Book Review: A Study in Scarlet Women

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh no, I accidentally read a MYSTERY! What happened? I hate mysteries ... only, this was pretty good. Whoops, I guess I shouldn't just lump everything together into the dislike pile ;)

A Study in Scarlet Women was somehow on my TBR and so I checked it out at the library. I was at least 50 pages in before I realized that it was a mystery and I was already so obsessed with Charlotte's awesomeness that I couldn't just stop reading because it was outside of my genre comfort zone!

This was a delightful retelling of Sherlock Holmes with Charlotte as protagonist and somehow kept me enraptured throughout the story even though I really didn't care about the mystery that was unfolding.

The solving of the mystery was a little icky for my tastes, I can't say why without major SPOILERS, so I'll leave it at that.


The Charlotte's whole situation and her determination were what I loved in this book. She wasn't going to let anyone (or even reality) hold her down. She was such a likable character that I probably would have read the story about her without the plot (have I mentioned I don't care for mystery books?).

Anyway, I guess the moral of this review is that I should venture out of my comfort zone more often. An ADULT MYSTERY is a pretty far cry from the YA fantasy I'm used to reading, but it was an enjoyable foray. I feel unprepared to accurately review the book because it was so unlike anything I typically read.

Were the characters fantastic? Yes. Was the world properly built? It has historical so it relied solely on the reader's knowledge. Was the plot well developed? I suppose so, again, I'm unaccustomed to reading mysteries so I'm not totally sure.

Anywho, if you're looking for a book to enjoy that isn't YA Fantasy, I enjoyed this one. If you like Sherlock or retellings or strong female characters, you probably will too.