Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche

Loved every moment of this book! Nancy Springer is an excellent writer. The Enola Holmes movies on Netflix are also intriguing!

I came into knowledge of these books after watching the series on Netflix. These stories are good and very well written. Looking forward to reading more.

OK, the pause was actually eleven years, which is brief compared to things that take much longer than eleven years...Between 2006 and 2010 Nancy Springer published the first six Enola Holmes mysteries, which I have read and reviewed separately, and also summed up in my review of the omnibus collection. In short -- they are tremendous fun, the perfect refreshment after reading something longer and more serious. The final novel in this series of six, The Case of the Disappearing Duchess, brought the series to a neat conclusion. We learned that Enola's mother had disappeared because she was ill, and that she had died sometime in the ensuing year. Furthermore, Enola was reconciled with her brothers Sherlock and Mycroft. And there the story rested for eleven real-world years.In 2020 Netflix released an Enola Holmes movie (which I have seen) and in 2022 a second (which I have not). In 2021 Springer rebooted the book series with this novel. I am of course delighted at the resumption of the series, but was also apprehensive that it might have been changed to take after the movie, which is quite different from the books.This apprehension was not unfounded, but I was pleased to find that Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche was still a lot of fun. It is based almost entirely on the earlier books and continues them in story, characters, and overall nature. The main changes are the ones that follow from the events of Disappearing Duchess -- Enola now has a relationship with her brothers, particularly Sherlock, and is no longer hunting for her mother. Also, there is one change for which I suspect we have the movie to thank. Viscount Tewksbury, Marquess of Basilwether, whom Enola calls "Tewky", to his annoyance, is only a minor character in the novels, despite having been the missing Marquess in the title of the first of them. In the movie, however, he was elevated to male lead, and there is even a hint of romance between him and Enola (though the action never goes beyond looking soulfully into each other's eyes). Tewky is back in Black Barouche, though -- thank the Lord -- only as a friend.Black Barouche begins with a prolog by Sherlock in which he nicely summarizes the first six novels. It also ends with an epilog by Sherlock.The story begins when Watson shows up on Enola's doorstep to tell her he is worried about Sherlock, who has fallen into melancholia -- the nineteenth century term for depression. (This, by the way, is true to Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories -- Sherlock was subject to occasional black moods.) Enola decides to annoy him out of his lethargy. She visits him at 221B Baker St, and while she is unsuccessfully annoying Sherlock (let me clarify -- she is entirely successful at annoying him, but not at getting him up off the couch), a lady shows up desiring to engage Sherlock's services to look into the untimely death of her sister. Sherlock is too depressed to be interested, but Enola volunteers her help. This, finally, gets Sherlock off the couch, and together he, Enola, Miss Glover (the lady whose sister was lost), Watson, and Tewky investigate.It is every bit as fun as the first six Enola Holmes mysteries. There are currently (24-Oct-2023) two more Enola Holmes novels, published in 2022 and 2023, and I will certainly read them.The book ends with a short story, Enola Holmes and the Boy in Buttons, which I have reviewed separately -- it's also fun. If you buy Black Barouche, you need not buy Boy in Buttons.

I was first introduced to Enola Holmes by a movie on Netflix and wanted to read the book. The movie was good, but the books spelled out what happened so much better. Just the synopsis at the front of the book told me almost as much as the movie did. Don't get me wrong! The movies are great and well worth watching, but this book told me so much more. The characters are fascinating and Sherlock "sounds" exactly like Basil Rathbone in all his movies. The author does his "tone" perfectly. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading the rest of them.

Enola Holmes meets with Sherlock and Watson too help her friend find her twin sister. They investigate the earl and come up with a plan to find the sister. The plan comes off with a few bumps and the twin sisters are back together. I would recommend this series and author to fans of Sherlock Holmes and readers mystery novels 👍🔰. 2023 👒😀😡🏡

I like this book, it has everything in it to keep you reading. Sherlock, Dr.Watson and Tweeky, mixed in with Enola. I can't wait to read the next book.

I loved this marvelous adventure! It was intriguing, bold, sad, funny, and wonderful, like Enola herself. I love how Enola has come into herself, and I loved having new and old characters come together.

Just what I needed. Something light, easy, fun, simple and to the point. I NEVER not start with the first book in a series but since this was a free book and on my shelf for a while I decided to just try it out. I didn’t feel like something was missing while reading it so I could say that this was a good standalone book. Now if I happen to go back and start with the first book, who is to say I’d change my mind.That being said I think it was so good. I could definitely see myself reading this series back in junior high; for sure. I’m not going to commit and start with the first book (I might look to see how many books are in the series though, just in case) because I have way too many books/series to get through.Loved me some Enola!

Great story. My daughter loves these books

Brought as a gift

Even though I am much too old to still be reading Enola Holmes, I enjoyed this new installment very much!As a kid I devoured all of the Enola Holmes books and was very sad when the series came to an end.Thus, I was very happy, when I saw that Nancy Springer had written a new Enola Holmes book. This installment has all the things I so enjoyed in the previous books: some mystery, detailed clothing descriptions, interesting characters, enjoyable humour, ...I am looking forward to reading the next two installments!

Great fun though, of course, totally and utterly improbable. Good story that moves along well while keeping the reader involved. Can't wait for the pending next novels.As usual - and to be expected- lots of anachronisms in behaviour of the protagonists, but what is less acceptable in a book which typically tries to set the scene with language and manners of the 19th century is the use of late 20th/21st century vocabulary in everyday speech.