I KNEW IT. That is all I will say for now, but I KNEW IT. Ha!

Also, I sincerely hope more adventures will come about soon.



Confession time I'm not a huge Sherlockian. I'm actually rather the opposite--I was always more in the Hercule Poirot camp of quirky male detectives that most people find obnoxious. BBC's show (and Benedict Cumberbatch's cheekbones) however convinced me I was being too hard on the fellow. When I received an email asking if I'd be interested in reviewing Jewel of the Thames (as part of Portia's blog tour) it came just as I finished episode 3 of the show and I wasn't ready to let go. Really not ready to let go. Have you seen season 3? No? You'll see why I wasn't ready to let go.

Broken into 3 cases, each building on the last as Portia's journey towards the truth unravels. Misri does Portia a great service by not making her instantly perfect. While she definitely has a keen eye, quick intellect and charming personality she's still young and not immune to the fallacies of that youth. For instance in the second case she only stumbles upon the truth through happenstance and luck while in the first case it takes a lot of leg work and cunning an the third case a combination of the two.

Portia is immediately likeable. She's practical, humble and tries hard to not let herself become entangled in things. In many ways she was like Holmes--the minutiae of the day didn't bog her down, she was always concerned with the larger focus. Unlike Holmes she does understand the need for social niceties and proves herself very capable of steering between the upper crusty sorts to the Scotland Yard detectives she runs into occasionally.

Those surrounding her--from her mysterious benefactor to the couple who took over 221 Baker Street to the detective who is incredulous about her abilities are all engaging. Even the "villains" prove to be delightful as they offer Portia a chance to test her mettle as an amateur detective determined to take up with Holmes and Watson left off.

I will say that sometimes the nature of the cases threw off the pacing of the underlying plot. While the individual stories were well paced, the cases themselves were written almost as connected individual short stories so at times the flow of time felt stiff. Also I found it a little bit outside the ordinary that so much happened to her in so short a time, but then as any fan of detective shows or stories can tell you the amateur detective has a knack for attracting dangerous situations.

JEWEL OF THE THAMES is a well paced mystery that felt genuine and made me try to figure out what was going on. Some details of Portia's shrouded family past are rather obvious, but watching her piece together the clues was amusing. Especially when she figured out who her ahem guardian was. I definitely can't wait to see what happens next and I certainly hope to see more of Brian Dawes (though I'm okay with him only being a friend and not a love interest, I like their easy banter and companionability). ( )

There's a lot of Sherlock spin-offs on the market these days and this is yet another one, comprising three novellas in one book. This might be interesting for anyone obsessed with Sir Doyle's clever works but I was too bored to even read it all the way through, skipping to the end (which was, unsurprisingly, predictable). ( )

More of a three point five; I enjoyed it, but found the writing a little too slow-moving in places and jumpy in others. The stories were fun, though, and Portia is quite endearing. I'd read another installment for sure. ( )

Nineteen-year-old Portia Adams meets her new guardian at her mother's funeral. Thinking herself without family or friends, Portia is something at a loss for her next steps. The mysterious Mrs. Jones, who knew her grandmother and her mother, quickly steps in to be her new family.

Portia finds herself whisked from Toronto to London where she learns that she has inherited 221 Baker Street from her grandfather - Dr. John Watson. She never knew who her grandfather was. Her grandmother divorced him and moved to the United States.

Portia herself seems more like her grandfather's friend and partner Sherlock Holmes. She is studying law but using her talents for observation and deduction to assist Scotland Yard with some investigations. It is helpful that her tenants include a man who has just become a constable.

This book includes three cases. The first involves stolen jewelry and a unique way to stash the loot. The second tells of a plot to kill a man and inherit his property and the way Portia's confidence is shaken by the murderer. The third case involves a kidnapping on a moving train. All three stories were well plotted. I liked that Portia inherited her grandfather's case files and studied them to find out how Sherlock Holmes solved his cases.

I liked the startling revelations that ended this story and am eager to read more of Portia's adventures. ( )

3.5 stars

I quite enjoyed this book, even though I was able to figure out the mysteries of the heroine's family pretty much immediately. I'm not sure if readers were meant to be able to do so, or not - anyone with the slightest knowledge of Sherlock Holmes probably will be able to figure things out (I know no more than what I've discovered from watching two seasons of Sherlock).

The mysteries Portia stumbles into were a different story, as I found myself largely clueless as to the culprits of the crimes (except for the last one - I totally called that one). I liked that Portia was naturally intelligent, inquisitive, and observant, but not some wunderkind who needn't slog through the sometimes tedious research process like the rest of us (you've come across those special snowflake Mary Sue-esque characters before, I'm sure).

I would have given this four stars, but there were a number of grammatical mistakes that drove me a bit crazy (it's a pet peeve of mine) and the book ended rather abruptly. I suppose that is to let us know that Portia will be back for more adventures. ( )