery with wonderful main and supporting characters. The wrap-up, of course, leaves you wanting more – wanting that next book – wanting to see Moriarty brought down – wanting to see Livia and Mr. Marbleton finally find their HEA – wanting to see what happens next between Charlotte and Ash. I can hardly wait for the next installment – and I hope there are many more after that!

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

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