*I received a free copy of this book with thanks to the author, Boldwood Books and Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources blog tours. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
Blurb: A GLORIOUS SHERLOCK HOLMES-INSPIRED MYSTERY FOR FANS OF NITA PROSE AND JANICE HALLETT
London, 1932.
When Harriet White rebuffs the advances of her boss at the Baker Street building society where she works, she finds herself demoted to a new position… a very unusual position. Deep in the postal department beneath the bank, she is tasked with working her way through a mountain of correspondence addressed to Baker Street’s most famous resident: Mr Sherlock Holmes.
Seemingly undeterred by the fact that Sherlock Holmes doesn’t exist, letter after letter arrives, beseeching him to help solve mysteries, and Harry diligently replies to each writer with the same response: Mr Holmes has retired from detective work and now lives in Sussex, keeping bees.
Until one entreaty catches her eye. It’s from a village around five miles from Harry’s family estate, about a young woman who went to London to work as a domestic, then disappeared soon afterwards in strange circumstances. Intrigued, Harry decides, just this once, to take matters into her own hands.
And so, the case of the missing maid is opened…
I am definitely a Sherlock Holmes fan, so the premise of this story got my attention immediately, but it was the writing, characters and the new story perspective that firmly held it.
This is not strictly speaking a Sherlockian story at all, as the book takes the same premise as reality – that the great detective is fictional – but elaborates on the idea that some people might be confused enough or desperate enough to believe him real and appeal to him for help. And that’s where Harry White steps in, relegated to gently rejecting such appeals but curious enough to start poking around when one catches her eye.
It is quite a female-centric story really, as Harry (Harriet) is the main character and investigator (with just a little help from family friend and potential romantic interest Oliver) and the case features a missing maid, letters from said maid’s sister and a link to the rise in women crime gangs across the city.
I was totally caught up in the case and Harry’s attempts to investigate and solve it, using the fictional detective as inspiration and motivation but her own natural skills and familial connections. I did think it was a bit of a shame that after a dramatic climax, Harry was locked out of the big finale, leaving Scotland Yard to wrap things up off-page, but that does mirror Conan Doyle’s detective, who lives for the puzzle and the chase rather than the glory, and it also handily preserves her anonymity for future escapades.
And there were a few questions left hanging tantalisingly open, ready for said future escapades, so I will be keeping my eyes out for more in this series. If nothing else, I am dying to see Mr Simeon Pemberton’s face when he finally realises who he has actually been messing with!
When Harry White looked back, many years later, she supposed she owed almost all of her incredible adventures to the unlikeliest of people – a Mr Simeon Pemberton, Assistant Manager (London and Middlesex) of the Abbey Road Building Society on Baker Street in London. Had he not formed a most inappropriate, not to say entirely unprofessional, attachment to her while she worked as his personal secretary, Harry might never have read the letter that set her on the exhilarating yet perilous path that would shape the rest of her life.
– Holly Hepburn, The Missing Maid
Purchase Link: The Missing Maid on Amazon
About the author
Holly Hepburn has wanted to write books for as long she can remember but she was too scared to try. One day she decided to be brave and dipped a toe into the bubble bath of romantic fiction with her first novella, Cupidity, and she’s never looked back. She often tries to be funny to be funny, except for when faced with traffic wardens and border control staff. Her favourite things are making people smile and Aidan Turner.
She’s tried many jobs over the years, from barmaid to market researcher and she even had a brief flirtation with modelling. These days she is mostly found writing.
She lives near London with her grey tabby cat, Portia. They both have an unhealthy obsession with Marmite.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HollyH_Author
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollyh_author/
Don’t forget to check out the other blog stops on the tour for more great reviews and content (see the poster below for details)!
Bookshine And Readbows 