Audiobook Review: The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

The Art of Theft
Author: Sherry Thomas
Narrator: Kate Reading
Series: Lady Sherlock (Book 4)
Publication: Penguin Audio (October 15, 2019)
Length: 10 hours and 17 minutes

Description: Charlotte Holmes, Lady Sherlock, is back solving new cases in the Victorian-set mystery series from the USA Today best-selling author of The Hollow of Fear.

As "Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective," Charlotte Holmes has solved murders and found missing individuals. But she has never stolen a priceless artwork - or rather, made away with the secrets hidden behind a much-coveted canvas.

But Mrs. Watson is desperate to help her old friend recover those secrets and Charlotte finds herself involved in a fever-paced scheme to infiltrate a glamorous Yuletide ball where the painting is one handshake away from being sold and the secrets a bare breath from exposure.

Her dear friend Lord Ingram, her sister Livia, Livia's admirer Stephen Marbleton - everyone pitches in to help and everyone has a grand time. But nothing about this adventure is what it seems and disaster is biding time on the grounds of a glittering French chateau, waiting only for Charlotte to make a single mistake...

My Thoughts: The fourth Lady Sherlock mystery is starts out as a heist story. An old friend of Mrs. Watson's comes to "Sherlock Holmes" to get him to recover some indiscreet letters that are hidden behind a painting. Unfortunately, the painting is at a chateau in France that is exceptionally well guarded. 

The chateau is open once a year for an exclusive art auction which would seem to give Charlotte and her crew -- including Mrs. Watson, Charlotte's sister Livia, her friend Lord Ingram, Livia's romantic interest Mr. Stephen Marbleton, and Ingram's secret service friend - their opening to retrieve the letters. However, there are many more than one secret at the chateau and other factions are also planning to use the annual ball to further their own agendas.

Neither Charlotte nor the rest of her associates were expecting an encounter with Moriarty again or with meeting the soon-to-be-ex Lady Ingram. Those encounters have to be factored in as they execute their heist. 

This story was also filled with relationships. Livia and Stephen's seems to be star-crossed since he and his family have been on the run from Moriarty for a couple of decades and he isn't willing for Livia to join him in danger. Mrs. Watson and her old friend once had a relationship too, but Mrs. Watson left her when her lover couldn't guarantee the financial security that Mrs. Watson needed. And Charlotte and Lord Ingram have a very complicated relationship that almost defies description. Her goals and his are very far apart.

This was an engaging episode in the Lady Sherlock series. I enjoy Charlotte's character and her intelligence. She has clear goals and the determination to see them through. 

I bought this one May 26, 2023. You can buy your copy here.