Like many people I was a huge fan of the Enola Holmes movie on Netflix last year. I'm sad to say that I wasn't familiar with Enola before this, but I was thrilled to learn the movie was based on a book - and that there was a whole series of them!
I jumped at the chance to review an early copy of this book and am so glad I did! Big thank you to Wednesday Books for sending this my way.
Keep reading for an excerpt from the book!
From Goodreads: Enola Holmes is the
much younger sister of her more famous brothers, Sherlock and Mycroft.
But she has all the wits, skills, and sleuthing inclinations of them
both. At fifteen, she's an independent young woman--after all, her name
spelled backwards reads 'alone'--and living on her own in London. When a
young professional woman, Miss Letitia Glover, shows up on Sherlock's
doorstep, desperate to learn more about the fate of her twin sister, it
is Enola who steps up. It seems her sister, the former Felicity Glover,
married the Earl of Dunhench and per a curt note from the Earl, has
died. But Letitia Glover is convinced this isn't the truth, that she'd
know--she'd feel--if her twin had died.
The Earl's note is
suspiciously vague and the death certificate is even more dubious,
signed it seems by a John H. Watson, M.D. (who denies any knowledge of
such). The only way forward is for Enola to go undercover--or so Enola
decides at the vehement objection of her brother. And she soon finds out
that this is not the first of the Earl's wives to die suddenly and
vaguely--and that the secret to the fate of the missing Felicity is tied
to a mysterious black barouche that arrived at the Earl's home in the
middle of the night. To uncover the secrets held tightly within the
Earl's hall, Enola is going to require help--from Sherlock, from the
twin sister of the missing woman, and from an old friend, the young
Viscount Tewkesbury, Marquess of Basilwether!
Image from publisher
My thoughts: This is a very fun book. Enola is such a great character and it's
interesting to see how she's changed and progressed, as a person and an
investigator, over time. It's also very interesting to get a glimpse of
her from her famous brother's point of view.
This story is really
interesting. Like Enola, I didn't know what "black barouche" meant
either, so that was quite a reveal. Seeing how Enola and Sherlock both
approach their investigations, especially the moments when they
intersect, was very fun. It was also really great to see moments where
Sherlock was clearly impressed with his sister and to see him realize he
has underestimated her.
And now, an excerpt from Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche!
“Is she fainted?”
Indignant, I wanted to sit up and say I was not so easily killed and I never fainted, but to my surprise my body would not obey me. I merely stirred and murmured.
“She’s moving.”
I saw the clodhopper boots of common men surrounding me and smelled alcohol on the breath of those leaning over me.
“Let’s get ’er inside.”
“Somebody go fer the doctor.”
Strong hands, not ungentle, seized me by the feet and shoulders. I could have kicked and yelled—I felt strong enough now—but my mind had started to function, realizing that I was about to be carried into a pub, for only in a public house, or pub, would workmen be drinking in the daytime. And normally no woman of good repute would enter a pub, or if she did, she would be jeered at until she retreated. But, my avid brain realized, fate in the form of Jezebel had given me opportunity to spend some time inside a pub—no, in the pub, most likely the only pub in Threefinches! So I closed my eyes and pretended to be rather more helpless than I was as the men hauled me inside and laid me down on a high-backed bench by the hearth.
Someone brought something pungent in lieu of smelling salts, but I shook my head, pushed the malodourous hand away, opened my eyes, and sat up, acting as if it were a great effort for me to do so. A burly, bearded man in an apron, undoubtedly the publican who kept the place, came running with a pillow for my back, and I thanked him with a gracious smile.
“Will ye have a nip of brandy, lydy?”
“No, thank you. Water, please.”
“Jack! Water for the lydy!” he bellowed to some underling, and he remained nearby as I managed, with hands that genuinely trembled, to remove my gloves. Their thin kidskin leather was ruined by the mauling it had taken from Jezebel’s reins, and my hands were red and sore; doubtless they would bruise. Grateful for the cool glass, I held it in both hands and sipped, looking around me. Half of the denizens of the place, like the owner, stood in a semicircle staring at me not unpleasantly, while the rest did the same from seats at the rustic tables—all but one. A tall man with beard stubble on his chin and quite a shock of coarse brownish-grey hair hiding his forehead had withdrawn to a table by the wall, where he devoted his attention to his mug of ale, or stout, or whatever noxious brew he might fancy. I said brightly to the tavern-keeper, “I believe I would like to stand up.”
“Now, why not wait for the doctor, lydy—”
But taking hold of his arm, as he stood within my reach, I got to my feet with reasonable steadiness. There were muted cheers from the onlookers. Nodding and simpering at the men all around me, I lilted, “Thank you so much. Do you suppose anyone could go out and fetch my bag, and my hat and parasol? I believe they fell along the—”
Already half a dozen would-be heroes were stampeding towards the door. Yet, if I had walked in here under my own power, any request for help would have been met with deepest suspicion. Such is life: odd.
