A Study In Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"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—a kind-hearted widow, a police inspector, and a man who has long loved her. 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:

I adored my time reading this book! There is just something about historical mysteries that I love. Add in Sherlock Holmes but with a twist and you have a book that I couldn't help but enjoy. I mean changing Sherlock Homes into Lady Sherlock is just brilliant in my opinion. It allows for the author to really explore what it means to be a woman during this time period and an exceptional one at that. Charlotte Holmes is one of the most unique characters that I've ever had the pleasure to read about. She more than likely would be considered to be a prodigy in this day and age, but as she is a woman during this time period she is just considered to be a bit unusual. Her father humors her more than anything and no one expects her to do anything outside of social norms. Despite expectations, Charlotte makes choices throughout this book that no one expects and it is these choices that lead her to take control of her own life. I loved every minute of it! She was such an amazing character to read about and I really could not get enough of her.

When you then mix in an exceptionally good mystery, you have a wonderful read! I loved the way this book was broken up into almost two parts. One that focused on Charlotte and the challenges that she was facing and another on the actual police investigation. I honestly didn't even prefer one story line over the other as I found them both to be intriguing. I never was able to figure out the mystery on my own but was left surprised by the ending. It was just a really great mystery that was made even better by the wonderful characters that this author created. I finished this one and was almost sad to see it end. The only thing that makes it better is that it looks like this is the beginning of a series so I have more to look forward to! I cannot wait! On a side note, I think that this cover is so completely well done. How could you not want to pick up this book based off of that gorgeous cover alone?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and was left very excited about this series! If this is only the first book, I can only imagine what this author will come up with next. Charlotte is a character that I won't forget about anytime soon. I'm so glad that I didn't wait to read this one. I actually decided to read it based off of a tweet on Twitter. It was a great choice on my part so thanks to the book community yet again! I would recommend this book to mystery fans especially, but really I think that this is a book that anyone could enjoy! Highly recommended!

Bottom Line: This book is as good as it looks! Read it!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.