Secret Letters

by Leah Scheier

Overview

Inquisitive and observant, Dora dreams of escaping her aristocratic country life to solve mysteries alongside Sherlock Holmes. So when she learns that the legendary detective might be her biological father, Dora jumps on the opportunity to travel to London and enlist his help in solving the mystery of her cousin's ransomed love letters. But Dora arrives in London to devastating news: Sherlock Holmes is dead. Her dreams dashed, Dora is left to rely on her wits-and the assistance of an attractive yet enigmatic young detective-to save her cousin's reputation and help rescue a kidnapped heiress along the way.

Steeped in Victorian atmosphere and intrigue, this gripping novel heralds the arrival of a fresh new voice in young adult literature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423178118
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	06/26/2012
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	880L (what's this?)
File size:	638 KB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Leah Scheier is a pediatrician who spends her free time writing, playing the violin, and volunteering. She, her husband, and three children divide their time between Maryland and Israel. This is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

After losing both parents, 16-year-old Dora finds a letter that reveals her real father was Sherlock Holmes. Dora determines to become a detective like him, but when a chance mystery involving her cousin takes her to London, she discovers that Holmes is dead. Though saddened, Dora is emboldened to prove the apple does not fall far from the tree. Soon, her cousin's rather benign mystery lands Dora in the middle of a much bigger one—the daughter of an earl has been kidnapped—and into the path of the handsome young detective Peter Cartwright, once apprenticed to her late father. Together, the two investigate the kidnapping, with Dora posing as a maid in the earl's house to gather clues. In a mystery with twists, the threat of danger, and a dramatic resolution, debut author Scheier offers a tenacious heroine determined to rise above the restrictions of her gender to claim her legacy. Upbeat, witty prose results in a fun beginning to what looks like the first of more adventures for this young pair of investigators. Ages 12–up. Agent: Irene Kraas, Kraas Literary Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 7–9—Inquisitive and adventuresome, 16-year-old Dora wants desperately to escape the confines of her 1887 aristocratic life, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the famed Sherlock Holmes, whom she suspects is her biological father. When a cousin is blackmailed, Dora happily agrees to accompany her to London in hopes of enlisting Holmes to solve the case and also to verify his paternity. Her plans are dashed when she learns of Holmes's death; however, when an attractive 17-year-old detective, Peter Cartwright, invites her to assist him in searching for a kidnapped heiress, Dora jumps at the chance. Well-paced and filled with cliff-hanger chapter endings, Scheier's first novel is teeming with details of Victorian England that enrich both plot and character development and attest to the differences between those living "upstairs" and "downstairs." The restricted lives of women of both classes and the wholesale freedom allowed men are particularly underscored. Dora is a fully realized heroine who matures from being a dewy-eyed innocent into an observant assistant, relying on her wits and quick thinking. Peter is also well developed (if rather confident for one so young), and, although he is smitten by Dora's uniqueness, their story never descends into romantic claptrap. Difficult vocabulary is generally explained in context, and the tale is filled with aspects of criminology—code breaking, secret messages, disguises, trysts, kidnapping, and, of course, murder-that are sure to excite CSI fans. This novel, part-romance and part-detective story, begs for a sequel.—Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, formerly at LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI

School Library Journal

Sherlock Holmes' secret daughter goes on the case in this tepid Victorian whodunit. Twelve-year-old Dora Joyce learned of her illustrious parentage the night before her mother died of the same fever that had just killed the man she thought was her father. Now 16, the girl has been reared by her aunt, who despairs of her niece's unladylike tendency to "notice things." When her married cousin finds herself being blackmailed with letters written to a now-dead lover, Dora leaps at the opportunity to meet the famous detective. Alas, she arrives just after he has been killed fighting Moriarty, but Peter, the attractive young man who delivers this news on the doorstep of 221B Baker St., is himself a detective. A bit of eavesdropping in Peter's office quickly leads to Dora's involvement in a case that places her cousin's blackmailer at the heart of another mystery, that of the disappearance of a young gentlewoman. In the guise of a servant, she infiltrates (with credibility-straining ease) the country estate where the suspect works as a valet in the hopes of cracking both cases. The danger inherent in any Holmes-derived story is that it will not measure up to its inspiration, and this is the case here. Dora and Peter's frequent attempts to out-Holmes each other grow tiresome, as do Dora's embarrassingly swoontastic thoughts about Peter. Moreover, the third-degree burns she suffers impede her only when the narrative remembers them. Pass on this; revisit either the original or Nancy Springer's engaging tales of Sherlock's little sister Enola. (Historical mystery. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews