No Place Like Holmes (Review)

Emily LOVES mysteries and detective stories, so I thought that No Place Like Holmes, by Jason Lethcoe, would be a fun book for her. We received a review copy in e-book format, which was also fun, since she has a new Kindle as of a few weeks ago.

This fast paced mystery takes place in London; in fact right next door to the renowned Sherlock Holmes. The hero, Griffin Sharpe, is a 12 year old boy with uncanny powers of observation. His uncle, Rupert Snodgrass, who Griffin is visiting for the summer, is a bungling, inefficient, detective-want-to-be. Nefarious criminals, a man-eating Loch Ness monster in the Thames River, kidnappings, and a disappearance of a boatload of Chinese fireworks all come together to create a challenging adventure.

I enjoyed this book and think it’s a fun mystery for kids. It’s fast-paced enough to keep the attention of even reluctant readers, I think. It is a Christian book, and introduced some themes of forgiveness and faith, although I felt that those parts of the book were a bit forced and awkward.

Emily told me that the book was exciting and was one of her favorites. She finished it in two days, which is pretty fast for her. The last chapter included a teaser for the next book, which did confuse her, leaving her feeling that the story wasn’t finished yet, with a new mystery being introduced in the last pages!

This is the first book of a series featuring Griffin Sharpe, boy detective.  I’ll look forward to reading more!

I received a free review copy of this book from BookSneeze, in exchange for my honest review.