Pass on this; revisit either the original or Nancy Springer's engaging tales of Sherlock’s little sister Enola.
Sherlock Holmes' secret daughter goes on the case in this tepid Victorian whodunit.
Twelve-year-old Dora Joyce learned of her illustrious parentage the night before her mother died of the same fever that had just killed the man she thought was her father. Now 16, the girl has been reared by her aunt, who despairs of her niece's unladylike tendency to "notice things." When her married cousin finds herself being blackmailed with letters written to a now-dead lover, Dora leaps at the opportunity to meet the famous detective. Alas, she arrives just after he has been killed fighting Moriarty, but Peter, the attractive young man who delivers this news on the doorstep of 221B Baker St., is himself a detective. A bit of eavesdropping in Peter's office quickly leads to Dora's involvement in a case that places her cousin's blackmailer at the heart of another mystery, that of the disappearance of a young gentlewoman. In the guise of a servant, she infiltrates (with credibility-straining ease) the country estate where the suspect works as a valet in the hopes of cracking both cases. The danger inherent in any Holmes-derived story is that it will not measure up to its inspiration, and this is the case here. Dora and Peter's frequent attempts to out-Holmes each other grow tiresome, as do Dora's embarrassingly swoontastic thoughts about Peter. Moreover, the third-degree burns she suffers impede her only when the narrative remembers them.
Pass on this; revisit either the original or Nancy Springer's engaging tales of Sherlock’s little sister Enola. (Historical mystery. 12 & up)Pub Date: June 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4231-2405-4
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
Intervals of intense suspense and a well-crafted puzzle blend to create a thrill ride of a story.
Red Kenny and her friends’ spring break road trip veers off course when they are detained by a sniper.
Since her police captain mother’s murder, Red has been inseparable from Maddy Lavoy, though it’s often difficult for Red to witness the warm family dynamics Maddy and her brother, Oliver, share with their mother, an assistant DA and Red’s late mother’s best friend. Red, the Lavoy siblings, and three other friends—Reyna Flores-Serrano, Arthur Moore, and Simon Yoo—embark in a borrowed RV on a journey to Gulf Shores but instead find themselves in the crosshairs of a long-range rifle held by a man demanding that one of them reveal an important secret. As Red battles internally with her guilt and grief over her mother’s death, her companions become increasingly volatile and paranoid as the group tries to discern whose secret is the one the hostage taker is after. The sometimes-tedious, sometimes-intense moment-by-moment breakdown of events in the 31-foot RV (that seems much smaller as the night wears on) magnifies the claustrophobia. Subtle indications that no one can really be trusted alternate with mind-blowing revelations. Toxic masculinity is often at war with common sense and good judgment, and moral ambiguity abounds. Red, Arthur, and the Lavoy siblings read White; Reyna is Mexican American, and Simon is cued as biracial (Korean and White). (This review has been updated to correct a character’s name.)
Intervals of intense suspense and a well-crafted puzzle blend to create a thrill ride of a story. (maps) (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37416-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lukewarm thriller.
In England, a group of teenagers tries to stay alive when a long weekend in an abandoned castle goes wrong.
When Bessie and her friends decide to join a party their classmate Allegra is throwing in her family’s abandoned castle before it’s converted into apartments, they think the biggest issues they’ll face are making it there before a big storm hits and keeping their plans secret from their parents and teachers. Once they arrive at the castle, however, Bessie and best friend Kashvi discover menacing graffiti and evidence that someone has been staying in the cellar. They also learn that protestors from the nearby village are angry about the development plans for the castle—one of them even argues that it would be better to burn it down. A handful of classmates manage to get there before the storm gets too severe. But when the teens wake up the next day to discover one of their own dead, and the storm makes it impossible for them to leave, they quickly realize that they’re in danger. But is the killer one of the members of the Facebook protestors’ group…or one of their own? Despite the book’s intriguing setup, the prose is dominated by repetitive conversations that convey little substance. Still, readers may still find themselves propelled forward by a need to discover the identity of the murderer. The central cast is racially diverse.
A lukewarm thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593704080
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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