I recently had the pleasure of reading A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. The story follows the great-(a bunch of greats)-grandchildren of John Watson and Sherlock Holmes, James Watson and Charlotte Holmes. They are in America at boarding school where they must solve a string of incidents which are made to follow Sherlock Holmes stories.
I don't know if book reviews should include Spoiler Alerts, but if they should, this is it (although I haven't described the mystery or said who the perpetrator is, so I don't reveal the MOST vital points, but I recommend reading on with caution).
These characters are, in some ways, very similar to their 'ancestors.'
Sadly, Charlotte is somewhat misanthropic, struggles with drug addiction, and might possibly have an eating disorder. In addition to drug addiction, the story also somewhat touches on the difficult topic of rape; however, I expect this will be a bigger part of the next novels. Due to this more intense subject matter, I would recommend the story for more mature teens.
I love that Charlotte is intelligent, independent, and headstrong. I hate that she struggles with addiction, [the after effects of] rape, and an eating disorder. But sexual harassment and assault are, unfortunately, realities in our schools. I do believe that many girls could find something in Charlotte to identify with.
I like that James has romanticized Charlotte and realizes that he has; he is afraid of getting to know her and having his imaginary Charlotte destroyed, but simultaneously wants more than anything for her to let him in. I think that James is, like me, a bit of a hopeless romantic.
As you might expect, with Charlotte and James working closely together and being of the opposite sex there is some chemistry between them, while this is a welcome aside, I am grateful that this is not the focal point of the story.
I believe Charlotte and James teach each other things, balance each other out, take care of one another, and bring out the best in each other; making them, on the whole, a likable pair.
James's father has been estranged and I believe that James's treatment of his father (keeping him at a distance) is accurate; however, based on personal observations, I'm not sure that his father and step-mother's welcoming attitudes are always real.
While I tend to avoid series, I do look forward to the remaining books in the series.
Other nice things about the book:
- Told from Watson's POV with an epilogue from Charlotte - paying homage to the source material.
- I love the gender bending! Girls can be detectives (and scientists)!
- Charlotte sounds similar to Sherlock.
- Charlotte sounds similar to Scarlet, making the title of the book a play on one of the stories' titles (A Study in Scarlet).
- It's a mystery!
- I somehow managed to solve it (partially) before the main characters!
- More Holmes and Watson!
Less nice things:
- I didn't think of it!
- The presence of Moriartys.
A note about my distaste of Moriarty:
In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works, Moriarty was originally introduced specifically to end Sherlock. Doyle had become tired of writing about the detective and thought if he killed him, he could be done with Sherlock (hence Holmes falling over Reichenbach Falls in "The Final Problem"). Honestly, I thought it was a bit shoddy and lazy. Out of nowhere, Moriarty is introduced as this great nemesis, but there was really nothing to point to his existence before that story. Anyway, the plan backfired, Holmesians wanted more and Doyle had to return to Sherlock (thank goodness!).
That being said, I can't hold it against Ms. Cavallaro for including the Moriartys because she is trying to stay true to the source material while introducing interesting and enjoyable twists - I devoured the book in two sittings, something I've not done in awhile.
Happy Reading!
Sharon
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