Book Title: A Study In Shifters
Author: Majanka Verstraete
Series: The Adventures of Marisol Holmes #1
Publication Date: June 26th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Young Adult
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Seventeen-year-old Marisol Holmes may be the great-great-great granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes, but it’s hard to live up to the family name when only one mistake can spell your downfall. After trusting the wrong guy in a case gone totally wrong, Marisol convinces the Conclave, an underground organization of detectives solving supernatural cases, to give her a last chance to prove her worth, and maybe even heal her broken heart.
After all, as a half-blood jaguar shifter, Marisol is uniquely qualified to solve this murder—and every scrap of evidence points toward the culprit being a fellow jaguar shifter. But is one of her own people involved, or is this all a ploy to kick Marisol’s mother off the shifter throne?
Then Marisol discovers her best friend, Roan, is missing, and maybe the killer’s next target. The stakes just got higher than political intrigue. Just when things couldn’t get worse, Marisol’s ex-boyfriend-turned-nemesis, Mannix, starts leaving sinister clues for her. Marisol fears this case might be far more personal than she could’ve imagined.
It’s time for Marisol to prove her worth, or her people could fall into chaos while her best friend loses his life.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review.
MY THOUGHTS
If you know me, you know that I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. So when I came across this on Netgalley, I did not hesitate to request. I knew that I would like this but I didn’t expect to have enjoyed this as much as I did.
I love the mystery with a paranormal twist. I think it’s quite unique to incorporate paranormal elements to a descendant of Holmes. The mystery element in the book is great; tested my brain and really made me think. When I thought I got it all figured out, BAM, a plot twist would appear. The plot twist at the end especially was absolutely amazing and took me completely by surprise.
The main character, Marisol Holmes, is fairly easy to like. She is a half-blood, half human and half jaguar shifter. Despite being a Holmes, Marisol was often affected by her strong emotions, thus committing mistakes. But no one’s perfect, right? I also liked how Marisol has a Sherlock Mode, where she abandons all emotions to focus on facts for solving cases. Aside from that, Marisol also has her inner jaguar and she kind of grew on me.
However, I sometimes get the feeling that I’m reading the second book in a series where I haven’t read the first one. I had to check Goodreads just to make sure that this is indeed the first book. I think that the book could have done with maybe a bit more background of what happened in the Big Betrayal, not just a quick explanation about it. I would also like a bit more about Roan. 😉
I really enjoyed reading A Study In Shifters because the author did a great job in combining mystery and paranormal, and creating a great main character. I’m really looking forward to the next in this series!
Mind of Luxe 