Review: Murder On Cold Street by Sherry Thomas

 

 

I don't like reading series books out of order, but when your book group reads a book further along in the series than you've gotten, you either read through them all in advance to catch up (nope) or you learn things you shouldn't know yet.

It's actually ok, since I read the first book, A Study In Scarlet Women quite awhile ago now, and I did not recall much from that story when reading the newer one.

So book five in the series, Charlotte Holmes continues the ruse of acting on behalf of her "brother" Sherlock Holmes as an assistant to him solving cases.  I don't think many would be fooled by the incredibly ill master detective who can't talk to clients himself, but he hears and sees them from an adjoining room when they come to consult with him.

Inspector Treadles, who knows the secret, was found in a locked room in an abandoned house with two dead men on the floor.  Police had to break down the door to get to him, and he's under arrest for their murder, and will almost certainly hang for the crime.

He will say nothing to anyone, but will allow Charlotte to do what she can to free him without giving her anything to go on either.

Assisted by her old friend Lord Ingram, Mrs. Watson, and the Inspector's wife, Charlotte attempts to solve a complex case with time running out and little to go on.

Charlotte is an interesting character, rather eccentric in her dress and her sense of mores.  She is very hands on and examines every crime scene, interrogating suspects with a bit of a heavy hand sometimes, knowing that others such as Lord Ingram and Mrs. Watson will smooth the way later.

Review: Nancy Drew and the Mystery At Lilac Inn (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #4) by Carolyn Keene

 

 

Nancy and her friend Helen are canoeing to see their mutual friend Emily at her soon to open Lilac Inn, when the canoe strikes something in the water, and the craft overturns.

Luckily she and Helen have their things in water proof bags which they grab and they go overboard. They're able to swim to land, then go back out and right the canoe.  They see nothing that could have caused the accident, but will try to come back later to investigate.

At the Inn, they find Emily worried about many things. Her upcoming marriage. Opening the Inn in July.  Odd goings on, perhaps even a haunting of the Inn. Her fiance isn't at the Inn yet, but his best man John is here.

While John appears sympathetic and helpful, he also seems to be holding something back and Nancy isn't sure he can be trusted.

There's an activities director who is rude and snide to everyone, and who intrudes whenever she can.

To add to Nancy's troubles, someone has apparently broken into her house, stolen her identity and used her charge plate to purchase nearly $2000 worth of goods!  The store employees identify Nancy as the one who made the purchases.

Carson Drew is once again out of town so it's up to Nancy, Helen and Emily to figure out how all of these things are connected.

I liked the scenes where Nancy and the erstwhile John are skin diving.  She thinks she sees a shark in the water!   Nancy tries to disguise herself as a ghost, only to meet up with a ghost who looks just like her.

There's never a dull moment.

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #2)

 

Nancy's father has a huge case involving a railroad claim that results in threats against his life.  

Issuing the threats is Nathan Gomber, who comes to the Drew house and tells Nancy her father is in danger.   She'd better stick right by him or she'll regret what happens to him because she doesn't care enough to be there.

Nancy has just agreed to help her friend Helen with the strange case of a haunting at her aunt's home called Twin Elms.  The haunting is recent, and old though the house is, there's been no history of ghosts there.

Furniture moves, music plays, food is stolen from the kitchen by the ghost.  A chandelier sways. 

Carson insists she go help her friend, as he needs to go out of town for a few days to work on his railroad case.  With misgivings, Nancy agrees.

Arriving at Twin Elms, it isn't long before Nancy experiences the disturbances that Rosemary and Flora have asked for help with.

Nancy is on the job immediately. checking all around the outside of the house for foot prints, looking for unlocked doors or windows.  With no luck there, Nancy decides this old house could have a secret passage that someone very human is using to terrorize Rosemary and her mother.  She conducts a thorough search of the house. Every room, every wall, every piece of furniture that could conceal a secret door.  She searches the outbuildings and the cellar for underground tunnels.

To her surprise, the awful Nathan Gomber appears at the mansion, trying to cajole Flora into selling the house to him cheaply, as no one would want a haunted house.

Nancy has to find out how the "ghost" is getting in and out of the rooms of the mansion, disappearing at will after frightening everyone.

She becomes frantic when her father is kidnapped on his way to the house after arriving at the local  train station.

Logic, steel nerves, quick thinking, that's Nancy.

I wish I'd read these when I was young.  So far, Nancy's a great amateur detective.