‘The Last of August’ – Brittany Cavallaro

I’d thoroughly enjoyed the first in this series, and though this was fun it wasn’t quite as gripping. The focus of our story on this occasion is the disappearance of Holmes’s uncle Leander while he is investigating an undercover art-ring. Holmes and Watson travel to Berlin, with Holmes single-minded in her attempt to discover the whereabouts of her uncle and who is behind the strange goings-on at the Holmes estate.

Perhaps it was time to unleash the nemesis, but in this book Holmes is heavily reliant on August Moriarty. Though many believe him to be dead, he is alive and well – and very much needed as the numerous Moriarty family members that pop  up here are all connected to this forged artwork in some way.

Holmes plays a lot of cards close to her chest in this, and we are never quite sure what’s going on. There’s the merest hint that Holmes and Watson will get closer – but their ‘friendship’ is pretty toxic and messy. There’s a story here, but we’re not being told it yet. While it might have been therapeutic for them to develop their relationship, I think maintaining this distance actually makes them more intriguing.

All in all this is a story that develops the characters for us and sets us against a backdrop of a mystery – but never quite giving us what we’re expecting.