Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book! My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.

Knowing that this wasn't just a Sherlock Holmes adaptation but that the MC was Irene Adler, I knew I had to read it. Absolutely loved this, showing Irene, Sherlock, and Moriarty at Oxford together. Irene taking some classes as herself but then changing clothes and pretending to be a man, so she can actually learn something.

Definitely would recommend this. Totally clean book, no smut. No graphic descriptions of the murders. Perfect cozy.

Definitely would recommend!

interesting and well done murder mystery with a great sense of place and an even better sense of self. would definitely recommend. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

"Our hearts are not born black. They are made that way."

4.25 stars

An entertaining murder mystery with some beloved characters.

A big fan of Irene getting to be the star of the show and this book delivered that in spades. She's such a great character to follow, though she seemed to be a little muted for my tastes here, but this is the first book of a series so I'm sure she'll blossom even more as we go.

Holmes was also a great character, though I would have liked a little more of him here. He's also not quite the Holmes most of us are used to but again, I think we're gonna have another book or more to watch him grow into it.

Definitely recommend for those who enjoy murder mystery with a splash of romance thrown in. This is also young adult, though it didn't feel overly young and was easy to get through ❤️

This book was amazing! 4.75 stars!
This is a historical fiction mystery with our main character Irene Adler. She is going to Oxford as both herself and masquerading as a boy - Isaac Holland. She wants to prove she is better than her brother James Moriarty, but the women's classes are absolutely lame compared to the men's classes. As the school year progresses, someone starts to murder the students in Isaac's All Souls class. Irene must team up with classmate Sherlock Holmes to figure out who the killer is.
I really loved Irene. She was extremely independent despite living in a time where women were not seen as equal to men. She wanted to earn her own accomplishments. I loved her relationship with Sherlock as both Irene and Isaac. Sherlock was a great character as well. He was the typical genius, but had a unique flare in this book. This took place before Sherlock and Watson obviously as they are in school, but Watson is in the book too. The family dynamics for Irene are also very interesting. Her and her brother do not get along, nor do her and her father. Irene was brought over from France against her will as a child so seeing that abuse was heartbreaking and made me root for her all the more.
The plot was so intriguing. I was always curious what was going to happen on the next page and while life got in the way of me really devouring it, I was always excited to pick it up when I had the time. I really love a good murder mystery and this one just hit all the right notes for me. There was a great pool of viable suspects and so many clues that Irene had to put together. Things we thought were true turned out to be wrong and there were so many twists and turns.
The writing style was great. I loved Irene's inner voice and her banter, especially with Sherlock. I was really transported into this historical England through the writing.
I really can't wait for the sequel even though the first book isn't out yet!

This book has a really great idea to it, but the pace was super slow. It felt as though nothing happened for a good chunk of the book and when things actually started happening it didn’t align with the characters that had been established. The ending was predictable and the twist was obvious.

I read through this rather quickly for me. I'm usually a slower reader, reading when I get the chance. The story is a fun look at what Sherlock, Irene, Watson and Moriarty might have been like during their college years. I did find it somewhat doubtful as to how long it took Sherlock to figure out the secret behind Isaac Holland or so it seemed until nearly the end of the book. Also, Watson is a policeman at this time in his life, not the doctor we know - yet.
There's a bit too much "heat" flowing from/to "name appendage" and the "dark locks dropping down over his face", but yeah, I can let go of that since this seems to be geared towards the young adult audience. There is no actual sexual acts described, just the warming of body parts. Which I appreciated. The mystery was a good one, it had me guessing all over the place... and honestly I never did guess it until the murderer was revealed. However, holy crap! The one who tried to murder Irene!!! Not at all the one I would have thought.
I look forward to more Irene Adler stories!!! A solid 4 out of 5 stars for me.


Content covering subjects of:
Leading a double life, hiding in plane sight, murder, Sherlock, friendship, school, enquity, Victorian era, and sleuthing among others.

"Perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper, this historical murder mystery follows the cunning Irene Adler as she teams up with the mysterious Sherlock Holmes to discover who is murdering Oxford's elite students in the All Souls class.

Irene Adler is no ordinary young lady. She's at the top of the ranks in the All Souls cohort, a competitive preparatory class reserved for Oxford's brightest minds. But her peers and professors don't know she's a lady at all. To them, she is Isaac Holland.

Keeping up her disguise gets trickier when All Souls students start dying, one by one. Determined to find out who's responsible for the deaths, Irene - as Isaac - teams up with fellow classmate and roommate Sherlock Holmes to track down clues. Their mission grows more dangerous by the day as someone tries to frame Isaac for the murders, and Irene's own father, Dean Moriarty, begins to threaten her seat in school.

Readers will love following these classic and beloved characters through the twists and turns in the dark halls of Oxford, and discovering what secret lies behind the glitz and glamor of the elite."

Someone oversaturated Irene's hair in Photoshop... Yikes.

Isaac Holland is doing very well in his All Souls College course at Oxford. In fact, he is the top-rated student, beating out the other outsider, Sherlock Holmes. The sons of the nobility who fill All Souls are not pleased that these two students are at the top of the class, especially James Moriarty. What all of these men don't know is that Isaac is not what he seems; he is actually Irene Adler. When other members of All Souls start being murdered, Irene starts to investigate on her own. Soon she and Holmes, with the help of Watson of course, start to put the pieces together. The closer they get to discovering who is responsible the more Irene's secret is in jeopardy of being revealed. A well-crafted mystery that keeps you guessing.

*3.5

First of all I would like to thank NetGally, the publisher, and the author for sending me the ARC for A Beautiful and Terrible Murder. The following is my honest review:

This book was good and entertaining for what it was. I enjoyed this retelling of a Sherlock Holmes story but from Irene Adler's perspective. I don't know a ton of the lore for Sherlock Holmes so if I don't understand something that is obvious to those who know more, I am sorry ahead of time. With that being said the following are my thoughts about the book.




Spoiler Warning*************************




- I did not see the twist coming at the start of the book of Moriarty and Irene being half-siblings. It definitely made the story line more interesting.

- It was also a fun turn of events when they revealed that Sherlock was the roommate of Irene's alter ego

- One fatal flaw when I read is that I tend to get bored with descriptions in books and will skip over paragraphs to get to dialogue, however this book had me rarely skipping paragraphs which is a feat in itself.

- I really did not enjoy Edgar getting killed off, I really liked his character even though he wasn't in the book a whole lot

- Irene did annoy me more and more as the book progressed (mostly the decisions she kept making)

- The romance in this book was definitely slow burn

- I do think the book could have been shorter and still been good. In the later half of the book the story felt like it was dragging

- I was skeptical going into this book and didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did

Overall the book was a decent spin on Sherlock Holmes and I would recommend people try it if the synopsis sounds interesting to them

DNF'd at 65%

From the description alone, 𝘈 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 seemed like the perfect book for me. I just finished the 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 series, and was looking for something similar. 𝘈 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 is a novel about Irene Adler, who disguises herself as a boy (Isaac Holland), in order to attend classes in the All Souls cohort, a group of students at Oxford. It becomes harder for her to keep up her disguise when her classmates begin getting murdered one by one, and someone tries to frame Isaac for the murders. Irene (as Isaac) teams up with her fellow classmate, Sherlock Holmes, to try and solve the mystery.

Plot-wise, there was nothing wrong with this story at all. The concept was thrilling, and the setting of the boarding school made for an interesting closed system. Irene herself was an excellent character, with a strong personality (something that some side characters lacked). I especially enjoyed her struggles to keep up her charade as Isaac, while balancing her classes as Irene, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 solve a murder at the same time!

However, the reason I just couldn't finish this book was because of the writing itself. Despite being over halfway into the story, it still hadn't grabbed my attention. I felt like I was just waiting and waiting for the story to really start, but it just never happened.

If you liked 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 or even 𝘌𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘢 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘴, and don't mind slower pacing, chances are you'll enjoy this book as well!

Now if you are a lover of Sherlock Holmes then this is the novel for you! Here we will be taken to the early days of Sherlock through the eyes of the lovely Irene Adler. Here she will learn to manage her busy school life and try to solve a mystery without getting herself killed. Overall this a very good book for anyone of any age to read.
When we meet Irene she is busy leading a double life that involves being a student at a youbg ladies finishing school and the other is posing as a man to take anatomy classes. She actually manages to hide her identities pretty well and nobody suspects a thing. However, things take a turn for the worse when various young male students start disappearing. Immediately Irene jumps in and starts to carefully investigate in order to make sure she doesn't lose her life or worse have to identity exposed!
I received an arc copy from Netgalley and all opinions are of my own.

I couldn’t put this book down! What a great Sherlock Holmes retelling that focused on Irene Adler. I loved the spin on each of the original characters.

I would definitely continue reading this series (it looks like a series in Goodreads but no second book has been announced yet). I started the author’s DAUGHTER OF SPARTA series but haven’t finished it yet but I must say, I liked this story a lot more.

The one thing that had me deciding between four and five stars was the romance element. I wanted a touch more romance. The slow burn and banter were so good I just wanted a smidge more to happen between Sherlock and Irene.

Lastly, the mystery element was really well done. I didn’t figure out who the killer was until very late into the story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Given how many authors have tread this ground before, it feels somehow mean to say that A Beautiful and Terrible Murder feels like Sherlock Holmes fanfiction. But the way that Holmes, Irene, Watson, and Moriarty are portrayed really invokes that sense, and it certainly doesn't help that there are some distinct and distracting historical inaccuracies. (Hopefully those will be fixed when the book goes to print.)

But the best fanfiction is a lot of fun, and this does mostly fit that bill. The mystery is entertaining and the characters are as well, while the writing is generally polished and very readable. I'm not sure I'll pick up a sequel, but this was a good rainy day read.

<i>A Beautiful and Terrible Murder</i> is a Sherlock Holmes retelling with Irene Adler as the main character.

Irene is a young woman simultaneously taking finishing school-esque classes for young ladies and (in the disguise of a young man named Isaac) taking classes with men at Oxford. She is determined to be the best in her class and beat the boys. Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty are her classmates, and when young men in the class are murdered, she decides to find out who did it.

The story had an intriguing premise and I am always down for a YA mystery, especially one set in a boarding school. However, you're kind of thrown into the story since the first murder happens really early on. The character was barely introduced and he was killed off. The other murders were confusing as well. Since the characters were introduced all at once, it was kind of hard to keep them all straight, especially as they started getting killed off.

I also found it really hard to believe that NO ONE suspected Irene’s secret identity. She's constantly walking between the two campuses, taking her fake moustache on and off and no one can piece it together? There's a decent amount of suspension of disbelief required here, but if you're able to do that, it's a fun and engaging story.

Irene Adler is the illegitimate daughter of Dean Moriarty. She cannot stand her father or her half-brother, and is masquerading as a man in the illustrious "All Souls" Oxford class in order to prove them both that she is smart and capable, despite being a woman.

But when her classmates start mysteriously dying at a rapid pace, she must juggle keeping her disguise, staying alive, and her growing attraction for the one and only Sherlock Holmes.

I am a sucker for any type of Sherlock Holmes retelling, and I was excited to start this one. But this book felt SO LONG. It never really grabbed or held my attention until the very end, which surely means I'll have to read the next one (sigh).

This is a retelling of Sherlock Holmes from the perspective of Irene Adler. Irene is leading a double life, tired of only taking the womens classes in school, Irene disguises herself as Isaac Holland to take the classes that women are not allowed. As Isaac, Irene intends to finish the top of her class. When her classmates start getting murdered, Irene is determined to solve their murders. Disguised as Isaac, Irene teams up with fellow classmate Sherlock Holmes, but how long can they work together before Sherlock discovers Isaac's true identity.

Irene was a strong resourceful character who seamlessly moves between her two personas. It was fun to see her in both of her identities. Irene is clever as she pieces together the clues to try and find the culprit who is murdering her classmates. It was fun to see her interactions with Sherlock as both Irene and Isaac. You see other characters from the original Sherlock works, such as Watson and Moriarty.

This was a fun read, and I enjoyed trying to piece together all the clues and try to solve the case along with Irene. I look forward to more Irene Adler mysteries.

⤷ thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

England has yet to see the last of Irene Adler

Pitched as for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper which I have never read but can see the similaritires, I think it's also for fans of Enola Holmes because those are the vibes I got! A quite enjoyable read, if you consider reading about death enjoyable (apparently I do) with plenty of tension and stakes to keep you going. I enjoyed the likeable characters (aka Sherlock and Irene) but that's about it!

Not sure if I like that cover...it is giving AI but who am I to judge 😭 All in all, I enjoyed this and found myself binging through it in two hours! Thank you again to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc!

Thank you to Little, Brown and NetGalley for the ARC!

As a fan of Stalking Jack the Ripper, I was so excited to receive an early copy of A Beautiful and Terrible Murder! Unfortunately, I struggled to remain engaged in the writing, and it just didn't grip me. However, if you're looking for a retelling of Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes and don't mind classic YA storytelling, this is right up your alley!