The series has built to this moment- a face to face between Charlotte Holmes and Moriarity. Charlotte the brain behind the Sherlock Holmes persona has met her match and feels the danger of playing real life chess with such an opponent. Love this series and could not wait to dive into the pages of this tension-wrought latest installment.

Miss Moriarity, I Presume is book six in a must-read-in-order series.

After the dangers of the previous Christmas, Charlotte has relaxed and enjoyed a budding, tentative relationship with Ash and worked on a few satisfying cases with Mrs. Watson. But, then the request for a meeting comes and Charlotte is face to face than her archenemy Moriarity, himself. He presents her with a new case that she can’t refuse and she knows full well there is something about the case that is a trap. There are also elements about the case that puzzle her because they fit in with past ties. Mrs. Watson is terrified and Ash is determined to be part of the investigation no matter the consequences. Meanwhile, Olivia Holmes pursues her own clues to discover what the lost Mr. Marbleton was trying to tell them just before he was sucked into the Moriarity criminal organization. Can he have left them something that will change the game and give them the upper hand of Moriarity?

I don’t know why I am still surprised at just how much each new book in the series sucks me in and leaves me both sated and in need of more. Some aspects are easy to see the solution, but I do love the clever twists and the way seeming innocuous clues end up having great meaning later on. Much of this book was getting the background on the current case regarding Miss Baxter and pursuing what clue Mr. Marbleton was trying to leave them before his departure. It was also the first real skirmish between Charlotte and Moriarity and that was set up and handled so well that I was holding my breath a few times.

There is also a bit of progress on the romantic relationship, but I thought it was interesting that as Mrs. Watson points out, they are not an easy couple and will always have to work at a compromise since they are so very different in needs and outlook.

A danger-frought climax occurred and the denouement set up things for what will come next. It looks like things are going to get more intense than ever and there are new players in the game with higher stakes.

All in all, this was abso-fab historical mystery reading with a brilliant woman detective at the center of it all. Those who haven’t started this series really must.

A really nice twist on the Final solution plot. Some twists were easy to see coming, others a little less. I liked how this new title in the series dove head first into the technological, scientific sides of the Holmes mystique.

Overall a really good addition and somehow a happy ending.

The 6th volume in the Lady Sherlock series does not disappoint. Charlotte Holmes, Mrs. Watson, and Lord Ingram are locked in a subtle (and sometimes, not so subtle) battle with Moriarty. After he comes back from the events of the last book, he (as Mr. Baxter) employs them to investigate the Garden of Hermopolis where his estranged daughter makes her home. I loved the inclusion of Miss Baxter and how she tied into the overarching mystery surrounding the series. I also enjoyed how Mr. Marbleton was involved and the general code-breaking involved. I always cheer for Livia when she escapes her parents and contributes to the solving of the mystery.

The characters remain interesting, flawed, and relatable. The setting is interesting and you can see it as you read Ms. Thomas's description. Another great read - and I can't wait for the next one!

I have been a fan of this series since the first book, even though byzantine plots sometimes confuse me. This book, the sixth in the series, features the highly anticipated meeting, at last, between Charlotte Holmes and notorious baddie Moriarty.

There’s a lot going on in this book; I’ll try to summarize as best I can.

Charlotte and part of her Scooby squad (her lover Lord Ingram and her friend and mentor Mrs. Watson) have been aware of surveillance on 18 Baker Street by Moriarty’s underlings, and in fact have been considering whether they should bolt now that they know they are under his scrutiny. Before they know it, there’s a visit from a representative of Moriarty’s, and then a visit from the man himself, wanting (ostensibly) the aid of the brilliant Sherlock Holmes.

Charlotte greets Moriarty, going by the name Baxter and accompanied by a familiar face, though Charlotte does not acknowledge that she recognizes him. Mr. Stephen Marbleton is Moriarty’s son; he had long been on the run from his father along with the rest of his family. For some reason he has been forced to go to Moriarty and now he is clearly his prisoner.

“Mr. Baxter” tells Charlotte a long story about his daughter by his first wife, who has been living with Hermeticists at a retreat in Cornwall. Moriarty has kept tabs on her, with her reluctant consent, during her time there, but lately he has come to suspect that something is wrong. He wants to dispatch Charlotte Holmes to investigate.

Charlotte is disquieted – even shaken – by the encounter with Moriarty, who seems to have a mesmeric power in person. I felt oddly disappointed to see the usually unflappable Charlotte, well, flapped.

I’m sure it was meant to convey Moriarty’s power, but it’s taken me a while to come to terms with Charlotte as a central protagonist. Seemingly on the autism spectrum, Charlotte’s detachment has made her an interesting heroine but also one who can be difficult to relate to, because she doesn’t act and react in familiar ways. But by now, I find that I have some ambivalence about a Charlotte who fears Moriarty, or even one whose view of the world has opened up due to her attachments to Lord Ingram, Mrs. Watson, and others. I am interested to see how she continues to develop, but I do have some affection for the “old” Charlotte.

Having no real choice but to bend to Moriarty’s wishes, Charlotte and Mrs. Watson head for the Garden of Hermopolis. Lord Ingram is following behind shortly, but first takes a trip with Livia, Charlotte’s sister. Livia’s fledging romance with Stephen Marbleton was cut short when he went back underground in the previous book. Now Lord Ingram and Livia try to trace Marbleton’s recent movements, based on a train ticket stub that he dropped on the carpet during his visit to Charlotte with Moriarty.

At the Garden of Hermopolis, Charlotte and Mrs. Watson find the denizens suspicious and unwelcoming, which is not surprising, since the two are there as representatives of Moriarty. They’ve been told by a housekeeper in Moriarty’s pay that Miss Baxter* has been mysteriously absent recently, and was apparently ill in her appearances before that. Given that the residents of the place are coy about arranging for a meeting between Miss Baxter and Charlotte, it’s not unreasonable that she and Mrs. Watson start to wonder if Miss Baxter has been done away with.

*I’m confusing *myself* switching between Baxter and Moriarty, so for the rest of this I’m just going to call Moriarty Moriarty, Miss Baxter Miss Baxter (she’s only referred to as Miss Moriarty twice in the book, title notwithstanding), and Stephen Marbleton as Stephen Marbleton rather than “Mr. Baxter.”

An incident of fireworks set off at the Garden confuses things further. The back of Miss Baxter’s house is set alight, but even then the Hermeticists seem reluctant to bring her out in the open, furthering Charlotte’s suspicions. Later that same evening, Charlotte is able sneak into the house of the compound’s doctor, where she encounters another mysterious intruder (whose identity I did figure out before it was revealed! Yay for me!).

Back in London, Livia continues to try to find information on the meaning of the ticket stub; she encounters Stephen with two minders at the British Museum’s Reading Room, where he leaves another clue for her to follow. Livia continues to come into her own in this series, going from someone totally cowed by her parents and suffering extremely low self-esteem to someone who has written and published a book of Sherlock Holmes adventures and is a vital part of Charlotte’s team.

In retrospect, there were clues to the central mystery of Miss Baxter’s elusiveness; I wonder if other readers guessed. I didn’t! But I think one of the things about these books is that there is so much going on that I’m too distracted to even make many guesses or connections. I just read on, waiting for someone to explain to me what happened in the end. That’s not really a drawback for me as a reader, since I don’t read a lot of mysteries and don’t necessarily read with the goal of solving the case before the end.

Charlotte and Lord Ingram’s relationship continues to progress – he appears to be better reconciled to the idea that they aren’t going to end up in some sort of traditional Victorian marriage (which, considering how awful his marriage was, really probably isn’t a bad thing).

For some reason, Miss Moriarty, I Presume didn’t hold my attention quite as strongly as some of the previous books in the series have; it took me a long time to finish. That may be in part because

Spoiler: Show

The story does get good mileage out of the central question, “is Moriarty for real here or is this whole thing a set up?” I was surprised at the degree to which Charlotte seemed to believe that he honestly wanted her help with his daughter. On the one hand, since Charlotte believed it I was inclined to as well, but on the other hand, I didn’t think she necessarily SHOULD believe it. The reality ended up being somewhat more complicated, and that made sense, but I was still convinced that Charlotte’s lack of skepticism wasn’t really justified.

I didn’t get a great sense of Moriarty as a character; I know he’s very smart and very dastardly and very scary, but I don’t quite *feel* it as a reader, at least not yet.

Miss Moriarty, I Presume was a solid entry into the series, and I’m giving it a solid B.

Sherry Thomas continues the Lady Sherlock series with Miss Moriarty I Presume? Charlotte is inveigled by Moriarty to help track down and persuade his daughter to return to him. Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travels to a remote colony of occultists and liars. Nothing is as it seems. Everyone is betraying everyone. Can Charlotte Holmes figure it out and survive?

The review of Miss Moriarty, I Presume? is in the December 2021 issue of Gumshoe Review and is exclusive to them until January 2022. You may read the review by clicking on this link:
<http://www.gumshoereview.com/php/Review-id.php?id=6844>

I’m a big fan of this series, and this sixth volume did not disappoint! Thomas really keeps the world fresh by introducing new characters and conflicts without escalating too much. I think this series could easily span a dozen books and stay interesting, which is high praise from me.

This book brings the Moriarty problem to the foreground, with the criminal himself meeting Charlotte for the first time. Their meeting is foreboding and has all of the suspense it’s earned, and the case he sets before her really puts Charlotte and her allies in a corner. One of the problems with keeping your adversary in the shadows is that the reveal can be a letdown, but this wasn’t. Moriarty earns his menace, and the tension of this story is as tight as a tripwire.

The new characters we meet in this book are compelling, and add to the rich world Thomas has created. As well as the suspense of the main mystery, I enjoyed the romantic tension between Charlotte and Lord Ingram, which has only gotten more interesting. I think the scene between him and Mrs. Watson, where she essentially lays out that only complete happiness or complete heartbreak can follow, is very well done. Ingram says something very clever, that Charlotte loves freedom, and he loves security, but neither can accommodate those desires for the other. I think it will be interesting negotiating those needs between these characters moving forward. I also enjoyed Olivia’s growth and her becoming more of a part of the team. Overall, this book is a stellar addition to the series, and as soon as I put it down I was mad it was over!

When people ask me to recommend a mystery series for them to this is my go to! Charlotte, Livia, Ash and Mrs. Watson are such wonderful friends. I am hoping this will not be the last book in the series and I don't want to give any spoilers here but there are events that move things along in interesting ways.
Beginning reading the series with book one, A Study in Scarlet Women, in which Miss Charlotte does something drastic to be free. The six books in the series will keep you guessing what Miss Holmes has planned. Entertaining, funny and intricately plotted, Sherry Thomas is a master of mystery. I think Moriarty has met his match in Holmes and her family and friends.

Have I really read 6 books in this series? For some reason it doesn't seem like it. Some of them have been more enjoyable than others, and I must admit that this one was a bit of a slow start for me, but in the end there was great payoff. Finally, there was the much anticipated face off between Charlotte Holmes and Moriarty, and while there were some tense moments with that meeting, I felt a little let down at Moriarty himself. His daughter, however, was something else entirely.

Don't go into this series expecting it to be realistic for the time period. Charlotte and company are much too independent to be realistic, but still fun to read about. I've been able to overlook this and enjoy the series for what it is.

What I mostly enjoyed about this book is the fact that we get answers to some long awaited questions, and also progress on the relationship front, although Charlotte's preoccupation with wanting to bed Lord Ingram was a bit overdone, especially when she was seeing suggestive gestures in the way his hand touched a throw cushion. Overall, I thought the mystery was woven really well, and it kept me guessing about some things for a long time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Very little (comparatively speaking to prior books in the series) happened in the first 80% of the novel. Then fucking everything happened in the last 20%. I need a while to recover from that ending. 😅

This was a fun read with lots of twists and turns. Having Moriarty, her enemy, as a client, makes Charlotte wonder if he really wants to find her daughter or to trap her and Mrs. Watson.

Best read in order, Miss Moriarty, I Presume? is an excellent addition to the series. This is one of my favorite historical mystery series. I recommend it to everyone!

i liked this book - i did a mix of reading and listening, like i have for all the previous books in the series. it went by very quickly this way, and i finished it in a day. it was enjoyable, the mystery and all that captivating and fast paced. the characters steal the show for me in this series, and i loved being with them all again. it was a solid read, not my favourite in the series, but pretty good. i'll continue the series of course, and i recommend it overall, definitely one you should read in order.

Miss Moriarty, I Presume? was one of the Fresh Fiction Podcast Anticipated Fall Media pick (posted 9/2): https://freshfiction.podbean.com/e/ah-i-love-trailers-anticipated-fall-and-winter-books-movies-and-tv-guest-susan-kamyab/

Sherry Thomas was also featured on the Fresh Fiction blog with a 20 Questions interview (posted 11/2): https://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=11560

This book was received as an ARC from Berkley Publishing Group - Berkley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I could not get enough of this book. It combined the best of both world in Historical Fiction and Murder Mystery. There were so many twists and turns which made the book more exciting. Moriarty is such an iconic figure that tying in a murder mystery just made sense and the book was so much fun to read. I can see this book becoming a popular book club or even a discussion group over coffee. Sherry Thomas is a very popular author so I know this book will circulate very well in our collection.

We will consider adding this title to our Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Sherry Thomas continues her delightfully feminist, gender-swapped Sherlock Holmes series with a sixth entry: Miss Moriarty, I Presume? Charlotte Holmes, detective extraordinaire and lover of sweets, is astonished when her new client, known as Mr. Baxter, is none other than Mr. Moriarty. "Mr. Baxter" insists on Holmes's help in tracking down his daughter, who has been living in an occult commune in Cornwall. He has sent a cleaning lady to spy on Miss Baxter periodically, but she hasn't seen Miss Baxter for months, and Moriarty wants Holmes to find out why.

Unable safely to refuse Moriarty's request, Holmes and her lover, Lord Ingram, head to Cornwall with Mrs. Watson, Holmes's landlady, to see what they can find out. And they discover mysteries indeed: Miss Baxter doesn't emerge from her cottage even when a fire begins nearby, and clearly several of the commune's residents are hiding things. As the situation becomes ever more dangerous, Holmes, Mrs. Watson and Lord Ingram also realize that Moriarty cares more about entrapping Holmes than he does about finding his own daughter.

Atmospheric and fast-paced, Miss Moriarty, I Presume? is Sherlockian fiction at its finest. Fans of Laurie R. King or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself are sure to adore the way that Sherry Thomas leaves her readers guessing until the end. Thomas does an excellent job of capturing Victorian English society and mixing it neatly with Moriarty's sinister ploys and Holmes's intuitive leaps, to create a novel perfect for devouring

A good portion of the story takes place in the walled and secluded compound for the Garden of Hermopolis commune. This is creepy and atmospheric.

From the beginning Charlotte and cast know that Moriarity is setting Charlotte up for tragedy. So the plot is two part, look in on the daughter (going as Miss Baxter) and also beware of the danger at every turn. A third aspect is Olivia's love, who is Moriarity's estranged son (recently in his father's control again), is attempting to pass very subtle clues to her and she is stretching her own reasoning skills to figure it out.

I can't really discuss the climax without spoilers, suffice to say that Charlotte must figure out the reality of the pieces and strategies in this chess game with Moriarity besides that he intends for her to die. I will leave it at that.

My Thoughts: This is not the book to jump into the series. It is a culmination of much from book two forward. I appreciated Olivia getting to flex her own reasoning skills in this book. As usual, this was intricately plotted and well executed. I enjoyed this tremendously and if you have been a fan of the series, this is a must read. There are some big twists. I have to wonder where the series will go after this.

Rating: Excellent - a must read for fans

"A most unexpected client shows up at Charlotte Holmes's doorstep: Moriarty himself. Moriarty fears that tragedy has befallen his daughter and wants Charlotte to find out the truth. "
Another excellent addition to the Lady Sherlock series. Characters shine as always and fast paced story telling keepings you turning page after page and not able to put it down.

Another great addition to what is fast becoming one of my all-time favorite historical mystery series! **Thank you so much to both NetGalley and Berkley Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!**

Even though we start with what is potentially a "missing persons" case in this one, there's not a clear mystery in the majority of this (no obvious who dunnit etc.) but rather a whole series of potentially linked events and mysteries that make this one a little convoluted for the better part of the story. That being said, long time fans will absolutely love this addition to the series as it finally brings to the forefront one James Moriarty, along with all sorts of secrets and reveals to various characters featured throughout the series so far (along with some new additions). The climax of this one is also very big both in its action and scope (and will have fans of the original Sherlock Holmes stories recognizing some tangents to major and important story arcs from that series) so buckle down for a wild ride at the end! And finally we begin to see a vision of that nemisis' layer high in the alps some where.....

I cannot recommend this series enough, and have selected it as an employee spotlight for out store. This series just keeps getting better and better (and it was GREAT to start with) I cannot wait for the next. one!

This was one of the few series that I have started and didn’t care for but actually decided to go back and give another chance to because everything about this book series promised to be right up my alley! I was so glad that I decided to give it another go because I have fallen in love with the characters (especially Lord Ingram) and I have loved all the books so far!

Obviously when this one came up, I couldn’t WAIT to see what some of my favorite characters had been up to since the last book plus things are really heating up when it comes to the Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty rivalry. If you have not read this series yet, I highly recommend going back and reading the other books first. This series builds on a lot of back stories and inter personal relationships so if you don’t have that context then it makes it more difficult to appreciate the larger narrative.

This book was a great weekend read and I enjoyed this one, though perhaps not as much as some of the others in the series but it was still what I would consider a solid read and I am really looking forward to the next book in the series as this one left things on a high note and I am eager to see what happens next.

Summary
Charlotte Holmes comes face to face with her enemy when Moriarty turns to her in his hour of need, in the USA Today bestselling series set in Victorian England.

A most unexpected client shows up at Charlotte Holmes’s doorstep: Moriarty himself. Moriarty fears that tragedy has befallen his daughter and wants Charlotte to find out the truth.

Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to a remote community of occult practitioners where Moriarty’s daughter was last seen, a place full of lies and liars. Meanwhile, Charlotte’s sister Livia tries to make sense of a mysterious message from her beau Mr. Marbleton. And Charlotte’s longtime friend and ally Lord Ingram at last turns his seductive prowess on Charlotte–or is it the other way around?

But the more secrets Charlotte unravels about Miss Moriarty’s disappearance, the more she wonders why Moriarty has entrusted this delicate matter to her of all people. Is it merely to test Charlotte’s skills as an investigator, or has the man of shadows trapped her in a nest of vipers? (summary from Goodreads)

Review
This book for me was the bridge book. The best way for me to describe this book is to use another literary analogy. This book felt like the Order of the Phoenix book of the series. The earlier books felt more like introduction to characters and established the relationships and Sherlock/Charlotte Holmes as the superior detective but then things take a darker more serious turn as the one true villain emerges and threatens to topple everything Holmes and her friends have created for themselves. It was a good bridge installment and one that was necessary but for me it felt like there was a lot going on but also nothing actually happening if that makes sense. There wasn’t really a murder to investigate and Holmes and Lord Ingram’s relationship seemed to stall when it was really picking up in previous books. Livia and Mr Marbleton are also in a weird place along with all the other characters in the series when it ends.

Things definitely felt unfinished by the end of this one and but that’s to be expected as clearly the next book in the series will answer a number of questions lingering in this one. But for me this one felt less action packed and more like setting the stage for something bigger to come similar to the Order of the Phoenix book in the Harry Potter series. It wasn’t bad by any means and in many ways I expected that this one would be a little less action packed than the other books in the series just based on the fact that Moriarty is the ultimate Holmes villain and as such requires more than just a single book to set up and resolve their plotline.

While this book might have felt a little less action packed than some of the previous books and even if I was hoping for more progress with Lord Ingram, overall I felt like it was a satisfying read and left me wanting more Holmes and more books which obviously is the intent! I am so excited to see how things unfold in the forthcoming books based on how this one ended. If you are a fan of this series this is no doubt you’re going to grab this one and devour it as I did, if you are new to the series, go back and read the other books and you will appreciate this one so much more!

Book Info and Rating
Format: 368 pages, paperback

Expected publication: November 2nd 2021 by Berkley Books

ISBN: 9780593200582

Free review copy provided by publisher, Berkley Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: historical fiction, mystery, detective novel