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A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas
Jun. 7th, 2023 06:34 pmA Tempest at Sea
4/5. Latest in this series about a girl!Sherlock. Here, Holmes is hiding aboard a cruise ship when a murder occurs, which might force her out into the open into Moriarty’s sights.
This really shouldn’t work as well as it does. It’s not at all a fair mystery – it hides the true sequence of events behind a series of spaced out flashbacks that are there for no structural reason at all other than to increase suspense. And the bulk of the book takes place in a series of slow but tense conversations in a single room with a small selection of characters that does not even include Holmes. Action-packed it is not. And yet.
And yet this book, like the rest of the series, is steeped in the lives of women. In how they can be destroyed carelessly, even casually by a man, and how that destruction – the loss of respectability – is disastrous and also opens up some entirely new doors. It’s about double-standards and living with them and defying them. And also, the stupid suspense tricks actually work, hmph.
Side note: Hold onto your hats, kids. Since the last time I posted, we have bought on a house, begun nearly a dozen separate renovation projects, moved, and switched Casterbrook's preschool. I am very behind, and boy do I have stress reading for you.
4/5. Latest in this series about a girl!Sherlock. Here, Holmes is hiding aboard a cruise ship when a murder occurs, which might force her out into the open into Moriarty’s sights.
This really shouldn’t work as well as it does. It’s not at all a fair mystery – it hides the true sequence of events behind a series of spaced out flashbacks that are there for no structural reason at all other than to increase suspense. And the bulk of the book takes place in a series of slow but tense conversations in a single room with a small selection of characters that does not even include Holmes. Action-packed it is not. And yet.
And yet this book, like the rest of the series, is steeped in the lives of women. In how they can be destroyed carelessly, even casually by a man, and how that destruction – the loss of respectability – is disastrous and also opens up some entirely new doors. It’s about double-standards and living with them and defying them. And also, the stupid suspense tricks actually work, hmph.
Side note: Hold onto your hats, kids. Since the last time I posted, we have bought on a house, begun nearly a dozen separate renovation projects, moved, and switched Casterbrook's preschool. I am very behind, and boy do I have stress reading for you.