This more than matches the originals!

It is a week before Easter and mother Holmes is in London with her 2 boys for the second half of ‘the Season’. When they go to attend the Oxford–Cambridge boat race, the body of one of Mycroft’s schoolmates is retrieved from the river. He hasn’t been seen since Thursday and his mother and sister were looking for him. As lord Surminster moves in higher circles than the Holmes’s, they’re not really acquainted but Mother volunteers to view the body together with the family’s butler. She quickly notices that several things indicate a murder rather than suicide. A verdict that the coroner favours. He is obviously not interested in what really happened to the victims. Of course, this is only the start of their involvement. When Father arrives in London, he’s not pleased with his wife’s interest in yet another murder, certainly not when Scotland Yard also gets involved.

This is already the third book in this series and they seem to get better and better. Don’t fret if you haven’t read those as this story stands on itself. It is just a pleasure to read them in order and get the background stories and family dynamics. This story is complex but well-constructed and suspenseful until the end. There are many mysterious elements that direct you into different directions; a mythical nun’s chest, border disputes, a contested will and a trust fund, vandalised maps, love letters from a French prostitute and more exciting riddles. I only found the solution near the end as well.

Young Sherlock gets introduced to a ‘night house’ (I love those euphemisms!) at the tender age of 14. Even his mother comes along, disguised as a man. This story and adventure is definitely a family affair, with Mother in charge and Mycroft and Sherlock as her runners. Each of them brings their own specific knowledge and strengths to their investigation. We miss uncle Ernest this time as he remained in the country. Father is very much opposed to their meddling in this inquiry but has to give in to his wife, eventually.

I was very pleased to see that Constance, one of my favourites, still lives with the family. She’s the personal maid of Mother who instructs her in more than just good manners and singing. She’s reading and writing now and dreams of performing on stage but has still a long way to go. It also gets more and more visible that there is a huge social gap between her station in life and Sherlock’s although they remain close friends. That the divisions between the different social classes were rigid can also be seen in other aspects of the story; between a lord and a mere squire or between a squire and an untitled barrister or attorney. One's class was so important that everybody could be identified easily by their clothes, shoes or transport.

Liese did some great research and keeps surprising me with exciting facts about and insight into life at the time. Certain opinions and social conventions of the period may be shocking and even offensive for our modern feelings. The fairer sex has to be protected from a lot of things because of their delicate nature, is just one example. The unconventional behaviour of their mother is subscribed to her French heritage and upbringing.

That suicide was a great stigma and scandal for the family, I knew that as well as that the remains could not be buried in a churchyard. But the financial repercussions were e harder. All the assets from suicider did fall to the crown, leaving the family penniless. This was done to stop people from killing themselves as the wife and children would be left to charity from relatives and lose every chance to a good marriage.

A strange fact is that burials would usually take place on the Sunday after one’s demise. I don’t know why but that’s now the only day that there are no funerals.

I received a free ARC from the author and this is my honest and unbiased review of it.