The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

I love these covers!

Recently, I had the horrible job of spending the last of my book budget at the Library.  I mean horrible.  I had to just a couple hundred dollars left and I needed to spend every last penny on books.  

Please tell me you can read the sarcasm here.

I was able to stretch those dollars into 45 new books for the children's department!  There really is nothing more fun than opening a huge box of books and seeing 45 titles all at once.  I was trying to beef up some different sections that I hadn't ordered anything specifically for and really focused on my middle grade mysteries.  Not going to lie, I spotted the covers for these books and knew they had to be on the shelves.  This series is not new-in fact it was first published in 2006 but we didn't have it and it sounded amazing.

The first book, The Case of the Missing Marquess, tells the tale of Enola Holmes.  Notice Enola spelled backwards is Alone and that is how she spends most of her time.  Significantly younger than her two  more famous brothers Sherlock and Mycroft, Enola spends her days doing as she pleases at her country estate that she shares with her mother and a small group of household staff.  On her 14th birthday, Enola's mother fails to return home in time for her birthday dinner.  After searching for her mother on her own with no luck, Enola has no choice but to alert her brothers.  It's on their arrival that Enola truly realizes for the first time how unusual her carefree upbringing has been.  Without any clues to where her mother has disappeared to or when she may return, the brothers know they must take over care of Enola.  This leads to the horrible realization that corsets are now Enola's future and she will have no part of it.  What her brothers don't know, is that Enola's mother gave her an important cipher book for her birthday that leads Enola to a nice chunk of cash her mother had been squirreling away.  

Using her wits and new found financial freedom, Enola takes off on an exciting adventure to find her mother, save herself from boarding school, and maybe even save missing child along the way.

The Case of the Missing Marquess was a fast paced, humorous and delightful look into growing up and standing up for what you believe in.  I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.  

According to the publisher, this is for ages 9 and up.  There is some discussion about women's undergarments-but think of the time period, that was some crazy confusing stuff they wore.  

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