On a cold London morning in 1897, a young woman awakes on the ground outside the British Museum. She has no memory, and nothing that indicates her identity.

She does have a splitting headache, a lump on the back of her head, and a dim memory of having shot someone. She also quickly finds she has a talent for analyzing people's appearance and behavior for useful information that helps her survive. Unexpectedly, the police constable, John Kelly, who finds her decides that he trusts her. They piece together what they can, and then he's going off duty, and she's off to see what she can track down of her identity.

After walking around the outside of the museum, she sits on a bench, and is approached by a man who proceeds to talk seeming nonsense to her, and walks away when she doesn't respond as expected. Then she finds a card with the name of a doctor on Harley Street, which she puts in her purse for later consideration. Her clothing is not really presentable after her night sleeping on the sidewalk, and she inveigles a way to borrow clean clothing. With no other real clues, she decides to go see the doctor, in the hope that perhaps he can help with her memory.

But the doctor and his minions try to drug and kidnap her, and she barely escapes. Soon she is dodging villains, encountering John Kelly again, and meeting his little sister, Becky, and deciding, finally, to consult the one person in London whose name she remembers for sure--Sherlock Holmes. The conspiracy surrounding the British Museum turns out to relate back to a previous adventure, and as Lucy's memory gradually returns, she begins to understand the danger she's been in, and the importance of resolving this case.

John Kelly has his own related adventures, which become more and more entangled with those of Lucy and Holmes. I gather he and his sister, Becky, are going to be regulars going forward, and they are a welcome addition.

This is, in my opinion, a very good, satisfying Holmes pastiche, with Holmes, Watson, and Lucy all well portrayed, excellent characters.

I received this book as a gift.

1897 and Lucy James has woken up outside of the British Museum, unable to remember why or how, and who she is. She must decide who she can trust as she searches for the clues to her identity while solving the mystery of why.
I really enjoyed this mystery, and found it a wonderfully easy read. Unlike the first two in the series this book was not from the point of view of Dr. Watson but Lucy, and I admit I did miss the character in this story. Hopefully he will return in the next installment.
A NetGalley Book ( )

This episode does not start well with Lucy face down on the ground. Slowly she puts the pieces together and sets off after the bad guys, With Sherlock and Watson's help, she uncovers and now must foil the plot for assassination at the British Museum. This series continues nicely. ( )

The book is in two parts. It opens with a young woman, clothing muddied and face and hands dirty, found in an alley near the British Museum by a young (handsome) Bobbie . He believes at first she's a prostitute but after talking to her and listening to her speak offers to take her to a woman's shelter. She has amnesia but doesn't want him to know since she doesn't know who to trust. She finds a card in her handbag and stumbles off to investigate and walks right into a trap which she manages to extricate herself from and later bumps into the constable again. Meanwhile she keeps seeing crazy characters who look sort of familiar to her everywhere she goes. The second part pulls the constable into the case that Lucy and Sherlock are investigating and setting up the romance and a possible son-in-law for Sherlock. ( )

A young woman wakes up in front of the British museum with no memory. She must follow the clues around her to discover not only who she is but also who her attackers are before they strike again.

If there was ever a book to jump into the middle of a series, this is it. Because Lucy wakes up with amnesia at the start, any reader who hasn't met her (such as myself) are allowed to experience the mystery and get to know her personality without being made to feel as though we ought to know this already.

Lucy is by far the most enjoyable Holmes daughter I've come across. Her concerns about how she interacts with her father, who she does not know well, makes it easy to relate with her.

There were only two points which I did not enjoy, one being Holmes offering relationship advice. The other was that the story was written in first person present tense, which is my least favorite style.

I received a copy from NetGalley to read and review. My opinion is my own and not influenced by anyone else. ( )