Review: The Last of August (Charlotte Holmes #2) by Brittany Cavallaro
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Series: Charlotte Holmes #2
Author: Brittany Cavallaro
Published February 14th 2017 by Katherine Tegen Books
Goodreads Synopsis
Watson and Holmes: A match made in disaster.
Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are looking for a winter-break reprieve after a fall semester that almost got them killed. But Charlotte isn’t the only Holmes with secrets, and the mood at her family’s Sussex estate is palpably tense. On top of everything else, Holmes and Watson could be becoming more than friends—but still, the darkness in Charlotte’s past is a wall between them.
A distraction arises soon enough, because Charlotte’s beloved uncle Leander goes missing from the estate—after being oddly private about his latest assignment in a German art forgery ring. The game is afoot once again, and Charlotte is single-minded in her pursuit.
Their first stop? Berlin. Their first contact? August Moriarty (formerly Charlotte’s obsession, currently believed by most to be dead), whose powerful family has been ripping off famous paintings for the last hundred years. But as they follow the gritty underground scene in Berlin to glittering art houses in Prague, Holmes and Watson begin to realize that this is a much more complicated case than a disappearance. Much more dangerous, too.
What they learn might change everything they know about their families, themselves, and each other.
Goodreads
Review
See my review of book 1, A Study in Charlotte.
Sherlock Holmes retellings are a love of mine, and I adored Cavallaro's debut, A Study in Charlotte. As soon as I could, I ordered a copy of its sequel, and dove straight in.
In The Last of August, we meet our heroes, Holmes and Watson, spending their Christmas holidays between both their families. As soon as they arrive at the Holmes family manor in Sussex, they are drawn into intrigue when Charlotte's beloved uncle goes missing, and no one else seems that bothered. Obviously, Jamie and Charlotte aren't going to sit back and wait for something to happen. No, they're going to get right on a plane, and travel to Berlin, when Leander had been working undercover. With the help of Charlotte's brother, Milo, they find themselves working with August Moriaty, the reason the crime family hate Charlotte, in order to take down some of his own siblings.
I felt like this book was a good sequel, but it didn't blow me away as much as I wanted it to. The plot line was good, but, again, it could've been better. However, I did still enjoy the book, and found myself caring more and more about both Jamie, and Charlotte. The mystery of the missing uncle did have the right amount of suspense, as well as things we could work out ourselves.
Like I said, Jamie and Charlotte have grown since we first met them, and I love how they are now, and how I can see them being in the future. The romance between them, which I shipped from the start of book 1, is still as slow as ever, but we do get some very swoony moments, which made it all worth it. Understandably, with what happened to Charlotte prior to the series, and with August's involvement in the case, there were moments when both characters were, perhaps, a tad too headstrong, but both seriously care about each other, and don't want to hurt them.
One of my favourite things about this series is how Jamie is the narrator, though we get little bits in which Charlotte takes the reins, and shows her more vulnerable side. Because of that, we have a much better reading experience, because, to be honest, Jamie is rather clueless at times, and it lets us find out things at the right time, rather than all at once. Though I felt this book was perhaps lacking something, I still really enjoyed it, and can't wait for the finale of the series.
Dates Read:
Rating
4 Stars
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