James "Mori" Moriarty first meets Sherlock Holmes when her drama teacher asks her to make sure he's noticed the fire alarm from his "secret" lab in the basement of the school theatre.
She sees him again that evening when she's walking in the park near her home after a fight with her father. As they walk together, they come across a crime scene: a man has been killed. Eavesdropping on the police officers' conversation, they are appalled by the idiocy of the "deductions". When he challenges her to solve the crime before he does, she is, at first reluctant. Her policeman father would be furious if he knew she'd been in the park after dark, and an angry father has not been safe for Mori and her brothers since their mother died of cancer some years earlier.
But when she realizes that the dead man is the father of one of her classmates, Mori becomes more interested. And when she sees a photo of her mother at the memorial service, she has to find out what the connection is.
Although Mori thinks she can investigate the link between her late mother and Lily Patel's father on her own, what she uncovers is more ugly and dangerous than she could possibly anticipate. Thankfully, Sherlock is there to help her when things are at their worst.
Sherlock (whom Mori dubs "Lock") and Mori are well-conceived characters: two teens who are forced to be adults earlier than necessary. Because they both have troubled homes, their bond is much more than a friendship of convenience between two extraordinarily intelligent young people.
According to the author's website, their are two more books planned in this series, and I look forward to seeing the relationship between Lock and Mori develop.
FTC Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for the e-galley.
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