Cover Image: Miss Moriarty, I Presume?

Miss Moriarty, I Presume?

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Member Reviews

BIG TIME thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Books, and Ms. Thomas for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

......... I have no words. .........

Ms. Thomas is an absolute craft master at tight plotting, superb characterization, and intricate details and IT SHOWS. You would have to have the most superlative attention to detail to write a mystery of Holmes' caliber (Sherlock or otherwise) and this one was a masterpiece. Not only does Charlotte have a mystery on her hands, she is also responsible for preserving the safety and in fact the life of herself and all her compatriots. How could anyone doubt that her capabilities would match the challenge?
Everything here was just so superbly satisfying. The titular Miss Moriarty and the identity of her, uh, co-conspirator. The advancement in the relationship between Charlotte and Lord Ingram. Mrs. Watson's steadfast support. Livia's agonizing feelings for poor tormented Mr. Marbleton. UGH. The only real drawback of reading a title as an ARC is that the wait for the next book is EVEN LONGER.
I don't want to spoil any details, because even one detail might cause the house of mysterious cards to come tumbling down and ruin the surprise, but suffice to say, I was completely wowed and am absolutely dying to get my hands on the next book already. (I'm aware I will be waiting quite some time, darn it.) Kudos to you, Ms. Thomas, on this gem of a book. I am in awe.

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I truly look forward to each new entry in this series, and with the tense atmosphere of this story, I was on pins and needles reading through the latter half in particular- when Charlotte Holmes is on edge, you know that the danger is real. This story took Holmes relying on the aid of all those in her small circle as she takes on the case of the missing daughter of none other than Moriarty himself. Relationships get deepened and explored, and it will be a real test of everyone's skills and strengths.
You don't have to know the Sherlock Holmes canon by heart to enjoy this series, but I do recommend readers start from the beginning of this series (this would be a particularly bad entry to start with).

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Sherry Thomas delivers another stunner with Miss Moriarty, I Presume? This novel takes Charlotte to a religious compound, where she wanders even further into Moriarty’s web. An absolutely delightful continuation into the world of Charlotte Holmes! There are few series I’m willing to read and reread, but each installment of this series brings me such joy. Highly recommend! This Lady Sherlock series is my favorite version of Sherlock (the original included!)

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A huge thank you to Berkley for my copy! This series just keeps getting better and better. This is the 6th book in the series so make sure to start with A Study in Scarlet Women but the build up between Charlotte and Ash is *chef's kiss*.

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Thomas's series about Charlotte Holmes grows stronger with each entry! I feel like she has found her writing forte. Her romances were also well done, but I love her mysteries.

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First, a warning: if you have not read the previous Lady Sherlock books, don't start here! Miss Moriarty, I Presume? feels like a culmination of the first half of the series, and references loads of characters and events from past books. I found myself at times struggling to recall incidents from the first few books, so a Lady Sherlock refresher wouldn't go amiss.

I view Sherry Thomas's books about Charlotte Holmes as primarily mysteries, but with a slow burn romance subplot. The mysteries tend to be complicated, hiding elements from the reader until Charlotte or others reveal them. I'm not a fan of convoluted cases, so I appreciate all the characters and their evolving relationships--Thomas writes romance very well.

For this one, though, I found the mystery in the first half slow and a bit confusing, and I figured out most of the conclusion (which usually isn't the case in these books). Moriarty is such a huge, overpowering threat to Charlotte and Mrs. Watson, but he didn't feel particularly menacing to me--he's definitely a villain, but still remains a bit amorphous.

Fortunately the pace picked up in the second half of the book, and the character interactions were excellent as always. I wasn't completely happy with the twist in the end, but it holds a lot of potential for the next story arc.

In short: slower and less twisty than usual, but the characters make up for it.

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Miss Moriarty, I Presume? was just as excellent as I was expecting and hoping! Everything that I’ve loved about all the previous books is here in full force. AND we get some peeks of some characters we’ve been missing; and a few we haven’t been missing so much.

I’ve talked a lot about Charlotte and how much I love her, and that doesn’t change in this book. If anything I love her more than ever. But I want to take a few moments and talk about Livia a bit more.

In the beginning Livia was such a background character – purposefully. She didn’t like being in the spotlight, she melted herself into the wallpaper. Livia didn’t attempt to draw attention and was incredibly unsure of herself. Seeing her gradual development and growth throughout this series has been wonderful. I was worried, a little, initially that her growth was going to be dependent on a man. And maybe some would argue the initial catalyst was, but even if you did everything since then has been all her.

She’s come from assuming that everyone thinks the worst of her to reminding herself that she is worth more. I’ve loved seeing her growth and desperately want her happy-ever-after. I’m deeply invested in her love interest as well.

Speaking of Mr. Marbleton, we get some updates on him here. I won’t say too much, because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I was so happy to see him again! I also have a much greater appreciation for his cunning and skills.

Especially after actually meeting Moriarty, himself. *shudders* So often in books and movies the “Big Bad” is built up to be this completely villainous person that is just evil. And, frequently, they don’t live up to it. They’re not smart enough, not quick, not charming…just not enough umph to actually be the main villain. Moriarty is more than he’s been built up to be.

He’s so incredibly menacing that I was on the edge of my seat reading. It’s not smoke and mirrors, it’s not overbuilt. He is every bit the threat they believe him to be. And after meeting him, they know him to be an even bigger threat than they previously assumed. Because now they’re on his radar, not simply working around the fringes of his existence.

Not only does Miss Moriarty, I Presume? have an intriguing mystery (within a couple of other mysteries), but it does a LOT to advance many overarcing story-threads.

Miss Moriarty, I Presume? is fraught with tension, mystery, intrigues, and passion. After spending the last couple of weeks flying through this series, I’m not sure how I’m going to handle the more-than year wait to the next one.

I deduce re-reading is in my future.

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4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the advanced copy.

I can't wait to see where the series goes from here!

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Basically a Lady Sherlock soap opera and I'm here for it! I love this series and the latest volume is a solid addition. I wasn't wild about the first half but really felt drawn to the rest of the book once I'd made it over the hump. Definitely wouldn't recommend starting here but it's a good one for completists!

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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?

There is a lot going on in the sixth installment of the Lady Sherlock Series. Sherry Thomas has created characters (Charlotte and Mrs. Watson) that are more interesting than the original Holmes & Watson. Then she gave them an even more interesting group of friends to help and be helped. I was glad to see everyone got at least a little bit of time on the page. I cannot wait to find out what happens in book 7.

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Sherlock Holmes has spawned an entire industry of fiction featuring his past, his loves, his putative children, and earlier adventures that Conan Doyle mysteriously failed to record. As someone who never quite got into the original stories, I tend to resist the spinoffs unless they have compelling hooks of their own. Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series is one example, Bonnie MacBird’s scrupulously canonical collection of Holmes/Watson adventures another. Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series is now a third. I encountered this novel by chance and decided to read the first book in the series to get a sense of it before agreeing to an interview. Again, the characters drew me in.

In brief, these books go beyond adding to the Sherlock Holmes legend. They reimagine what it might have been if Sherlock (and Watson and several other important characters, as suggested by the title of this sixth installment) had been a woman. Enter Charlotte Holmes, a short blonde with a love of ostentatious fashion and of baked goods in all their forms, leaving her with something other than the typical Basil Rathbone physique. But despite her physical differences, Charlotte has a mind every bit as logical and penetrating as her brother Sherlock, whose imaginary presence makes it possible for her to ply her trade in sexist Victorian London.

To be honest, I can’t help thinking that Charlotte and her associates are so far away from the original Holmes that they might be better off in their own universe. The link seems more a marketing decision than a literary one. But that said, it’s tremendous fun to watch Thomas tweaking the canon, and the mysteries are fiendishly complex yet, in the end, wholly believable. I’ve read all six and thoroughly enjoyed the ride, but Miss Moriarty, I Presume? is the best of the lot.

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What a delightful series. They just keep getting better and better.

Just when I think I know where it's going and then there's a twist and I'm surprised all over again. Thomas never takes the easy way out of a story.

Charlotte keeps coming into her own, deepening her character and overcoming every challenge that comes her way. I love spending time with her and those she surrounds herself with.

The writing and plot are quite detailed, but everything comes together nicely at the end. I love how the slow burn romance is finally igniting. I love Charlotte’s relationships with her sister and Mrs. Watson.

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I love this series, but I just couldn't get into this book. There is so much fear around the Moriarty character and everyone has such a visceral reaction to just his name being mentioned. While some description of his "dastardly" actions have been described, I can't see the "tremble and faint when you hear his name" reaction being justified. This book was slower paced than the other and I think the purpose of the book was to set up characters and plots for future books. Do I still love this series? YES. Will I continue to read the rest of the series? YES. This book, though, just didn't do it for me.

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3.5 stars

The Lady Sherlock books are much fun, if a bit preposterous. Charlotte Holmes, the peculiar genius, purports to be the sister of the famous detective. Her sisters, her assistant Mrs. Watson, and her lover Lord Ingram form an appealing ensemble in solving puzzling cases.

One caveat: the plots in these are complex, and this one would be a difficult one to decipher without the background of the other books, in my opinion. There is no "new" mystery here, just a fated meeting with the diabolical Moriarty who is assuming another identity.

The relationship between the characters is fraught with history: former wives, siblings, illegitimate family members -- all tie Charlotte and Ingram to Moriarty. This time around he asks Charlotte to check up on his estranged daughter, who is secluded at a religious estate and hasn't been heard from.

This delivers the action and plot twists that make the series appealing. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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This is a series I enjoy, but sometimes I struggle with it. It took me almost a month to read this one and while I liked the plot, I felt it dragged a bit in the middle and I spent a lot of time putting it down and reading other things.
This series should be read in order as the storyline is continuous and often references events that happened in previous books. The mystery surrounding the elusive Miss Baxter grabbed my interest, and it went in a way that was unexpected, which I liked. But I really wish I felt more of a threat from Moriarty. He does not come across as menacing as he is supposed to be. Overall, I still enjoy this series, especially the continuing development between Holmes and Lord Ingram. But I'm kind of burned out on the Moriarty plot. It will be interesting to see how the next book handles the consequences of the ending in this one, though. Still a recommended reading for historical mystery fans but patrons should start with the first book.

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The sixth Lady Sherlock mystery begins when Charlotte is hired by a most unusual client - Moriarty himself. He wants her to investigate a religious center on the Cornwall coast that has been his daughter's home for a number of years. He has reason to believe that something has happened to her.

Moriarty is not a client that Charlotte can refuse. So she and Mrs. Watson, along with Lord Ingram, make a visit and uncover a number of secrets.

Secrets abound in this episode. Mr. Marbleton is leaving secret messages that require deciphering and then investigation. Charlotte's half-brother Myron Finch is on the run from Moriarty too and hasn't left a message for a while which causes Charlotte to worry.

Charlotte and Lord Ingram's romance is proceeding in a typical Charlotte sort of way. Ingram's divorce is nearing finality and he's worrying about how to tell his two young children about it. And Charlotte is sending him racy letters...

This was an entertaining and engaging episode of this series with lots of twists and turns. New readers would likely be lost, but fans of the series will enjoy this addition.

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I continue to adore the twistiness of Lady Sherlock's novels. Every time, I think I have it figured it out, the grand reveal proves me wrong. In this installment, we meet Moriarty himself when he hires Charlotte to make a report on the welfare of his daughter who has not been making regular contact. Charlotte and company make the trip to the remote community where Miss Moriarty has secluded herself. As always, nothing is as it seems. Do not miss out on this one!

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3.5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Charlotte is enlisted by Mr. Baxter (aka James Moriarty) to check on the status of his daughter, who has joined an occultist commune in Cornwall. Miss Baxter takes after her father and refuses to allow anyone other than a neutral party to visit and report back to him, and she chooses the famous Sherlock Holmes to be that party. Charlotte and company are aware that Baxter most likely isn't telling her the whole truth but Charlotte accepts anyway. Twists and turns occur as the major characters of the series make an appearance.

However, I think the story wrapped up too quickly and I'm wondering why not everyone's situation was given closure. Will there be another installment?

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This is a soap opera of a Lady Sherlock book, and we absolutely loved it! The previous books in the series often involved Moriarty as the ultimate villain, but only as the mastermind behind the scenes, not the major mover. As the title suggests, though, in this one Moriarty's machinations are the driver of the plot. Moriarty comes to Charlotte-as-Sherlock to ask for help in confirming his daughter's wellbeing. At the same time, Stephen Marbleton is back on the scene, leaving cryptic messages around London that Livia is scrambling to decode.

It's difficult to talk about the plot because, after all, this is a mystery. That said, it's a mystery that has both a defined solution (what happened to Miss Moriarty?) and also an open-ended inquiry (why did Moriarty ask Charlotte to investigate, and what is his ultimate goal?). This entry in the series has a more apprehensive feel than previous novels (except for perhaps The Hollow of Fear), since Charlotte and co. are under threat the entire time. Despite that, there are also more lighthearted moments as Ingram and Charlotte take the next steps in their relationship. If you're a fan of Lady Sherlock, this one will not disappoint!

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I'm never happier than when Sherry Thomas releases a new Lady Sherlock story. Miss Moriarty, I Presume did not let me down. With each book, we get deeper and deeper into the characters' lives, and instead of getting boring it just gets better. The book is filled with complex women characters with different parts to play, from Charlotte, to Mrs. Watson, to Livia, and that's not even including those we are introduce to with each new mystery.

This is where I admit that Moriarty is usually my least favorite part of traditional Sherlock canon. I always dread when the character is introduced because it's rarely done in a way that adds something to the story for me. I think Sherry Thomas does a good job balancing everything here. She balanced the fear the character inspires while not letting them take over the story, and I appreciate that a lot.

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