The case of the missing marquess (original 2006; edition 2006)

A brash, clever heroine who uses Victorian rules and mores regarding women to her own advantage. The book will appeal to both boys and girls, and there are clever mysteries and ciphers throughout the whole novel that readers will have a fun time solving. Promising beginning to a wonderful series that is well-researched and fun. ( )

This mystery was recommended to me on Twitter and I finally picked it up (it's been recommended to me before). It's fast-paced, with a strong sense of place and time. It'll appeal to fans of Sherlock Holmes and it features a strong female protagonist trying to make her way in a man's world.

Readalikes: I'd recommend The Puzzling World of Winston Breen for kids who like the ciphers contained in the book.

Obviously, Sherlock Holmes or the Sherlock Holmes graphic novels would be great choices for readalikes.

For older tweens and teens who like the setting and spunky female character, I'd recommend the Jacky Faber series and Gail Carriger's new book Etiquette and Espionage. ( )

A take-off on Sherlock Holmes. There was a bit too much Message for my taste. And I would love to have a novel set in the Victorian era where the heroine is fine with corsets and sewing. Seriously. Not everyone hated them and rebelled. [Aug. 2009] ( )

Oh, this book was fun. Tons and tons of fun. ( )

This was a very quick read, and as such, my review will be quick as well.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, but there were some things that were a little off-putting for me. Initially, the writing -- using lots of dashes -- and sentence fragments, was a little hard to adjust to, but adjust I did, and it stopped bothering me as much around the middle of the book. But my main issue here, is that the title case isn't actually even revealed to be a case until after the middle of the book. So the missing person in the beginning of the book is just background, apparently an overarching storyline to fill out the series. That's what I'm guessing.

Not to say that's bad, but it was a little strange to realize that the case I'd been following wasn't the real story at all.

Anyway, this was enjoyable, short and fun. I liked Enola quite a lot. I found her intelligent and independent, which I like, but I wish she'd maybe have smiled or laughed a bit. She seems so serious. ( )