Making Sir Conan Doyle proud

Perfect trilogy end with promising future. Emma Jane Holloway has given us an excellent (re)introduction to Sherlock Holmes through his niece Evelina. The Baskerville Affairs was an excellent trilogy with plenty of girth (each book tops 500 pages). Be prepared to tuck in for an excellent weekend of steampunk revelry with more magic, pirates, and royalty of all sorts.

A Study in Ashes by Emma Jane Holloway

9780345537201A brilliant revival of Sherlock Holmes in this three part segue. BBC's TV show has once again made the Great Detective active in our modern imagination. He is a literary giant of lasting heritage. I was so pleased with how this trilogy has treated his legacy. The final of the series has only hardened the brilliancy of him and his niece. 

Sherlock is clearly a part of the story without being the main protagonist. His character treatment felt spot on with the original Doyle imagine of the man from Baker Street. As we draw to the end of the steam barons' mysterious war attempts, Evelina begins to evolve into her own magic and strength as a detective. Miss Holloway has clearly given us a friendly face to associate with as her new works develop into a steampunk greatness all their own. We have comfort as we start the series and finish reading the last lines realizing we have entered a whole new territory that can exist within Baker Street without Sherlock Holmes.

The third part is by far the longest of the set, but I felt that the length was not hampering to the amount of information we received. The characters are each developing so uniquely apart from each other before finding a common conclusion the treatment of events in date sequence/diary format made more sense than the first novel using that format (but for cohesion sake I'm happy it was there and now understand the big picture). I was not shocked by the ending in a firecracker explosion, but I was in no way expecting the ending as it developed. It sort of sneaked up on me while I was reading on velvet tipped feet. I actually really appreciated that type of mystery diversion tactic.

I completely recommend on purchasing the whole trilogy if you have ignored my previous recommendations and were waiting for everything to be published before buying in.

Here is to reaching my 75 goal for the holidays!

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