Customer Reviews

A Study in Scandal

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Amelia Watersfield is twenty-four years old and still unmarried, which in Victorian England means she is likely to stay unmarried. So she spends her time reading Sherlock Holmes stories and running a detective club with her three best friends. When her father's favorite Egyptian artifact disappears, he hires Colin Brindley, a private inspector, to look for it.

Amelia is instantly attracted to Colin, who reminds her of her hero, Sherlock Holmes. Colin is not interested in a relationship after seeing the hurt it can bring. His father loved his mother, but his mother was unsatisfied and ran off when Colin was still young. Amelia convinces the reluctant Colin to let her help him investigate the theft. However Colin finds himself struggling with his feelings about relationships when he begins to find himself attracted to Amelia. If he lets himself love Amelia, will he only hurt both of them in the end?

This was a pretty enjoyable romance set in England in 1892. I really liked the mystery subplot and the fact that Colin was a detective, not just yet another wealthy nobleman. Although this book wasn't perfect, overall I would still recommend it. I think this new author shows a lot of promise, and I will be giving her another try with her next book.

This was a cute book. Not a lot to it, but it was okay. The two leads were likable--nothing about either one of them rubbed me the wrong way. But, if you are looking for a lot of character development or period detail, it's not here. This was a pleasant way to spend a lazy afternoon.

Amelia Watersfield is a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. It's 1892 and the stories are presently being serialized in newspapers throughout London. Swept up in the craze, Amelia founds, with her three friends, the Lady's Amateur Sleuth Society. They don't really do much. But they love the Sherlock Holmes stories, the fantasy and thrill of mystery and detection. Fiction blurs with fact when a real life crime occurs in Amelia's own home. Her father's favorite ancient artifact, a bust of Nefertiti that also has sentimental value, is stolen. The father is devastated by the loss. He's one of those doddering, senile parents that are practically a prerequisite in romances, but actually Amelia's relationship with her father, in which she takes care of him more than the other way around, doesn't seem too forced or annoying.

And I actually like Amelia herself. She's a very sunny, bright, happy person, but I don't want to strangle her after the first page. For all her youthful cheerfulness, she's just barely saved from being a one dimensional Pollyanna by the genuine friendships and relationships that surround her - such as her love for her father and her three friends of the Lady's Amateur Sleuth Society. They each represent a set character type, but their friendship still manages to be compelling. Though it is very hard for me to accept that Amelia's a 24 year old spinster. More like a silly, but endearingly so, teenager or something. Even though her naïveté is shown up repeatedly throughout the book, even though her optimism and blind faith in the goodness of others does get her in trouble a couple of times, she's not exactly stupid. She always tries to learn from her mistakes, so A for effort I guess. And she actually proves herself very intelligent and useful when it comes to trying to solve the case of the missing Nefertiti bust.

Enter Colin Brindley, the private inspector called in to help recover the artifact. He's a stiff upper lip, repressed sort, lonely and gruff, and doesn't think much of the case itself. Formerly of Scotland Yard, he's trying to strike out and found his own investigative agency. He's also something of a scientist in that he's got some "research" going on, trying to devise a better way of more accurately identifying criminals - what will one day be known as fingerprinting. He condescends to Amelia and the case at first, but he can't afford to turn away clients at this stage, so he resigns himself to going through the motions of what he perceives as a farce. He certainly doesn't want Amelia's help, but she's nothing if not determined, and it's fun to see how she gradually works him over to her side and gets what she wants. She's a bit star struck by the good detective, who, in her eyes, seems like her hero Sherlock come to life.

Things progress beyond first impressions and infatuation, fortunately, and Amelia and Colin's relationship is interesting to follow in this respect. Colin has some baggage - he's scared of his feelings and all that rot, afraid of being a legitimate Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde and going crazy with his passions if he lets himself feel anything at all. It sounds a bit extreme and melodramatic, and it is, but he's so befuddled and distressed with regards to his growing obsession with Amelia, and strives so valiantly but helplessly to fight his feelings for her, that I'm completely won over by him. He's a unique character in his own right, and he and Amelia are very cute together. And Amelia, for her part, is also very cute in how excited she is be involved in a real live detective mystery. They have chemistry, communicate well together, and make a good team, each complimenting the other nicely. I would have liked the book even better if Colin's baggage had been handled with a little more finesse. The resolution to his issues with his hang-ups was too swift and pat, and the whole fear of his feelings thing seemed very simplistic, even dumbed down. Besides this issue, though, A Study in Scandal was enjoyable, and even had me laughing at some parts. A very quick, light read.

In 1892 London, Amelia Watersfield formed the Ladies' Amateur Sleuth Society with three close friends because she loves mystery novels especially the one starring Holmes. She informs her friends Margaret Piddington, Wilhelmina Mabson and Charlotte Reed that they will work on their first case, the Jack of Hearts robbery at the opera. Her friends agree, but lack Amelia's enthusiasm.

Someone steals Nefertiti's bust from the extensive ancient Egyptian collection owned by Amelia's father, terribly upsetting him. Amelia and her dad hire private sleuth Colin Brindley to investigate. Amelia finds the detective dashing while Colin struggles to concentrate on the case as his mind keeps focusing on his client's daughter. As he begins to make inquiries into her dad's case, Amelia forces him to accept her as his Watson not just to keep her safe, which is the top priority of the sleuth. She proves quite helpful even at times acting more like Holmes as they fall in love, but he worries that she will go after Jack of Hearts.

A STUDY IN SCANDAL is a fabulous Victorian private investigative romance that pays homage to Holmes. The story line is fast-paced as Amelia bullies her way into the inquiries Colin makes while inspiring him to do his best. Fans will enjoy this superb thriller and want more romantic detective stories starring the Holmes-Watson lead couple and the other three members of the Ladies' Amateur Sleuth Society.

Harriet Klausner

This is my first book by this author and I grant it's not really my preference. The blurb sounded really interesting and what drew me in. The premise was good, if a little out there.

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, READ AT YOUR WILL***

The hero (Colin) was alright, everything a hero in a romance book should be. I must say though that he was quite incompetent as an inspector. JMO of course.

Now for what really bugged me, the heroine (Amelia). On page 48 my opinion of her was cemented as a complete ditz. She fashions herself a Sherlock Holmes and judging by her detecting skills she would need the clues pointed out to her and maybe even labeled as such. She's no Watson, let alone Sherlock.

Between the Hero and Heroine they didn't even solve the crime, more like blundered upon the villain who explained everything.
*****
As a romance this is sweet, light hearted (there is one love scene). As a mystery, its more a riddle(?) you don't really even get any clues. I don't think I'll be getting any more books by her. Perhaps shes more your style.

What do you do if you're a lady of a certain age in London in the 19th century who is enamored with Sherlock Holmes? Why you get together with your friends and start an amateur sleuth society of course. And so begins Robyn DeHart's latest work, "A Study in Scandal."
The heroine, Amelia, isn't at all cast down by her unmarried lot. She is too pragmatic and cheerful, and she is too engaged in the lives of her family and friends. She describes their behavior with great wit and compassion, but she, too, has her blind spots. When her father's favorite bust, Nefertiti, goes missing, they hire a private investigator to find it. Amelia knocks Inspector Brindley off his feet, literally when she meets him, and figuratively when she is determined to play Watson to his Sherlock Holmes.
The pace doesn't let up as the hero and heroine attempt to solve the mystery of the missing bust, and the even bigger mystery facing each of them: each other.
It's been a couple of weeks since I read the book, so I had to check a few facts to write this review. I was drawn right back into it. I look forward to reading about the adventures of the other members of the amateur sleuth society.