ENOLA HOLMES AND THE CLANGING COFFIN - Nancy Springer


 1891 London and Enola Holmes, the younger (much younger) sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, is attending the burial ceremony of her former landlady. When she hears the faint sound of a handbell in the in the graveyard, she does what a Holmes would do - she investigates. What she finds is a temporary tombstone at a recent grave site with a bell attached to it. Someone buried inside is pulling a string to ring the bell. Enola quickly takes charge and directs her companions to free the person within. She finds a young girl who remembers almost nothing, including her own name, about how or why she was buried. 

Enola takes it upon herself to protect the mysterious girl from an unknown enemy and learns that her brother Sherlock is engaged in a battle with Professor Moriarty and off on a mission that appears to be related to the mysterious girl in Enola's care.

When Enola receives terrible news regarding Sherlock's battle, the dynamics of the Holmes family changes and she shows why her detective skills rival her more famous brother's.

There's really not much to say about this other than it's a heck of a lot of fun.

I have not read all the books in the Enola Holmes series (this is book number ten)  - in fact I've only read one other - but I intend to change that. Author Nancy Springer has really created a wonderful character in Enola Holmes and writes an engaging, fast-paced Victorian-era mystery.

This has all the danger and mystery we might find in an Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes story, but moves along quicker and frankly, Enola is a much more interesting person/character than her more famous brother(s). We get drawn in immediately by the woman buried alive, which is high-stakes, high drama, and it never really lets up. And yet somehow, Enola never seems panicked or at a loss of what to do. She's a great character for young readers to admire.

This is not quite a cozy mystery, but it's also not so dark that it would turn some readers off.

Looking for a good book? Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin by Nancy Springer is the more exciting, more fun, and more relatable detective Holmes.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

* * * * * *

Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin

author: Nancy Springer

series: Enola Holmes #10

publisher: Wednesday Books

ISBN:  9781250407597

hardcover, 336 pages 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AFTERGLOW - Tim Jordan

Image
The nanotech drug Glow is everywhere.  Rex remains in hiding as he's still recovering from his addiction. Every day is a different challenge. But there are bigger problems to face – a new alliance threatens the balance of power in the world again, and a dangerous enemy from Rex's past tracks him down. Is it really possible that Rex is the cure for the plague? Or is he, more likely, the root of humanity’s downfall? Rex must decide if he really is a prophet... or just a coward. I did not care for the first book but I had received the second book to review before I'd started Glow . I decided to give it some time and come to this book fresh and I was really, really intent on giving this a good read and hoped it would enjoy it more. Unfortunately, I did not. As I noted in the review of the first book, this does not feel new or fresh. Science fiction and drugs have been a pretty common idea. Philip K Dick was a master of this, and more recently (like ten to twelve years ago), bot...
Read more

FORGED IN DREAMS AND MAGICK - Kat Bastion

Image
Isobel MacInnes is an archeology student. She's strong-willed and determined and she's a rising star with a bright future in archeology ahead of her when she touches an old box that has been handed down by chieftains for centuries and is transported to 13th century Scotland. Here is alpha male, Iain, clan leader who takes an immediate, protective liking to Isobel.  Isobel's aggressive nature is not unusual in the 21st century but in Iain's time it is quite unusual, but Iain seems to have great respect for a woman who can match his intensity. They are, they realize, soulmates. But in a cruel twist, shortly after recognizing that they are meant to be together, Isobel is whisked away once again, centuries earlier, now in Pictish-era Scotland. Here, Isobel meets Velloc, a Pict chieftain; an alpha male; and her new soulmate. It will take some time, but she will manage to get back (forward in time) to see Iain again, who will help her to understand a few things about that box...
Read more

THE TAINTED CUP - Robert Jackson Bennett

Image
Robert Jackson Bennett is easily one of my favorite authors currently writing in the sf/f field. His world-building is strong, detailed, and comes across so very real. His stories are complex and while not always described, there is clearly history and future to the current events. And his characters are unique and admirable for their honesty and directness. In The Tainted Cup , Bennett departs just a little from his The Divine Cities trilogy and The Founders trilogy. The previous trilogies are definitely fantasies - high, dark, intricate.  This, while still in a very Robert Jackson Bennett world, is first a murder mystery, and second a fantasy. Dinios Kol is the new assistant (an engraver who has been magically altered via Leviathan blood, to have a perfect memory) to investigator Ana Dolabra. Ana's abilities are rivaled only by her eccentricities and few people want to be around her, much less act as her assistant. But the relationship between Dinios and Ana seems to be work...
Read more