Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Drugs, rape, murder in tense, edgy Holmes-Watson update.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
As far as 16-year-old Jamie Watson is concerned, the only good thing about being shipped off to a posh boarding school in Connecticut is that he'll finally meet Charlotte Holmes, who's also there. Relations between their families have been dicey since Sherlock and Dr. Watson's lifetimes, but Jamie has always been thrilled by her crime-solving exploits and secretly dreamed of being her sidekick on wild adventures. The reality turns out to be quite a bit more complicated: Charlotte is brilliant, beautiful, bitter, and druggy, and Jamie is soon under her spell. When her recent rapist turns up murdered in a scene straight out of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band," she and Jamie realize that someone's trying to frame them -- or worse. But who, and why?
Is It Any Good?
The latest page-turning entry in the Holmes-and-Watson spin-off genre finds their present-day teen descendants trying to stay alive and out of jail as an unknown murderer stalks their boarding school. A STUDY IN CHARLOTTE (playing on the title of the first Sherlock Holmes tale) offers an edgy, complicated, snarky title character in 16-year-old Charlotte Holmes; a relatable, engaging narrator and friend in Jamie Watson; and a boarding school setting full of hearty-partying rich kids and mysterious killers. There's also a bit of James Bond-style international intrigue, as it soon becomes clear that powerful hidden forces lurk just out of sight. Some of the darker elements (drugs, rape, murder, and people's lives being ruined) demand a mature reader, but the odd, compelling friendship of the two teens and the frequent plot twists keep things interesting.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson stories, and why people keep making up more of them. How does this one compare with others you've read or seen?
What do you think of stories that take characters from other tales and put them in new situations? Do you think this is interesting, or do you think people should make up their own characters?
What food would you really miss if you moved somewhere it wasn't available?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Mystery
- Topics : Book Characters , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Friendship , School ( High School )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Katherine Tegen Books
- Publication date : March 1, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 18
- Number of pages : 336
- Available on : Nook, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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