THE CASE OF THE MISSING MARQUESS: An Enola Holmes Mystery
by Nancy Springer
Philomel Books
Hardcover: 0399243046
Paperback: 9780142409336
Ages 8-12
224 pages

There is almost nothing ordinary about 14-year-old Enola Holmes. (She is painfully aware that her name spelled backwards is "Alone.") The year is 1880; the place, England. Enola lives on a lovely estate, but there is nothing upper crust about her. Even more unusual is the fact that her much older brothers are the famous detectives Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. And not to mention the fact that Enola's mother has gone missing on the very day of Enola's birthday.

Enola's mother has left her several birthday gifts: a drawing kit, a book about the hidden meanings of flowers, and a cipher book. Enola loves the presents but hates that her mother has disappeared. She wires her brothers to come and help find their mother. Mycroft and Sherlock arrive, only to discover that their mother has been getting money from Mycroft, who handles the estate, under false pretensions. But there's no sign of the missing money or the missing mother. Then, to Enola's shock and horror, Mycroft insists that Enola go away to a snooty girls finishing school.

No way! Enola decides to leave home to find her mother herself. But before she departs, she uncovers a hidden message from her mother, written in the language of flowers, plus a message written in cipher. Acting on the clues, she goes through her mother's beautiful drawings of flowers and finds all the money hidden inside the picture frames. The money was left for her! She puts on a bustle to hide the money in and disguises herself as a widow, wearing her mother's black dress and hat.

After escaping by bicycle and on foot, Enola happens to arrive in the village where the young Marquess of Basilwether has just been kidnapped. Or has he? Enola finds clues as to what really happened and also meets Sherlock's famous associate, Inspector Lestrade. She goes to London, narrowly escaping from Lestrade, only to be kidnapped herself. And, by a not-so-strange coincidence, she finds herself captive on a boat with the Marquess himself!

How do Nola and the Marquess escape from the vicious Victorian villains who kidnapped them? Does Enola ever find her mother? Is Sherlock Holmes able to locate his missing sister? Does Enola end up in a horrid finishing school? All will be revealed in THE CASE OF THE MISSING MARQUESS. No young reader will want to miss it!

   --- Reviewed by Robert Oksner (oksnerinc@attglobal.net)

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