July 27, 2020
A locked-room mystery drives Thomas’s entertaining if implausible fifth Lady Sherlock whodunit (after 2019’s The Art of Theft). When Scotland Yard’s Insp. Robert Treadles becomes the suspect in a double murder, his wife, Alice Treadles, consults detective Charlotte Holmes, Robert’s sometime collaborator who claims to be acting on behalf of her ill, bedridden brother no one ever sees, Sherlock Holmes. Two London bobbies on patrol found Robert in a locked bedroom in an unoccupied house, brandishing his service revolver. The bedroom’s other occupants, John Longstead, who lived next door, and his nephew, Ambrose Sullivan, were shot to death. Both victims worked at Cousins Manufacturing, a company that Mrs. Treadles recently took over. Despite the incriminating circumstances, the inspector’s wife believes in his innocence, and Charlotte agrees to investigate, ostensibly in accord with the instructions of her “brother.” Developments in Charlotte’s love life complement the sleuthing. This may appeal more to fans of lighter Victorian mysteries than to Sherlockians. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary.
