A Conspiracy in Belgravia

A Conspiracy in Belgravia (2017) Sherry Thomas

This is the second Lady Sherlock Holmes book, and as I’ve mentioned before, I generally hate Sherlock Holmes stories, but this one I don’t mind as such, since instead of taking the characters are Doyle wrote them, she has imagined that Sherlock Holmes was based upon a woman, and the stories were written by that woman’s sister. That’s fun and follows the spirit of what I like about mysteries.

But.

There is something about this story that just felt off to me. It’s possible it was the jumping back and forth in time, as the characters remember things about the past and those memories are woven into the narrative. It’s not that it’s extremely jarring, and that might not even be it, but I can’t figure out precisely what it is.

The mystery is interesting, and the characters are a lot of fun, and I especially like Charlotte.

Charlotte had not been to church since she ran away from home. God likely wouldn’t mind if she stepped inside His house— Jesus voluntarily associated with women of less-than-pristine repute— but His followers tended to be less magnanimous.

And I like Livia perhaps even more.

Livia viewed everything through a lens of complications, real and imaginary. From where to sit at a tea party, to whether she ought to say something to the hostess if her table setting was missing a fork, her lugubrious and plentiful imagination always supplied scenarios in which she committed a fatal misstep that destroyed any chance she had at a happy, secure life. For her, every choice was agony, every week seven days of quicksand and quagmire.

And I love their relationship.

Charlotte knew everything about Livia— and Charlotte did not want Livia to be anything other than who she was.

Yet still, there was something about the story that just never gelled for me.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want to read more, because I definitely do, because it was enjoyable. But I’m also glad I borrowed this book instead of paying full price for it, because it was good, but it wasn’t quite that good.
Rating: 7/10

Publisher: Berkley

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