In A Tempest at Sea, a smart, feminist version of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the inimitable Charlotte Holmes must solve a murder at sea without accidentally revealing her presence aboard the ship. Holmes--with the nimble help of her lover, Lord Ingram--determines to see justice done when a dead body is found aboard the Provence. This seventh entry in the brilliant Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas (Miss Moriarty, I Presume?; Murder on Cold Street; The Art of Theft) is a classic whodunit: the victim and all the potential suspects are trapped together on the Provence as she sails from England to Gibraltar. Holmes (in disguise) boards at the last minute, following a German governess, seeking a dossier on behalf of the British government. Having faked her own death to elude Moriarty, however, Holmes cannot afford to be unmasked. Lord Ingram had been planning to take his children on an archeological dig in Greece but is happy to assist Holmes when another passenger is shot and killed. Lord Ingram can't help but feel that Moriarty must be involved and is determined to solve the crime without revealing the truth about Holmes.
Acerbic and occasionally sad, A Tempest at Sea accurately portrays the daunting position of a brilliant woman in Victorian England who is considered impure. No one reading of "Sherlock Holmes's" exploits imagines that Holmes is actually a female, and no one in polite society dares mention Miss Charlotte's alarming fall from grace. But with verve and passion, Holmes seeks out the truth, disregarding her own safety. Fans of Deanna Raybourn or Arthur Conan Doyle will love this spin on Victorian detection. --Jessica Howard, freelance book reviewer