I love this series so much and this book is the best yet. The new characters introduced are well drawn and our regulars really shine. There's some really interesting threading around expectations of women in the era and I love what is being set up. Do I have to wait a year for the next one? ( )

Charlotte is approached by Moriarty, incognito, and asked to investigate his daughter.

I started reading this in April and finished it in November. I didn’t dislike it, it just didn’t… grab me? Not sure why. Perhaps because, knowing how slow-burn this series has been with some of the long-running narrative threads, I wasn’t eagerly anticipating any significant developments? ( )

A 100, need a break from this series

This is the first book in this series that I haven't enjoyed. The plot just felt SO convoluted. I'm totally fine if a mystery is more clever than I am and I'm not able to solve things before they're revealed, truly. And I have no qualms with 'complex' either. But this wasn't that. This felt like it was so determined to be extremely impressive that it sacrificed its claim to practicality or believability. Previously it seemed like there were just a couple genius characters and we could kinda follow them along. But now there are like half a dozen all playing this complicated chess game, each 20 moves ahead. And it felt like we hardly even got any chapters from the perspective of the brilliant characters, I suppose so that we could be kept more in the dark, so we were left with just seeing them occasionally give each other a look to make sure *we* knew that *they* knew things, lol. And the characters we did see events through felt extra gullible and clueless, more than they previously have, (maybe so we could feel more clever than someone at least?), but it felt like being dropped back into 6th grade while watching your peers go off to college without you or something. Being so entirely kept out of the loop. And even looking back at the answers with hindsight there's no satisfying feeling of 'ahh, it was all there in front of me!' like there usually is. Just this sense of 'Really? That was your plan?' and 'Please! That's like a one in a billion shot, there's no way you came to that instantly solely through the powers of deduction'. We're just supposed to trust that the characters really ARE nearly omnipotently clever apparently. I'm not sure events really hold up under much scrutiny though. Maybe I wouldn't mind so much usually, except the whole thing felt like such a slog to get through. It's weird though to go along so happily with 5 books and then be so annoyed with the sixth. I'll still continue with the series though. ( )

Miss Moriarty, I Presume by Sherry Thomas is a 2021 Berkley publication.

Holmes has been retained by the most unlikely client of all- Moriarty himself- under the guise of a 'Mr. Baxter'. Why on earth would he approach Holmes for help?

Well, it would appear his daughter has joined a Pagan religious group, but she has not been seen by his spies in some months. Worried that something bad may have happened, Moriarty requests Holmes investigate matters on his behalf.

Charlotte agrees to take the case, though not really sure what Mr. Baxter's true motives might be,traveling with Mrs. Watson to a remote location only to discover that Miss Baxter is perhaps as cunning as her father, and that she, Charlotte, has been snared in Moriarity's well executed trap...

Nearly every time I read a book in this series, it makes me want to dig into the original Sherlock Holmes stories- some of which I’m quite familiar with, and others only vaguely so. This story ‘borrows’, if you will, from one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's more famous stories, but I'm getting ahead of myself..

This is a great addition to the series! I love me some Victorian Cornwall settings! The atmosphere here is off the charts, but there were some rich, erotic, and humorous tones as the romance between Holmes and Lord Ingram heats up.

Olivia is busy looking for a secret message she is sure Mr. Marbleton is trying to send her. Of all the characters in the series, Olivia’s has struggled to find her niche, and is sometimes all over the place, but her star shone especially bright in this episode.

But, back to the 'original problem'- which I'll leave for you decipher-

Thomas has done a fabulous job with the role reversal in this series, and this book is no exception. The feminist spin is exceedingly well done here. Loved it!

4+ stars ( )