A Study in Charlotte
A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1)
By: Brittany Cavallaro
[Fulfilled ‘A book with a city in the title’ prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2025 Reading Challenge]
“What if Holmes was so unnerved by someone calling her a murderer because she was, in fact, a murderer?”
Sherlock Holmes fans anyone?
I love Sherlockian characters and re-makes. Somehow I have never actually read a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock book, though, and I hate to have to admit that. I should probably rectify that— I agree, it doesn’t make much sense for me to be a fan of Sherlock when I was never a legitimate reader of the originals.
But here we are.
I’ve had this book on my to-read list for awhile, but the cover just never really appealed to me when I was looking for my next read. There always seemed something better to choose.
Finally I made it part of my reading challenge so I would have to get to it. And while I really liked the concept, the book just didn’t really do much for me.
In this particular spinoff of Sherlock, the main character, James, is a descendant of the original Watson. Coincidentally, he ends up in an American boarding school in Connecticut with Charlotte Holmes, a descendant of the original Sherlock.
Of course they have to end up working together to solve the murders that are piling up on their doorstep.
(For all the true fans, there are references to the original Sherlock Holmes mysteries that I’m sure you all will appreciate and enjoy.)
I think one thing that I struggled with with this book was that I wasn’t sure if it was trying to be a lighthearted YA mystery or a dark, mysterious thriller. Based on the cover, the age of the characters, and the writing style, I am pretty sure it’s the first.
But there were several deaths, including fellow students, and it just never felt as serious as it seemed like it should, considering the circumstances. There are references to rape, someone hangs themself, they almost died in a bomb, and they are only high schoolers so the way they are acting amidst it all just seemed incongruent.
There was also a lot of preoccupation with the romance side of things. James has feelings for Charlotte, but Charlotte is depicted as the unfeeling, mystery-focused typical Holmes and so James has to navigate the awkwardness of that while still trying to prove himself to be a legitimate detective partner to Holmes.
Maybe I would prefer this concept in adults more than high school students?
Although, Castle Shade (another Holmes remake) also did not do much for me and that was adults, so maybe I just don’t know what I want when it comes to Sherlock and Watson. I did get blasted by someone for my thoughts about Castle Shade so maybe you should do what that person did and take my opinions about Sherlock-related things and chuck them right out the window.
I don’t mind.
This book did get nominated in 2016 on Goodreads for Best Young Adult Fiction and based on other reviewers, lots of people liked it.
I think my opinion of it could also have been influenced by the fact that it’s the end of the year, and I’m hurriedly trying to wrap up my reading challenge so I can read a Christmas book before Christmas is over. Plus I was reading on Hoopla for the first time and not really liking the reading experience.
So perhaps during a different time and place I would have come away with a different perspective.
And truly, I didn’t dislike it. It just wasn’t something I necessarily itched to come back to every day.
This is a series with two other books, but I looked at reviews of the second book and the angsty romance part might overshadow the mystery components so I can’t say I’m super motivated to continue the series even though it will probably have a Sherlock/Watson/Moriarty showdown.
Recommendation
If you love all things Sherlock, you should definitely give it a try.
If you love teenage detective stories with some romance, you would also probably enjoy it.
But I do think this book is a case of ‘not for everyone.’ The concept was really cool but just not executed in a way that made compelling sense to me, at least at the time of reading.
If you’re on the fence, read some other reviews to better help you decide if this fits what you’re interested in.
[Content Advisory: 10 f-words, 8 s-words; reference to rape; lots of drug use]
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