Monday, May 15, 2017

May's Who Are You... I Really Want to Know!




Once again, I've decided to play a bit fast and loose with this meme. The last book I read was really a novella with little meat on its bones. Although it was a lovely story, it involved the main character going snorkeling and then being trapped underground. Okay... I just got goosebumps typing that sentence so you can see that I really don't do underground. (If someone ever tells you that they saw me spelunking, you have my permission to laugh in their general direction.)

So... I've chosen the book that I am currently reading. It's going to be released here in the US this coming October, but it sounded so good that I ordered a copy from Book Depository.

I am the narrator of Michelle Birkby's The House at Baker Street, the first Mrs. Hudson and Mary Watson mystery. I am Mrs. Hudson herself. Here's a synopsis of the book:

"When Sherlock Holmes turns down the case of persecuted Laura Shirley, Mrs. Hudson - the landlady of Baker Street - and Mary Watson - the wife of Dr. Watson - resolve to take on the investigation themselves. From the kitchen of 221b, the two women begin their inquiries and enlist the assistance of the Baker Street Irregulars and the infamous Irene Adler.

A trail of clues leads them to the darkest corners of Whitechapel, where the fearsome Ripper supposedly still stalks. They soon discover Laura Shirley is not the only woman at risk - the lives of many others are in danger too.


As Mrs. Hudson and Mary Watson put together the pieces of an increasingly complex puzzle, the investigation becomes bigger than either of them could ever have imagined. Can they solve the case or are they just pawns in a much larger game?



The moment my eyes saw "the first Mrs. Hudson and Mary Watson mystery," I think I almost crowed with delight. I've mentioned before that I've never been a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories. I just do not care for the great detective's misogyny. On the other hand, I always thought there was more to Mrs. Hudson than Conan Doyle was letting us see. Michelle Birkby has done a marvelous job in this book. There is much, much more to Mrs. Hudson than meets the eye. Her husband died. Her young son died. Now owner of several properties in London, she moved to the Big Smoke and became landlady and housekeeper to Sherlock Holmes, whom she met on a very rainy evening.

Every time Mr. Holmes wrecks something in his apartment, Mrs. Hudson raises his rent. He pays it without comment. When clients go upstairs to his rooms, Mrs. Hudson has learned that she can hear every word they say by opening the air vent in the kitchen. And Mary Watson is the first real friend she's ever had.

So I'm Mrs. Hudson. I'm an older woman used to being underestimated and unseen. But I notice things. And I think. And I think Mary Watson and I are perfectly capable of investigating a mystery or two of our own!



15 comments:

  1. Love the sound of that book! I would be Ruth Galloway. LOL!

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  2. Oh, this one does sound good, Cathy. As for me, I'm Claire Bowerman, a surgeon. I've returned to my native New Zealand with my partner, Yossi, and my daughter, Roimata. Years ago, my father was accused of murder, and I've had to deal with it since then. But was he guilty?? I'm featured in Sue Younger's Days Are Like Grass.

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    1. Another book that I'm very interested in. Thanks, Margot!

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  3. I also love the sound of your book, Cathy. I liked the inclusion of both Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Watson in the recent contemporary Sherlock series on Masterpiece. Though this was a tough season.

    So, my reading has been almost at a standstill for a couple of weeks. My travels had me busy with other things. I'll talk about the book that I started yesterday - Mary Kubica's EVERY LAST LIE, which comes out at the end of June. I guess I'd be Clara, who has just found out her husband has been killed in an accident. She's still reeling from the news. Haven't gotten very far yet, but this author is one I've been planning to read for a while.

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    1. I've heard the author's name, but that's about all I remember. I'll have to check her out. Thanks, Kay!

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  4. I am Olivia Limoges. I live in Oyster Bay North Carolina with my standard poodle Capt. Haviland. Ellery Adams has told my story in eight books. With this last book, Killer Characters, she has said it is the last book that she will let readers know about our life in Oyster Bay. So the Bayside Book Writers, Dixie, Fred Yoder and myself will go back to private life. I will still carry on with my treasure hunts along the ocean to see what treasures the ocean has surrendered.

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    1. A favorite series of mine. Thanks for reminding me that I have to get a copy of Killer Characters!

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  5. I am Nanette in The Dark Rose by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, the second in the Morland family saga. I go to court and become friends with Anne Boleyn. This is a great series and I liked this book even more than the first.

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    1. I think this is my favorite historical fiction series. I'm several books behind (I'm up to WWI with the Morlands), but the books are waiting patiently for me on my TBR shelves. The Dark Rose is one of my favorite books in the series, too.

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  6. I just started in Farleigh Field--there's quite a cast of characters! I think I am Pamela right now.

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  7. OK. I come here to read the post about the featured book and I find that and several others to add to my ridiculous TBR lists (2)!
    The last book I read (and am still glowing in) was Donna Leon's latest one with Guido Brunetti with whom I do not identify. But I could say I'm Signorina Elettra Zorzi, assistant to the head of the questura, who is a computer genius and can hack into any secure system in Italy.

    And I'm in "Earthly Remains," a wonderful book set not in the usual Venice, but in the Venetian laguna and its canals and islands.

    I have rarely felt so relaxed reading a book, and it's because the flora and fauna play a major role in the descriptions of a beautiful place.

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    1. I read the first Brunetti book years ago, and it really didn't grab me. I've often thought since then that I should give the series another go.

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  8. The series changed after the first book. But it still features Commissario Guido Brunetti who is a Venetian police detective. A lot of the book features his thinking, but also gives a real feel for Venice.

    They usually have a social issue but it does not overshadow the book. Often the perpetrator is a man with power, wealth, high up in his career and there is not justice at the end. Donna Leon says that this reflects real life.

    I hope you try some more of Leon's series. I love it, have read every book, as have several of my reader friends.

    The characters grow on the reader with Brunett's families, especially his spouse, Paola Falier, and his team at work, playing important roles in the stories.

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