A Ruse of Shadows by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“I am a queen upon this board and I do not play to lose.”
Once again Sherry Thomas and Kate Reading have brought me a book that is luscious to listen to, complicated and meticulously plotted. In short, I had to actually pay attention. LOL!
I found myself thinking back to when I listened to the first book in the series and was astounded at the way Ms. Thomas turned the entire Sherlock Holmes series on its’ ear. As a rule, I don’t care for the many volumes of attempts by authors to evolve the original Holmes into something he wasn’t or to add characters that were not even hinted at by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Charlotte Holmes was, to say the least, totally unexpected and a welcome shift, not to mention addition to, the genre.
A Ruse of Shadows gathers threads from most of the preceding books. This could be a problem for folks who have not started at the beginning of the series, but it could also be a pleasant ‘ah ha’ when they start in with the first book.
As I said, I had to pay attention with this one as there are some twist and turns, not to mention red herrings, that took me off the path. By the time I got to the unveiling/explanation I had forgotten my personal subtitle to the series: Things are not what I think they are, so I was more than a bit surprised.
Watching all the characters evolve has been amazing and satisfying. Contemplating just how far ahead Charlotte has plotted her Grand Plan simply boggles my mind. It is worth reminding folks that she hinted at this during the last book, Tempest at Sea.
I’ve come to the conclusion that Charlotte not only plays 3 dimensional chess but tosses in some snooker to boot.
Enjoy!
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From The Reading Table: A Ruse of Shadows
