Parents' Guide to

The Downward Spiral: Lock and Key, Book 2

By Carrie R. Wheadon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Moodier young Sherlock sequel is chock-full of secrets.

Book Ridley Pearson Mystery 2017
The Downward Spiral: Lock and Key, Book 2 Poster Image

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What's the Story?

In THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL, Sherlock sneaks into the Moriartys' Boston mansion over holiday break to help Moira and James Moriarty figure out the riddle their father left in his study before he died: "When all that's left is right." They think that clue, and the key he left Moira in the fireplace ashes, leads to the answers to all the Moriarty family secrets, including who may have wanted to kill Mr. Moriarty. Little do they know how many secrets this family has. And the more they find -- starting with a hidden room off the study and Mr. Moriarty's journal written in ancient Greek -- the deeper they go into this mysterious realm of secret societies and desperate plays for power. James, deemed the new head of the Scowerers society after his father's death, is the first to get caught in the power struggle when a simple "favor" to spy on a classmate's father leads to the man's not-so-accidental death.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This sequel builds in many layers of secrets and ciphers to keep the mystery series nearly as sharp and quick as young Sherlock himself, though sometimes at the expense of character depth. It's almost hard to count all the mysteries in play at the same time: the journal, the mother's disappearance, the father's death, the gold bars and paintings in the hidden room, the two secret societies and their hierarchies and power struggles, the spying, the deaths, the disappearance of the necklace ... it keeps going. It's hard to always tell which lead the story will follow next and what new layer of mystery it will reveal, but like most Sherlock-inspired stories, all that guesswork is a big part of the thrill.

The paths of two Moriarty siblings diverge here: James takes the moody tragic path; Moira the more hopeful one that puts trust in the right people, like Sherlock. James' big change in The Downward Spiral needed more time on the page. Without a closer look at his psyche, he downward-spirals into a one-note villain who just wants power far too quickly. And Moira, as the sometimes narrator, needs time to process how closely her family is tied to all kinds of bad things. Instead, we see her pine over Sherlock and get jealous when other girls are around him. It sells her short as a strong female character. Let's hope that in Book 3 author Ridley Pearson brings us as close to these characters as he does to the myriad mysteries in their lives.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the differences between James and Moira in The Downward Spiral. Do you think if Moira were tempted with the same power James is, she would be going down the same dark path?

  • What happens to Sherlock and James' relationship by the end of the book? What ties them together? What makes cooperation harder for both of them?

  • Will you read the next in the series? What do you think will happen to James? Moira? Sherlock?

Book Details

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