Audiobook Review: Murder on Cold Street by Sherry Thomas

Murder on Cold Street
Author: Sherry Thomas
Narrator: Kate Reading 
Series: Lady Sherlock (Book 5)
Publication: Penguin Audio (October 6, 2020)
Length: 13 hours and 15 minutes

Description: Charlotte Holmes, Lady Sherlock, investigates a puzzling new murder case that implicates Scotland Yard inspector Robert Treadles in the USA Today best-selling series set in Victorian England.

Inspector Treadles, Charlotte Holmes’ friend and collaborator, has been found locked in a room with two dead men, both of whom worked with his wife at the great manufacturing enterprise she has recently inherited.

Rumors fly. Had Inspector Treadles killed the men because they had opposed his wife’s initiatives at every turn? Had he killed in a fit of jealous rage because he suspected Mrs. Treadles of harboring deeper feelings for one of the men? To make matters worse, he refuses to speak on his own behalf, despite the overwhelming evidence against him.

Charlotte finds herself in a case strewn with lies and secrets. But which lies are to cover up small sins, and which secrets would flay open a past better left forgotten? Not to mention, how can she concentrate on these murders when Lord Ingram, her oldest friend and sometime lover, at last dangles before her the one thing she has always wanted?

My Thoughts: The fifth Lady Sherlock mystery has Charlotte Holmes and her colleagues investigating a murder case with Inspector Treadles as the accused murderer. Charlotte's relationship with Inspector Treadles has changed over the years and changed most recently when he learned that fallen woman Charlotte is not just a voice for her bedridden brother Sherlock but Sherlock Holmes herself. 

Treadles' worldview was first shaken up when his wife inherited a business which she decided to run. This didn't fit his idea of the proper place for a woman let alone his wife. His resentment of her moving outside her place fostered resentment and threatened their marriage. Events caused him to look at things a new way, but his marriage is still in need of repair. He's accused of murdering her mentor at the business and one of the men she worked with. 

Rumors are flying about a man killing other men that he was jealous of. Now Treadles needs Sherlock Holmes to find out the truth about what happened in that locked room on Cold Street. He's not helping. He refuses to speak about the case at all. 

Charlotte, Lord Ingram, Mrs. Watson and her niece/daughter have lots to investigate. And everyone is keeping secrets. As the Christmas season progresses, they have to uncover secrets and follow clues to prevent Treadles being charged with murder on Christmas Eve.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of this mystery. I love that Charlotte is a little disconcerted now that Lord Ingram is willing to change their relationship. She a bit off balance and this twisty case isn't helping her find her footing. I also loved the descriptions of Charlotte's eccentric fashions and the descriptions of the first love of her life - cake.

I bought this audiobook May 26, 2023, at an Audible 2-for-1 sale. I had previously read a review copy. You can buy your copy here.

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.

Audiobook Review: A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

A Study in Scarlet Women
Author: Sherry Thomas
Narrator: Kate Reading
Series: The Lady Sherlock Series (Book 1)
Publication: Blackstone Audio (October 18, 2016)
Length: 11 hours

Description: With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper-class society. But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London.

When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the family name. She'll have help from friends new and old, but in the end, it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society's expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind.

My Thoughts: A STUDY IN SCARLET WOMEN is a vastly re-imagined version of Sherlock Holmes. In this case, Sherlock is actually Charlotte Holmes, the youngest daughter of a gentleman and his wife. She is something of a favorite of her father in that he is amused by her eccentricities  but not enough of a favorite that he feels obligated to keep his word to her. Having expressed her desire to never marry, he agreed to send her to school and finance her quest to become a school mistress when she turned 25. However, when that date came, he reneged and left Charlotte to do something outrageous to take herself off the marriage market. She is caught in flagrante delicto with a married man which ruins her reputation and would have caused her parents to send her away to their country home if she hadn't decided to run away first.

Previously, to relieve some of her boredom and to exercise her talents and high intelligence, Charlotte had worked through a friend to offer the police insights on certain crimes. Her friend is Lord Ingram Ashburton who happens to be the only man she has ever kissed. Unfortunately, he has entered into a society marriage and is the father of two young children. Even though he and his wife are living a sham of a marriage, his morals don't allow for him to take Charlotte as his mistress which she would like. They have developed a strong friendship though. When she runs away to London, he keeps an eye on her and engineers a meeting with a former member of the demimonde, actress and widow Mrs. John Watson. Mrs. Watson takes Charlotte in as a companion and encourages her to set herself up as a consulting detective. 

There are three interconnected crimes that she is working on. The first is the suspicious death of a man who lived a reclusive life but who was connected to society, the second is of another young woman who was also a member of society, and the third was the death of the mother of the young married man who compromised Charlotte. The cases are nicely tricky and provide quite a challenge for Charlotte. 

There are many parallels to the original Sherlock Holmes stories with Charlotte as Sherlock, Mrs. Watson playing Dr. Watson as a companion and sounding board. There is even a Mycroft Holmes equivalent in Lord Ingram's older brother Lord Bancroft. The police contact is Inspector Robert Treadles of the Metropolitan Police. What I found particularly interesting was the way the author managed to infuse each of the characters with beliefs of the day and make them each - with the exception of the shadowy Lord Bancroft - well-rounded and fully developed people. This story is firmly set in Victorian England and the characters really act as Victorians.

This was a page turner of a mystery for me. I wanted to know who committed the crimes and why. I also wanted to know that Charlotte would finally find a place for herself that let her use her talents to the fullest. I hope that Charlotte has many further adventures.

The narrator did an excellent job distinguishing all of the many characters. 

I got this one from Audible Plus. You can buy your copy here.