The last time they had seen her, Enola was a little toddler! So the family story in here is quite troubled, which casts a kind of bad light on the Holmes bothers, but adds an interesting touch to the story as a whole. So apparently, Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes see their mother (and little sister) as the somewhat black sheep of the family, they just support them with money but never visit, which becomes clear when Enola sends them a telegraph after her mother’s disappearance, and the two men do not recognize Enola when she picks them up at the station (by bike, in trousers – so not appropriate for a young girl in Victorian England).

(People who say MG books don’t count as reading can leave now, please and thank you. This is another middle grade book I’ve read lately that I loved these are nice, quick and easy reads and they still captivate you as an adult reader.

Will Enola become the new detective par excellence.? What I thought of it… Enola has to be smarter than her brothers, smarter than the kidnappers and try to think where her mother could hide – as she is sure no abduction has been taken place in her case. Enola decides to go to London and continue her search there, but gets involved in the strange case of a kidnapped marquess (who is even younger than her 14 year old self). Being the sister of the most famous detective of all times, Enola takes the case into her own hands, but other than some hidden money and some encrypted hints that lead her nowhere, she’s not getting far on their country manor. In contrast to them, she leads a lonely and solitary life out in the country with her mother – until one day, her mother goes missing. So this is the story of Enola, little sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. Let me tell you why it didn’t fully live up to my expectations: A little bit about this book…

To give you a little summary of what is to come – I thought it was great, I did like it, but not enough to give it the full five stars. And THEN it’s also the story of Sherlock Holmes’ little sister – what could be better than that? So OBVIOUSLY I was sold – I had to read this book. The first thing that caught my attention here was the cover – I mean LOOK at it! The interplay of red and black, the intricate little details that wait to be discovered…it just suits the story perfectly! And then it is set in Victorian England – my most favourite of all the (literary) eras.

The case of missing marquess