Sherlock Holmes stories and novels by Conan Doyle are among those "classics" that one never wearies of re-reading. But once a year is enough. What are we Sherlockians to do with the other 50 weeks of the year?
We read pastiches, and among the most charming of those is a series of children's books by Nancy Springer starring Sherlock and Mycroft's much younger sister, Enola. Particularly clever is the donee, as Henry James would put it (if he were a Holmes fan - I wonder if he read Conan Doyle.) The problem of the books is the attempt to send Enola to a finishing school at the age of 14 and her determination to avoid it. Mycroft, who is Enola's guardian in the absence of her mother who has run away in mysterious circumstances, is particularly emphatic that the girl has to be given an education that will make her more attractive in the marriage market. Sherlock goes along with him.
So Enola also runs away and how she supports herself, her attempts to find her mother, the codes (the language of flowers, fan signals, cyphers) her mother has taught her, and her many disguises contribute to her ability to elude her brothers.
In The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan Enola is doing some routine detective work (finding a lost lap dog, locating a misplaced ruby, returning an amputee's leg bone) when she encounters Lady Cecily Alistair, a former client, in London's new public rest room for ladies. Using her fan, Lady Cecily alerts Enola to her desperate situation. She is being held captive and is about to be forced to marry against her will.
The game is afoot, and Enola as usual can be counted on to figure out who is responsible for these nefarious doings and to work out a way of saving her friend. The fast-moving story is delightful, moving us quickly from an attack by a mastiff, a flock of scruffy orphans, an encounter with her guardian and another with Sherlock, and a particularly clever rescue just in the nick of time.
This is the fourth in the Enola Holmes series and I've been warned that there are only two more books to come before the series ends.
2012 No 26
Oh, I will have to read this. Sounds wonderful!
Posted by: ChrisCross53 | Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 11:54 AM
It's delightful, Chris, as are all of the books in this series.
Posted by: Mary | Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 12:54 PM
I have the last one sitting on my shelf, and I am putting off reading it because I don't want the series to end. I really love these books.
Posted by: Nan | Friday, February 17, 2012 at 10:06 AM
I'm nearing the end also, Nan, and it's going to be a sad good-bye. Fortunately we still have Flavia de Luce.
Posted by: Mary | Friday, February 17, 2012 at 03:30 PM