Name: A Study in Scarlet Women
ISBN: 9780425281406

Sherry M. Thomas

"USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas turns the story of the renowned Sherlock Holmes upside down... With her inquisitive mind, Charlotte Holmes has never felt comfortable with the demureness expected of the fairer sex in upper class society. But 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"--

A Study in Scarlet Women

Sarah Sammis

** spoiler alert **
           The title of this first mystery is a clever play on words between the original Sherlock Holmes mystery, A Study in Scarlet (1887), and the euphemism for prostitutes — or in Charlotte's case, fallen women. As Charlotte as Sherlock, is but one women, the title implies other scarlet women. If one knows the original plot, the fun becomes looking for women who might fill the character roles. Who is Watson? And so forth

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm....

Sherry Thomas

USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas turns the story of the renowned Sherlock Holmes upside down in the first novel in this Victorian mystery series.... 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. An NPR Best Book of 2016

A Study In Scarlet Women

Colleen

1 Star

DNF at 35%


Wow. (And not in a good way.)
 
It is too early in the year to be slogging through a book this boring and unpleasant. There hasn’t been a single element in A Study in Scarlet Women that appeals to me, so I see no reason to continue forcing myself to read this.
 
This isn’t the first gender-switched Holmes story I’ve read, but the premise sounded intriguing. But this book was so… I’m not even sure which words to use. Dreary. Depressing. Dingy. Dull. And that’s just some of the D’s. When it comes to retellings, I always say that if you can’t bring something new and creative and better to the table, then don’t bother. What I read of A Study in Scarlet Women was so bad that it was definitely an insult to the original work. You’re talking about one of the most iconic characters in literature and a series that is a cornerstone of an entire genre. Don’t mess with that unless you’ve got a damn good reason to.
 
The biggest problem is the character of Charlotte Holmes (the female rewrite of Sherlock Holmes). She is utterly unpleasant. It isn’t like Sherlock was affable, but he was still loveable. He was flawed yet compelling. Hence why he is so iconic. (Ok, ok! I admit, I am totally thinking about Benedict Cumberbatch right now and smirking. But I swear I loved the series long before he took over the roll.) But Charlotte is downright unpleasant. It certainly didn’t help matters that the first time you meet her, she is purposefully caught having sex with a married man so that she can be ruined without being forced to wed. Calling her cold and calculating is an understatement of massive proportions. The brilliance of Holmes was not captured. She had no redeeming qualities. Charlotte was also vain and materialistic. She loves food but is obsessive about her weight, always worrying about having a double chin and fussing over her outfits.
 
I’ve read a variety of fiction that concerns strong women surviving in restricting times, but Thomas’s approach to the subject felt absolutely suffocating and nihilistic. And the author really ends up beating a dead horse on that aspect.
 
The narrators switch around sloppily. The story seems to be told from the perspectives of various people surrounding Charlotte, so the narrative feels disjointed and messy. Characters disappear without a word the second they are no longer necessary. There seems to be the setup for a romance, but I don’t care to know what becomes of that because Charlotte was so off-putting. I wasn’t particularly drawn to any of the other characters. The writing was not compelling. I didn’t even get far enough for the mystery part of the plot to truly kick in, so I have no idea if that gets better. Probably not though. This seems to be more about the process of her eventually becoming an investigator than the actual investigations. Even if this wasn’t a terrible retelling, the bad writing would make this book abysmal all on its own.
 
In short: convoluted, boring, unpleasant, and definitely not worth finishing!
 
 
NOTE: After writing this, I looked up some spoilers for the ending. Boy am I glad I DNF’d it!!! Everything described pissed me off. The character arc, writing, and plot conclusion all sound atrocious. If I had finished this, I have no doubt this would have ended up in my bottom five for the year!
 

RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 1 Star
Writing Style: 1 Star
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 1 Star
Level of Captivation: 1 Star
Originality: 1 Star

Samantha 

This is a 3.5 star read for me. I really loved protagonist, Charlotte for her wit, perseverance, and determination. There were alot of characters to follow and I found some parts of the story a bit slow for me. But I'm definitely going to try the second book in the series because I think it has good potential for me!

Connor 

in short: thoroughly enjoyable, and I look forward to seeing how this spiral of characters unwinds in the next book. 

At more length--this adaptation succeeds, I think, in large part because it does not try to be a direct correlation. Rather, it seems to me more as if Thomas took the idea of a female Sherlock and, instead of adapting the surrounding characters to an opposite gender but remarkably similar identity, she looked at the relationships in the original and extrapolated to from that point. 

This works much better, I think, and was a delight to read. I am ESPECIALLY fond of Watson (and Watson's dynamic with Holmes!) and look forward to more of their adventures.

i enjoyed this very much even if i cannot necessarily say it was good. i definitely had to turn my brain off at several bits. 

however, i thought it was a pretty intelligent and interesting interpretation of the sherlock holmes stories, including how the original characters and their relationships were reinterpreted (absolutely delighted with sherlock being the pseudonym of a chubby food-loving woman in her mid-twenties who ruined her reputation to stop her parents from trying to marry her off). i also enjoyed the different dynamics - female relationships were definitely the centre of the novel but also the tension between charlotte and ingram was also palpable!

i can see myself devouring the rest of the series.

a couple of cw: mention of / allusions to csa, cheating (emotional, physical; it did not necessarily bother me in this novel but it might me important for some)

Felicia Cathryn

** spoiler alert **
           3.5

i am staying for the ingham-charlotte business

Barbara Williford

Charlotte Holmes has never fit in with proper society. She did not look the part, act the part, or even care about the part. When she puts herself in a compromising position and is removed from proper society she is left to her own creative mind. She then finds herself in the company of an eccentric companion and 3 murders which involve her dear sister. 

It was a bit slow at the beginning but once the excitement began the plot got more intriguing. I love this twist of Sherlock Holmes and Watson.

Stark Koenig

I think probably the mystery part of this was a 3.5 for me, as it seems a little thrown together at the end. However! The fact that pretty much all of the women in this book were really intelligent, not just the Extraordinarily Clever Protagonist (TM), bumped it up to 4 stars. Such a novelty in the period mystery genre!

Lauren Sullivan

Content warnings: (view spoiler)[eating disorder, fat phobia, homophobia, verbal abuse, child abuse (including sexual), suicide, threats to forcibly out a gay minor character (hide spoiler)]

Despite not caring that much about the original material, I have a thing for Sherlock retellings. While I knew that this starred a female Sherlock, I hadn't realized that Watson and Moriarty were also women!

This suffers from serious first book syndrome (so! many! characters! with backstories!), but it really picks up in the second half. I found the exploration of the limits placed on women by society fascinating and frustrating, but I loved watching Charlotte and Mrs. Watson alternately bulldoze through them or carefully skirt around them. One of the constraints was that most of the investigation and in-person detective work was done from the POV of a police detective. While I liked Treadles, I was always eager to get back to Charlotte's POV.

When we finally get to the actual mystery - after a lot of exposition on Charlotte's childhood - I thought it was pretty decent. There were lots of nice twists and turns, with enough foreshadowing to expect the final big twist. But, like the rest of the book, it moves quite slowly, and there were parts in the middle where I just wanted something, anything, to happen, other than endless interviews.

One other quibble - instead of drugs, Charlotte has an unhealthy relationship with food. This part of the story was very uncomfortable for me to read, so it's hard for me to view this objectively, but I think it was a necessary character flaw for her.

Overall, I enjoyed the overall feel of the book, and I've already got the next out from the library.

This was such a good mystery. I couldn't stop reading. I've never read Sherlock Holmes and who needs to when this retelling is so damn good?

Becky

maddie

If God doesn’t want people to lie, he shouldn’t have given the best liars such earnest and innocent faces.
• • •
Sherlock Holmes is a name that everybody has grown up hearing. We know who he is, what he does, and what he’s like without ever picking up an actual piece of media involving him. It was when I first watched an episode of BBC’s Sherlock, however, that I fell in love with the character. Now I’ve finished three seasons and read two novels and countless short stories written by Sir Doyle, and I can honestly say that these are the types of mysteries I’ve been waiting for. And A Study in Scarlet Women has given it to me. Charlotte Holmes is the youngest of four girls, thrown out of the house after getting herself involved in a scandal. Her solution? Become a detective by sending letters to Scotland Yard and posting advertisements in the newspapers as a certain Mr Sherlock Holmes - a name that is now being known all across London. From making a friend in widowed Mrs Watson to forcing an ally of Inspector Treadles to the nearly unbearable tension between Charlotte and Lord Ingram, the relationships between Charlotte and others build the story into a romantic tale with very little romance. I’m already in love with this series and searching for the next book - and once you read it, you’ll be doing the same.

Nickie Mohler

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. This is not a genre that I usually read, but I really enjoyed it. Charlotte Holmes is a great character. She will do whatever it takes to make it on her own in a time when women were just supposed to strive for marriage and needlepoint.

Ruby Huber

I knew I wasn't going to love this going in, and I still listened to it, so thats on me. It wasn't BAD obviously I'm giving it 3 stars, but as far as published Sherlock Holmes fanfiction goes, this was not it for me. Fortunately, the mystery was good. Unfortunately, it was very weird how Charlotte's body was talked about? like, I'm glad that she seemed to be fat AND hot, but the way that was conveyed was kinda weird. maybe I'm just gonna give it 2.

Heather Harrington

Charlotte Holmes has a brilliant mind and has never felt the need to downplay her intelligence in order to fit in with high society. After being caught in a very delicate position with a married man, she becomes a social pariah, and must fend for herself on the dangerous London streets. The sheer thought should send her running back to her parents for forgiveness, but instead it lights a fire in Charlotte. When the city is struck with three unexpected murders, suspicions fall to Charlotte's sister and father. Unable to let this slander ruin her family, Charlotte, assuming the name Sherlock Holmes, joins forces with friends both old and new in order to uncover the true identity of the murderer. 

I'm such a sucker for this genre, and this was no exception. This is such a smart, well-thought out mystery and I was hooked right away. Thomas perfectly balances different threads of mystery with captivating characters and a slight romance, which I'm really hoping develops a bit more in the rest of the series. Charlotte's incredibly headstrong and it seems she was already established as Sherlock before the story began, so I'm hoping we get more backstory for that as well. I did find the beginning to be slightly slow, but other than that, I was engaged the whole time and can't wait to see what else this series has in store.

Amy Medeiros

Lady Charlotte Holmes

I think this has to be my favorite gender bender Sherlock Holmes books as of yet. I loved the Victorian era time frame and all the characters especially the society defying Charlotte who looked like the most feminine creature outwardly but was actually the most intelligent person in the story. Can’t wait to read the next installment in the series and I’m so glad there’s so many more to get to so I have even more to look forward to.

Saayan

I'm a big fan of Sherry Thomas but I was hesitant to try this series because I heard that the romance is not the main focus. I'm so glad I gave it a try anyway because it was a very entertaining read! I felt there was a good balance of the mystery and even just enough romance.

It was a bit of a slow start but after I got past the beginning, I found it hard to put it down. I did find that there are a lot of characters so you have to pay attention or you might miss out on some details.

I'm excited to continue on with the series and see what is in store for Charlotte and Lord Ingram next.

Paige Morgan

My new favorite Sherlock Holmes adaptation.

Dearna Mulvaney

I found this to be a little slow to start but I enjoyed the mystery. This series is a gender-swapped retelling of Sherlock Holmes. 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.

This was so creatively put together. I’m sure I have missed a lot of a subtle references since I haven’t read the original tales but I still had a lot of fun reading this. I adore the dynamic between Charlotte and Watson. Will be interested to see how that develops over the later books in the series. Also I would be interested to see how the romance develops as it was a little light on but not that it bothered me since I love a slow burn.

Charlotte is a pretty ballsy character. She wanted to go on a study but her family is aginst that as her role is to marry and have children. No phases by the consequences, Charlotte takes her life and future into her own hands.

Sherry Thomas has done an amazing job not only constructing the upper class society and the middle and lower classes of Victorian England. While they all seem worlds part they do share one thing in common; the suffocating constraints placed on women. The setting is vivid and feels authentic, which is a huge plus for me when it comes to historical fiction.

Ingrid Marquardt 

So good, but had to dock a star (or a half?) because of "he released a breath he hadn't known he was holding"

A Study in Scarlet Women

Reviews

Highlights