Tannat

Series: Lady Sherlock #1

This was a pleasant surprise. I honestly wasn't sure I would like it because I was coming into it pretty cold and I'm always a bit leery of late 19th century historical fiction. Too many authors just try to be clever when it comes to approaches to technology and feminist movements (and it doesn't quite work). I didn't feel like Thomas was trying to shoehorn modern women into 19th century characters. Sure, many of the women felt frustrated with their options in the book, but they weren't jumping ahead, so to speak.

I liked how Watson played out and how Baker Street came about. I honestly thought that Charlotte had something else up her sleeve at the start because she was being kind of stupid. I guess it just goes to show she's not infallible or inhuman. I was a little disappointed at how Moriarty played into things at the end but oh well. I might be tempted to say that it was the best gender-swapped Sherlock Homes that I've read but I've also read The Tea Master and the Detective, which is a gender-swapped Sherlock Homes with Watson as a spaceship in a Vietnamese-inspired futuristic empire...so I'm not sure that'd be true. Anyway, it was a really good read overall.

Now I just need to decide whether to listen to the next book in the series right away or wait till September 1st so I can have it count towards Halloween Bingo. Kate Reading, the narrator, is excellent, by the way. I'm counting this as my pre-read for Halloween Bingo 2018 for the "Diverse voices" square.