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Review: A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,
A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro

A Question of Holmes (Charlotte Holmes #4)
Brittany Cavallaro
Katherine Tegen Books
Published March 5, 2019

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About A Question of Holmes

Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson think they’re finally in the clear. They’ve left Sherringford School—and the Moriartys—behind for a pre-college summer program at Oxford University. A chance to start from scratch and explore dating for the first time, while exploring a new city with all the freedom their program provides.

But when they arrive, Charlotte is immediately drawn into a new case: a series of accidents have been befalling the members of the community theater troupe in Oxford, and now, on the eve of their production of Hamlet, they’re starting all over again. What once seemed like a comedy of errors is now a race to prevent the next tragedy—before Charlotte or Jamie is the next victim.

My Review

First, I want to say this: I’m not very good at sticking to a series, much less a series with more than three books (gasp!), but I listened to most of the books in the Charlotte Holmes series this year during the pandemic, and having something energetic and fun to look forward to at the end of the day really helped me get through some stressful and difficult days. I love this series for that, and I am really glad I listened to all four books.

That said, A QUESTION OF HOLMES wasn’t my favorite book in the series. I liked the idea, and the mystery itself– the theater group, the disastrous events, the fact that Jamie and Charlotte had to figure out how to work a case when their reputations were already known to the people involved.

I think I just wanted the story to tie together some of the big rivalries and larger elements from the earlier books, and there’s a hint of that, but it didn’t feel like enough to me, if that makes sense. I wanted more of that, and instead the book kind of reads like a standalone mystery featuring some familiar characters.

Despite all that, I love that the story continues in the epilogue and we get a glimpse of Charlotte and Jamie and who they might be going forward into adult life. I thought that was a really cool way to end the series, kind of a final gift to readers.

I’m still really glad I read this one and have no regrets about spending my one monthly audible credit on A QUESTION OF HOLMES. It was a lot of fun, and I think anyone looking for a good escape read should check out the series.

Here are my reviews of earlier books in the Charlotte Holmes Series:

#1 A Study in Charlotte

#2 The Last of August

#3 A Case for Jamie

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Charlotte is from London. Jamie is white American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl. They sleep in the same bed.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. A girl is missing, possibly murdered. A woman dies in a suspicious manner.

Drug Content
Charlotte and Jamie drink or pretend to drink alcohol with a group of teens who get very drunk.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.

Review: The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro

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The Case for Jamie (Charlotte Holmes #3)
Brittany Cavallaro
Katherine Tegen Books
March 6, 2018

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Case for Jamie

The hotly anticipated and explosive third book in the New York Times bestselling Charlotte Holmes series.

It’s been a year since the shocking death of August Moriarty, and Jamie and Charlotte haven’t spoken.

Jamie is going through the motions at Sherringford, trying to finish his senior year without incident, with a nice girlfriend he can’t seem to fall for.

Charlotte is on the run, from Lucien Moriarty and from her own mistakes. No one has seen her since that fateful night on the lawn in Sussex—and Charlotte wants it that way. She knows she isn’t safe to be around. She knows her Watson can’t forgive her.

Holmes and Watson may not be looking to reconcile, but when strange things start happening, it’s clear that someone wants the team back together. Someone who has been quietly observing them both. Making plans. Biding their time.

Someone who wants to see one of them suffer and the other one dead.

My Review

I feel like suddenly this year I’ve become such a series reader! THE CASE FOR JAMIE is another book I listened to through my insomnia (during election week), and it was such a great book to distract me from the things that were on my mind.

I liked that in this one, the chapters alternate between Charlotte and Jamie’s perspectives, where in the past the story has been mostly Jamie’s point-of-view. For much of the story the two are separated, so that also brought something different to this one, because instead of Jamie reporting on and analyzing and pining after Charlotte, he kind of works on his own stuff a bit. I was into it.

Another thing that I enjoyed was again getting to see the relationship between Jamie’s dad and Charlotte’s uncle, so a previous generation of Holmes and Watson besties. That was interesting and fun, too.

If you’re unfamiliar with the series, I definitely recommend that you start with book one, A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE, because the stories do continue and build on one another. This one especially has lots of threads in it that relate to things that happened in the first two books.

I think fans of mysteries and star-crossed-ish romances will love the fast-paced adventure of this series and the complex relationship between Charlotte and Jamie.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Charlotte is from London. Jamie is white American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to a conversation between boy and girl about whether they should have sex. One scene hints that two characters are about to have sex and then cuts to pick up afterward with no details about the exchange.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. In one scene, a man beats a boy. A boy beats a man. Several times guns are pointed at people. A couple times people are shot.

Drug Content
Charlotte is an opiate addict. She carries two pills with her and takes a picture of them each day to send to a contact for accountability. Jamie and his friends attend a party where teens are drinking alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.

Review: The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes #2)
Brittany Cavallaro
Katherine Tegen Books
Published February 14, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About The Last of August

Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are looking for a winter-break reprieve after a fall semester that almost got them killed. But Charlotte isn’t the only Holmes with secrets, and the mood at her family’s Sussex estate is palpably tense. On top of everything else, Holmes and Watson could be becoming more than friends—but still, the darkness in Charlotte’s past is a wall between them.

A distraction arises soon enough, because Charlotte’s beloved uncle Leander goes missing from the estate—after being oddly private about his latest assignment in a German art forgery ring. The game is afoot once again, and Charlotte is single-minded in her pursuit.

Their first stop? Berlin. Their first contact? August Moriarty (formerly Charlotte’s obsession, currently believed by most to be dead), whose powerful family has been ripping off famous paintings for the last hundred years. But as they follow the gritty underground scene in Berlin to glittering art houses in Prague, Holmes and Watson begin to realize that this is a much more complicated case than a disappearance. Much more dangerous, too.

What they learn might change everything they know about their families, themselves, and each other.

Audiobooks and a Bit of Background

I’ve been having a ton of trouble sleeping the last several months. It’s like my body crashes really deeply for 4-5 hours and then I’m wide awake, brain whirring at top speed. I hate it because it makes me want to get up and do something useful, like lying there trying to go back to sleep and being unable to is such a huge waste of time. At the same time I know if I get up and do something, I’m more likely to stay up longer and that can really ruin my daytime life with kids and such.

So my solution has been to listen to audiobooks. It’s actually worked out really well most of the time. A lot of the backlist titles I’ve reviewed lately have been the result of audiobooks I’ve listened to while navigating those troubled nighttime hours.

My Review of The Last of August

Which brings me to THE LAST OF AUGUST. It’s been a while since I read A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE, the first book in the Charlotte Holmes series. If you’re unfamiliar with this series, the basic premise is that Sherlock Holmes and James Watson’s present-day descendants meet up at a boarding school and begin solving crimes together. I really enjoyed the first book, but I’m terrible at pursuing a series all the way to the end, so it has taken me a long time to get back to this one.

I liked THE LAST OF AUGUST a lot. Holmes and Watson have that dynamic duo thing going plus loads of romantic tension, and on top of that, a whole family of villains seems to be intent on putting an end to Charlotte’s family.

Some of the twists and turns caught me completely by surprise. I sort of expected that– since it’s sort of part of the Holmes charm to have the big reveal at the end where all the pieces snap into place. I felt like Jamie played a more active role in this book than in the first one (though it’s been a while, so I may be wrong), and I liked that he put some pieces together himself and took charge of a few things, even if they didn’t always go quite as he hoped.

Jamie and Charlotte together are heartbreakingly sweet. He can’t help loving her, and she is so cerebral and analytical and feels so broken beyond repair, but loves him in her own way, too. It’s one of those relationships you keep rooting for because they make each other better, and you just want them to keep making each other better until they’re somehow whole.

I’m hardly an avid mystery reader, but I think if you like Flavia de Luce books, this might be a great series to try.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Charlotte is from London. Jamie is white American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Before leaving school, Charlotte was raped. The incident is never shown, but it’s clear that she’s struggling to process the trauma. Sometimes she can’t handle being touched. Jamie is patient with her and respects her boundaries.

A boy and girl kiss in more than one scene. In another scene, a girl undresses in front of a boy. A vague recap lets readers know they did not have sex but had other sexual contact.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. One character is poisoned. More than one character is kidnapped.

Drug Content
Charlotte is a recovering addict. She’s tempted at a party where guests are using cocaine. Teens drink alcohol at a club and auction. (It’s legal at 18 where they are.)

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.