The Enola Holmes Mystery series

Nancy Springer has written several books in the "An Enola Holmes Mystery" series. The first book is The Case of the Missing Marquess (a Marquess is a nobleman). What a fun way to learn what life was like in England back in the late 1800s! Enola Holmes is the younger sister of Sherlock Holmes and Mycroft Holmes. She doesn't know them very well (at all, really), because she was born much later. When their mother disappears, Sherlock and Mycroft step in to decide Enola's future. Mycroft wants to send her to a girls' school, but Enola will have none of that. She doesn't want to suffer the same fate of other girls and women of England in the 1800s. She wants to be able to do what she wants to do, wear clothes that are comfortable, and marry whom she wants.

So Enola sneaks away and heads for London to hide from her brothers. Almost right away, Enola gets involved in the mystery of a missing young Marquess. She's able to solve this mystery and then she's on to the next one...The Case of the Left-Handed Lady.

Her third adventure is The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets. Dr. Watson is missing, and Enola searches for him. Her escapades once again take you through the streets of London. She uses a different type of disguise in this book that required a visit to Pertelote's, a shop where she was able to purchase materials to aid in her disguises.

In The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, Cecily Alistair from the The Case of the Left-Handed Lady has disappeared again. Before she disappears, Enola sees Cecily in a public restroom, one of the first of its kind. Cecily tries to get a message to Enola. It is clear Cecily is in distress. Enola is able to discover that something is terribly amiss with Cecily's situation. Sherlock and Enola work together a little more in this book, leaving you to wonder where their relationship will eventually lead. I think Sherlock is starting to understand just how clever and resourceful Enola is.

It took a little to get into the first book because the writing voice and language is more like you'd expect to hear in England just before the turn of the 20th century. Once I got into the rhythm, the pages flew by.

Enola is a spitfire. It's interesting to see how much different life was then for girls than it is today. Sometimes it's easy to take for granted all the things we can do now. I found Springer's descriptions of the characters and setting very informative. I'm rather glad I live today rather than in the late 1800s!

Genre: historical fiction, mystery

Topics: life in England (late 1800s), disguises, stereotypes (bk 3), mistreatment of poor people, distrust of left-handed people (bk 2), beginnings of union talks (bk 2), ciphers, arranged marriages (bk 4), orphans (bk 4)

Mrs. Beckwith's rating: 4 of 5

Amazon reviews for The Case of the Missing Marquess
Amazon reviews for The Case of the Left-Handed Lady
Amazon reviews for The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets
Amazon reviews for The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan