#Cozy Mystery Book Review #The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife by #Liese Sherwood-Fabre

Summary: The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife by LieseSherwood-Fabre

Before Sherlock Holmes became the world’s greatest consulting detective...

Scandal rocked the Holmes family.

A cache of documents has been recently discovered detailing, in Sherlock's own hand, his early forays into criminal investigation. With The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife, the game begins as Sherlock faces his first case.

Only weeks into his first year at Eton, Sherlock's father calls him and his brother back to Underbyrne, the ancestral estate. The village midwife has been found with a pitchfork in her back in the estate's garden, and Mrs. Holmes has been accused of the murder. Can Sherlock find the true killer in time to save her from the gallows? (Copied from Goodreads).

Book Review:The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife 

Aged 13 Sherlock is taken out of Eaton because his mother is accused of murdering the town midwife. Sherlock’s mother has complete trust he will find the evidence to exonerate her. Towns-women seem to end up dead and Sherlock has to find out what’s going on.

TheAdventure of the Murdered Midwife (The Early Case Files of Sherlock Homes #1) by LieseSherwood-Fabre is the first installment in The Early Case Files of Sherlock Holmes and is the story about Sherlock Holmes as a young boy trying to find out why the town midwife was found dead in the Holmes’ back garden and why Sherlock’s mother is imprisoned for it.

The story seems to be based on Sherlock’s childhood memories of what happened. As the original Sherlock Holmes stories were written from 1887 onwards, it might set this story roughly in the beginning of the 1870s at the family estate Underbyrne. Sherlock is brought up as the son of a country squire with a lot of focus on manners and maintaining his family’s status. This seems to influence his decisions a lot.

Elements of Sherlock’s home life seem to explain his skills as an adult. His brother, parents and uncle are all well educated and impressively skilled people interested in research and investigation. In this story Sherlock’s mother, Mrs. Holmes, is in the center of the plot as she is suspected of using her knowledge of herbs for criminal activity.

Main character Sherlock Holmes is 13 in this story. It’s amusing how he gets into the habit of using a spy glass to investigate and starts to wear his special cap, which is actually part of his hunting outfit. He is brought up to “not be seen or heard” when adults talk. I worried throughout the story that this might hold him back when investigating, but he found a way to make it work.

Secondary character Constance Straton is a very poor, but gutsy, pickpocket with serious survival skills. I find it both sad and impressive what she has to do to provide food for her young siblings. She is a nice girl at heart and, in my opinion, a well crafted character and my favorite of this story.

The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife by LieseSherwood-Fabre included description of an interesting way to prove Mrs. Holmes’ innocence without the forensics we rely on today. Some seriously gory details was included, but my favorite part of the story nonetheless

I enjoyed TheAdventure of the Murdered Midwife by LieseSherwood-Fabre. I found the plot interesting and exciting. The clues were carefully placed throughout the story and from today’s perspective I found the motive for murder absolutely mind boggling. Exiting to see what other adventures Sherlock Holmes might get up to in LieseSherwood-Fabre’s next story.

Readers of crime fiction would enjoy The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife by Liese Sherwood-Fabre. Other authors to explore might be Leonard Goldberg or Charles Veley.

Thank you to the publisher Little Elm Press and NetGally for the opportunity to share my honest review of The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife by Liese Sherwood-Fabre. All opinions are completely my own.

My rating: 4 stars / 5

Main reasons: interesting plot, good writing, very surprising ending

Book Details (from Amazon)

Publisher: Little Elm Press (June 30, 2020)
Publication Date: June 30, 2020
Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B085WB5GGP

About The Author (from Amazon)

Liese Sherwood-Fabre has won awards for her thrillers, romance, and literary short stories, and NYT bestselling author Steve Berry describes her writing as "gimmick-free, old-fashioned storytelling."

In the second grade, she knew she was destined to write when she got an A+ for her story about Dick, Jane, and Sally's ruined picnic. After obtaining her PhD from Indiana University, she joined the federal government and had the opportunity to work and live internationally for more than fifteen years. She draws upon these experiences to endow her characters with deep conflicts and emotions.

You can follow her upcoming releases and other events by joining her newsletter at https://liesesherwoodfabre.com/, or visiting her Facebook, Twitter, or Bebo accounts. You can also contact her at liese@liesesherwoodfabre.com.