Mirabella Hudson soon learns that the Great Detective has more in store for her than washing jars and labeling specimens: pistol shooting, fencing, boxing, and Jiu-Jitsu. This she can master, but Mirabella must face the greatest horror of all: Miss de Beauvais' Finishing School for Distinguished Young Ladies. Sherlock Holmes gets more than he bargained for when he hires his landlady's young ward to keep his laboratory in order. Mrs. Hudson's niece might be clever, but Mirabella Hudson is insubordinate, talks too much, is an accident waiting to happen--and, worst of all, is distractingly pretty.
Unfortunately, 'pretty' is just what Sherlock Holmes needs.
Sherlock might be a master of disguise, but pretty he is not. The Great Detective requires a female operative to go under cover at London's premier finishing school where Princess Elena Petrovic-Njegos of Montenegro is a client--and the target of an assassination plot. If the inexperienced Miss Hudson and her employer do not succeed in saving the princess, there is trouble brewing across the globe leading to war on a massive scale. Montenegro is a small Serbian country, but she has among her allies the Mother Russia.
One unsuccessful case could ruin this young detective's career before it starts. Above all, Sherlock must have work. Work is the blood in his veins. Work is life.
The game is afoot! And there can be no greater puzzle than what he receives in the form of one Mirabella Hudson--who might stump even Sherlock Holmes.
The Great Detective In Love is a series finalist Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem awards 2017, Goethe Awards for Historical Fiction 2017, International Book Awards Mystery/Suspense 2017, Readers' Favorite Awards Historical Mystery 2017.
Romantic Historical Mystery in the humerous vein of Jane Austen. Fast-paced action, historical immersion, characters who come alive on the page, witty dialogue, and delightful romance.
Praise for "The Great Detective in Love" series:
"Cumberbatch/Sherlock meets his match!" - Jan, Audible reviewer
"Sherlock in Mr. Darcy mode..." - PandaRS, Audible reviewer
"Irene Adler has competition" - Mary, Audible reviewer
"Sir Doyle would enjoy...this is a tale that Sir Art would enjoy. It has all of the classic trappings of one of his novels. From the language to the descriptions of London and its denizens, it is historical fiction at its best." - Christopher Gallagher
"A Sherlock tale with Hepburn and Tracy flair...It had the feel of a classic old Hollywood mismatched romantic comedy to me...Hepburn and Tracy. It was charming and would really appeal to people who love the idea of a kind of Jane Austen meets Conan Doyle mash-up." - RaynaRed, Audible reviewer
"Holmes turns Human. Delightful story of a young lady that gets the best of the great stone face. Plot well thought out. Holmes still made deductions that led to an exciting finale, and did his best to avoid his creeping interest in his "student". Any fan of Doyle should get a chuckle out of this new picture of the great detective." - Milo A. Fabian
"The tale reminds me of Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" being tutored by Henry Higgins, but it has the added note of danger and adventure." - Amazon customer
Author Biography:
Suzette Hollingsworth grew up in Wyoming and Texas, went to school in Tennessee (Sewanee), lived in Europe two summers, and now resides in beautiful Washington State with her cartoonist/author husband Clint, six cats, and a dachshund named Tinkerbelle. She collaborates on an autobiographical web-comic with her husband, Clint Hollingsworth, which has readers in sixty countries, www.startingfromscratchcomic.com. Visit her website at www.suzettehollingsworth.com. Suzette's writing style combines wit with elegance and can be described as "A Jane Austen and Robert Downey Jr. meet on the African Queen type of Historical Romance". Her goal in writing historical fiction is that you, the reader, will engage in a magical journey and time travel through her books. She is very excited about her current Sherlock Holmes series in which Mrs. Hudson's niece is a potential love interest amidst this Victorian mystery. Sherlock Holmes is a great, fun hero to write because he is liked from the get-go despite being pompous and insufferable (or perhaps because of it!), something which might result in an unsympathetic hero in another narrative. The series draws on the imagery surrounding the beloved Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (in particular, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law), incorporates the witty banter into the relationship between Sherlock and Mirabella, and lends itself well to Steam punk, blending the "Age of Invention" with something old-fashioned, elegant, and slower-paced. Enjoy. The game is afoot.
