The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

Title: The Case of the Missing Marquess
Author: Nancy Springer
ISBN: 978-0-14-240933-6
214 pages
Puffin Books, 2006 edition

At the local branch of the Seattle Public Library near my house, they have a bookshelf of popular titles that children or parents (or people like myself) may take home and read without checking out and with no particular due date. This title was one that the librarian had suggested so I thought that I would check it out. The idea of having these titles available for kids to take home without a library card is a really neat idea and one that should be adopted wherever possible.

Description:

Enola Holmes is the younger sister of the famed Sherlock Holmes and, on her fourteenth birthday no less, learns that her mother has been kidnapped. Enola, alone spelled backwards, goes to her two older brothers in hopes of finding the location of her missing mother. After being told by her brothers that she will be sent away to boarding school, Enola decides to take the search upon herself and runs away from home in hopes of solving the mystery; to mysterious, dark and murky London. Upon her arrival in London, Enola reads about another missing person; the young Marquess of Basilwether. What do this young, 12-year-old girl and Enola's mother have in common? That is what Enola plans to figure out.

Review:

I was initially excited about the premise of this book, which is the first in a series of books about Enola, with Sherlock's younger sister getting into the action. The subject matter may be a little bit too heavy for some of the younger 'tween' readers as Springer's London is a pretty scary place. Right from the get go, there are mentioned prostitutes and other decidedly adult characters that populate Springer's novel. While none of them is given too much detail, some might be tentative to have their children reading books with this type of material. While I don't usually go for, or enjoy for that matter, mystery books for kids or adults, this one was admittedly good. The plot is engaging, the back story and connection to Sherlock Holmes is a fun and amusing take on the classic, and overall the novel is quite good.