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The Art of Theft is the eagerly awaited fourth book in Sherry Thomas’ superb series of historical mysteries starring Charlotte Holmes, a most unusual young woman whose keen, logical mind and incredible deductive skills would have been completely disregarded in Victorian England had she not invented the infirm but brilliant brother Sherlock who is – in name only of course – the greatest detective the nation has ever seen. While each book in the series has a central mystery that is solved by the end, there are a number of overarching plot-threads and recurring characters which mean it’s probably not the best idea to pick up The Art of Theft without having read the other novels in the series; readers will get much more out of the wonderfully intricate characterisation and the various relationships between the characters by starting at the beginning with book one, A Study in Scarlet Women. Because of the way the books are interlinked, there will be spoilers for the rest of the series in this review.
The aftermath of the tumultuous events of The Hollow of Fear sees Lord Ingram Ashburton in the country looking after his children, Mrs. Watson in Paris with her niece, Miss Olivia Holmes nearing the completion of her Sherlock Holmes story, and Miss Charlotte Holmes helping to settle her eldest sister, Bernadette, whom she removed from a home, into her new surroundings. It’s a brief period of quiet that is broken when Charlotte receives a request for help from someone identifying themselves only as A Traveler from Distant Lands.
Deciding she needs a distraction – from caring for her sister and from pondering the shifting nature of her relationship with her long-time friend (and now, former lover) Lord Ingram – Charlotte arranges to meet this traveler, correctly assuming the request for help to have come from a woman in need. Her visitor proves to be none other than an Indian maharani, who also turns out to be the first client ever to decline to use Sherlock Holmes’ services. Charlotte immediately deduces that this is because the maharani needs someone who is able to do more than investigate; and her supposition is borne out not long afterwards when she and Mrs. Watson – who has confessed to Charlotte that she and the maharani had been lovers once upon a time – visit the maharani at her hotel to offer their assistance.
The lady is still resistant, but when Charlotte most ably demonstrates that she does indeed possess the skills the maharani needs to help with her current predicament, she explains that she is being blackmailed, and that she has been given specific instructions as to what to do in order to receive a packet of letters she does not wish seen by unfriendly eyes. Every yuletide, an exclusive and extravagant art sale is held at Château Vaudrieu, just outside Paris. The cream of French society flocks there, as do art connoisseurs, manufacturers, millionaires and princes from around the world – and the maharani’s letters are hidden in the back of a painting by Van Dyck. She needs someone to steal the painting in order to retrieve the letters – and given the château’s location and the amount of security that surrounds the event, it will be no easy task.
Charlotte is certain that the maharani has not told them everything, but even so, she enlists the help of Lord Ingram and Mr. Stephen Marbleton, and soon they, together with Mrs. Watson and Olivia are crossing the channel and travelling to Paris, where they will meet up with one of Lord Ingram’s friends and allies, Lieutenant Attwood. An initial reconnaissance mission of the château undertaken by Mr. Marbleton and Lord Ingram reveals that there Is much more going on there than preparations for a masquerade ball and grand art sale. Before long our intrepid band is plunged into something that goes far beyond simple blackmail – and which will once again see them pitting their wits against the mysterious Moriarty, the shadowy criminal mastermind whose very existence has slowly become irrevocably intertwined with that of our protagonists.
If you’ve followed the series – and have followed my reviews of it – you may be asking yourself why I’ve not graded this book quite as highly as the last couple. I did struggle with the grading because this whole series is more than a head and shoulders above almost every other similar series out there, and Sherry Thomas’ writing is so wonderfully clever and precise. I liked pretty much everything about the book – the developments in the relationship between Stephen Marbleton and Olivia, which is plagued by seemingly insurmountable difficulties; the inclusion of a past, lesbian love affair for Mrs. Watson and the subtle discussions of colonialism and the British Raj; and I was pleased to see Charlotte starting to face up to the truth of her feelings for Lord Ingram, and the uncertainty she’s feeling as to how they can return to their old, comfortable association now they’ve been (albeit very briefly) lovers. The mystery is as detailed, complex and well-executed as ever, and I enjoyed the ensemble nature of the story – including the appearance of Lieutenant Leighton Attwood from the author’s My Beautiful Enemy (and a nice nod to that novel’s heroine). But after the drama of The Hollow of Fear and its late-book revelations about Lord Ingram’s (soon-to-be ex-) wife, his brother’s betrayal, and the steps forward and steps back in the complicated relationship between Lord Ingram and Charlotte, The Art of Theft sometimes felt as though it was treading water somewhat. The characters face physical danger, for sure, but the stakes simply don’t seem as high for them personally as in the previous book and I wasn’t as completely gripped by this story as I was by previous instalments. I suspect Ms. Thomas is keeping her powder dry, though. Looking at the bigger picture; with the middle book (The Hollow of Fear) of a five book series reaching a high point in the story arc, it makes sense that following book (The Art of Theft) would be a kind of ‘interlude’ or transition before heading into the finale, which I am sure is going to be a corker, given the cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter of this one!**
Still, with all that said, The Art of Theft is a cracking tale, a sophisticated, fantastically well-conceived mystery featuring richly-detailed settings and fully rounded, multi-faceted characters whose relationship are drawn with considerable skill and insight. It may not be my favourite of the series, but it’s still a terrific read, and one I’m more than happy to recommend.
**Note: Since this review was posted, the author has informed me that she has plans for more than five books in total, and that “book 3 isn’t the middle of the arc, but more like the turning point at the end of act 1.”
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Grade: A-
Book Type: Historical Mystery
Sensuality: N/A
Review Date: 07/10/19
Publication Date: 10/2019
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
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Excellent summary and review – agree with what you said about the slower pace, but it was Kind of nice to catch up with beloved characters with less distraction this book. I really loved the crossover of Lieutenant Attwood in this book. It was such a fun Easter egg to discover, as I filled the long wait since the last book reading all the Sherry Thomas books I could find :) I also wanted to say I agree with Jo’s comment – every time Charlotte mentioned max tolerable chins, they seemed unmoved and once ash mentioned she was fuller than usual particularly in the bosom. Can’t even imagine how she’d be as a mother…
Good review!
A couple of thoughts/questions…Do you believe the book was setting up for two cliffhangers in the final chapter?
The author often never is explicit for the reason a character acts in a certain way. In the final chapter, after receiving a letter from Charlotte, Ash rushes to see Charlotte and is as excited when he asks Lady I to marry him and is thinking about going abroad. My theory is that she’s pregnant.
I was disappointed by the lack of interaction between Ash and Charlotte but when they did it was of course explosive and I can’t wait until the next book to see where it goes. I was reading some of the comments on another blog and someone mentioned that Charlotte might be keeping a secret particularly related to her new hobbies and also her food choices that were described – I’m curious if others thought the same. I totally glossed it but upon reread I could see the logic.
Gosh, so glad there are going to be more books in this series. My heart took a little dive when I read “five book series.” This series is too good to stop at five. I really enjoyed Olivia’s part in this story. Such a sweetheart. And long live Maximum Tolerable Chins!
Just finished this, and I loved it (I also loved the addendum at the end of Caz’s review that Thomas is planning for more than five books, which I am VERY excited to hear.)
Caz’s review is (of course) spot on. However, I found that I appreciated the somewhat quieter developments here much more than I’d expected to – I was prepared for this book to feel like a little bit of a let-down based on the early reviews I’d seen, especially the lack of romance. I did miss the full-on Ash-Charlotte coupling of the last book, but I thought they both made a lot of progress in this book in determining what it is they want to be to each other. Even Charlotte – there’s a line in this book where Livia is watching Charlotte make a major realization about the case, and she observes that the very subtle change in Charlotte’s facial expression was, to someone who knew her expressions well, the same as watching her jaw drop to the ground. And that’s kind of what I felt in Charlotte’s thinking about Ash – the changes in her feelings as expressed in her thoughts/movements were small, but in the context of her character, they were really significant.
The mystery/heist plot in this book is much easier to follow than the intricacies of The Hollow of Fear, fwiw. This book felt like it was primarily focused on developing each character in ways we haven’t seen previously, and I enjoyed that. I have a much better sense of who Mrs. Watson, Livia, Ash, and to a lesser extent, Mr. Marbleton are as people. Also loved the ways Thomas works in observations on colonialism, gender, class, and lots of other things in ways that feel natural and subtle. She is a magnificent writer.
I also agree with Caz that the next book promises fireworks – Thomas lays down several major threads at the end of this, both in terms of plot and romance, and I’m excited to see where it goes next. Overall I just loved being back in this world for a while.
I have been so looking forward to your review on this book Caz. I can’t wait to dive in, I am especially looking forward to finding out as to how Olivia is fairing.
Holding onto this one to treat myself when I have spare time; delighted to learn it’s wonderful!
This is a great review! Thanks, Caz. It also makes sense given some earlier descriptions I’ve seen that it’s a somewhat lighter, Ocean’s 11-style caper. I would have loved some more movement in the Ash-Charlotte relationship, but I don’t mind waiting. I feel confident they’ll get some form of an HEA, although as (I think) Blackjack commented earlier, it will be an unconventional one. I’d really like a book showing the aftermath of the HEA – the two of them adjusting to each other and negotiating the ordinary day-to-day stuff.
On another note, I did binge the first three books because I found this series right before the third one came out. It’s doable (and fun!) but it’s true that it’s a lot of plot to keep straight. And a bit of a letdown when there are no more books to read, sigh.
You’re welcome – I hope you enjoy the book when it comes out!
Fabulous review, Caz! I think my heart skipped. a beat when I saw it posted here this morning. I need to go back now and reread the ending chapters of The Hollow of Fear, as I’ve forgotten what happens with Ingram’s wife and brother. Thank you for that reminder. In some ways, the year that separates the publication of each of these is difficult on my memory. I think it would be hard for a new reader to enter anywhere but from the start of this series. However, I think binging the whole series at once would be exhausting too simply because each book is intense and intricate in its details. Can’t wait for next week to get here!
I had to read back through my reviews to remind myself of what I’d said and what I hadn’t about the backstories, and also to read a few bits from the last book as well, so I get what you mean! I’m not sure I could cope with one of these coming out every six months though – while that seems to be the current trend (for many big-name authors; some put out even more books per year) it’s not one that seems to be helping quality, so I’m happy to wait while Ms. Thomas takes as much time as she needs to turn out someting of such quality.
I feel exactly the same. I’m definitely not up to a binge re-read, but I’ve already forgotten so much.
FORMER LOVERS!!!!! These suspense writers are killing me with the slow burn love affairs. I love and hate them in equal measure.
I’ll be listening to this one. Already pre-ordered it.
Great review.