A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry ThomasMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm loving this series. A reimagined Sherlock with a bit of romance? Come on!
The characters only get more interesting and come more into focus as we go along. In this second novel, we learn much more about Charlotte and her family--father and sisters especially--as well as Lord Ingram and his family, particularly Lady Ingram. Even Inspector Treadles, with his capable and intelligent wife, grows more interesting, despite being a minor character here. Sherry Thomas does a very nice job developing them all across many chapters, adding a bit here and there in an organic way, preparing us for book three. (And many more, hopefully.)
This series is entertaining for Sherlock fans in a meta way, giving us settings, characters, and plots familiar to us from the original but served up in novel ways. For example, it is a pleasure to see Lord Bancroft, a stand-in for Mycroft, engage with Charlotte in ways Mycroft did not. His admiration for Charlotte and willingness to make use of her brilliance adds a texture to the story that I find both entertaining and satisfying. There are hints of Moriarty here; Mrs. Watson continues in the Dr. Watson role in detecting; and her sister Livia takes on the literary aspects of Watson's character. There are many other twists, homages, and easter eggs, and I'm here for them.
The intellectual aspects of the novel--ciphers and science and clever clues that untangle tricky mysteries--are well done and engaging, but they are matched and nicely balanced with the emotional aspects of the story. That's something the original Sherlock stories was lacking, and not to make too much of a comparison, I must say I like this change. There is romance and disappointment and joy and human feeling throughout, and it makes a richer story. This is a mystery novel, and it works well on that level, but it is very human and grounded.
Recommended. Highly, in fact.
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