The Case of the Missing Marquess (Enola Holmes, #1) in 100+ Books in 2025

May 08, 2011 Dolly rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012, ocean-seashore, historical-fiction, education-school, england-english, gardens-flowers, mystery, money, middle-grade, lorton-jammin-book-party

I love that our oldest is becoming intrigued by mysteries and I wanted to introduce her to the English mystery genre. Also, as I have not read any of the classic Sherlock Holmes tales myself, I thought it would be a great way for us both to learn more about the famous detective.

This is the first book in the Enola Holmes Mysteries series by Nancy Springer. At first, my oldest was hesitant to read the book. I think she felt the language was a bit too stiff and the story didn't develop as quickly a I love that our oldest is becoming intrigued by mysteries and I wanted to introduce her to the English mystery genre. Also, as I have not read any of the classic Sherlock Holmes tales myself, I thought it would be a great way for us both to learn more about the famous detective.

This is the first book in the Enola Holmes Mysteries series by Nancy Springer. At first, my oldest was hesitant to read the book. I think she felt the language was a bit too stiff and the story didn't develop as quickly as she liked.

But we sat down on the couch today while my hubby and youngest went out and we read the book cover to cover. It was a quick read - we read it in about three hours. And we were riveted from the very beginning. Our oldest loved the ciphers and we had fun solving them alongside Enola.

The story takes a dark turn as Enola encounters London for the first time. As Enola mentions seeing destitute beggars and prostitutes, she also encounters a cutthroat and is kidnapped and in mortal danger. This turn of events was a bit alarming to me as the subject matter was rather mature. But our oldest seemed to take the plot in stride and I liked that the 14 year-old Enola seemed quite naive to the darker side of life as well.

I suppose that I am glad that I read this book with our daughter, so that I could answer any questions she has about the content. But for the most part, she was just enjoying the story and loved having time with me all to herself. She said that a few of the topics were a bit alarming to her, but that she really loved the tale. We also loved the plucky young heroine and her adventurous, compassionate, and brave spirit.

I am sure that we will borrow more of the books in this series from our local library, but I will purposefully do it at a slow pace, to allow our oldest time to read other books (ones that are more age-appropriate) in between.

May 2015 update: our girls' local library bookclub selected this book for their May meeting's discussion. We read the book again and were once again intrigued by the series and will likely push to read the next book soon.

new words: reticule, coreopsis, tournure, matutinal ...more

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Oct 06, 2020 Jgrace rated it liked it

Shelves: adventure, juvenile-fiction, middle-grades, england, audio, jgrace, 19th-century, historical-mystery, judithg, read-in-2020

The Case of the Missing Marquess - Springer
Audio performance by Katherine Kellgren
3 stars

The first book of a middle grade mystery series. Set in the late 19th century, the 14-year-old female protagonist is the much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. It’s Enola’s birthday. Her mother has abruptly disappeared. This sends Enola on a series of unlikely adventures as she investigates while coming to terms with abandonment. Definitely intended for a young audience. I felt Enola’s situation was too bl ...more

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