Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose by Nancy Springer

Title: Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose

Author: Nancy Springer

Genre: Crime, Historical Fiction

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 29^th September 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 304

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: Enola Holmes, Sherlock’s much younger and feistier sister, returns in this new and final adventure in the internationally bestselling series and breakout Netflix sensation.

‘A young girl who is empowered, capable, and smart…the Enola Holmes book series convey an impactful message to kids and teenagers all over the world that you can do anything if you set your mind to it, and it does so in an exciting and adventurous way.’ Millie Bobby Brown

In May 1890, Enola Holmes is finally independent and, no longer hiding from her older brothers Sherlock and Mycroft, occasionally pursuing her chosen profession as a scientific perditorian – a finder of lost things and people.

Wolcott Balestier, the representative of an American book publisher, arrived in London on a singular mission – to contract with English authors for their latest works. When Balestier disappears on the streets of London one day, his great friend Rudyard Kipling bursts into Enola’s office looking for help. Brash and unwilling to hire a young woman, instead he turns to Sherlock Holmes. Convinced that evil has befallen Balestier at the hands of the ‘book pirates’, he sets the elder Holmes on the trail. But Enola is not one to accept defeat, especially not to her brother, and sets off on her own.

Can book publishing truly be so ruthless and deadly, or can the missing man be rescued from his apparent fate and returned to his friends and loved ones?

The redoubtable is determined to do just that, even if it means working with her brother Sherlock!

~*~

Enola and Sherlock are back – and this time, they’re tasked with finding a good friend of none other than Rudyard Kipling. This friend – Wolcott Balestier is also a publisher, and he has disappeared following a vicious dog attack. Yet Kipling is unwilling to hire Enola and turns to Sherlock – so the two carry out their own investigations to find the missing man. Kipling believes that his friend has been abducted by book pirates – and it seems nobody is willing to listen to Enola. Yet there is always more to the story in these books, and this is where Enola comes into her own, using a range of disguises and identities to find out what happened from people her brother wouldn’t dare speak with usually.

It’s 1890, and Enola is on speaking terms with her brother as she studies and lives in a boarding home appropriate for her class. The latest in the Enola series is filled with adventure and feminism as the Suffragist Enola makes her mark on society, solving mysteries as well as her brother does. In this book, there are many things at play – the literary world, class, book piracy, and ideas about Egyptian mythology threaded throughout to create the new story that celebrates wit and clever women and shows girls can do anything.

In 1890, Enola is still grappling with assumptions about her age, her gender, and what a woman or girl of her social standing should be doing – what is appropriate for young ladies to do and wear, and how they should interact with people. Enola both flouts all of this and uses it to her advantage, ensuring that show is able to find out things that other detectives are unable to find out, or perhaps unwilling to look into in the exceptionally judgemental and class-based society. I have been enjoying the Enola Holmes series and its fresh take on the Sherlock Holmes stories and themes, bringing the detective to life in a new and vibrant way through a female lens for today’s readers. A wonderful addition to the series.