A Study in Honor (The Janet Watson Chronicles, #1)

I was really looking forward to this book, and although it has some great qualities, I didn't enjoy it. I have not read many published Sherlock Holmes adaptations, but I think I've rated them all two or three stars. So, please keep in mind that I may be more biased against adaptations with these characters than I realize.The cover is absolutely perfect; it's so rare for a cover to show the characters exactly as they're described, and I am always glad to see black women on the cover of a novel. It also illustrates a specific moment in the book, which is nice.There's some lovely writing, and I usually found it easy to relate to the main character (apologies for possible errors in this quote; I transcribed it from the audiobook): An image of my younger self came back sharp and strong. Who was she, I wondered. That tall and stocky girl who dragged her suitcase up the stairs that hot and rainy August afternoon. Would we recognize each other? Nostalgia had a funny sharp edge when you came down to it. I liked that young girl with her attitude and her belief she could conquer the world. I wasn't so sure she would like me back.I feel like I'm definitely in this book's target audience. I'm a casual fan of Sherlock Holmes and an avid science-fiction reader, and I prefer to read about queer characters. I also like fanfiction. The book is overt about its political leanings, but it's in line with my own beliefs, more or less. The main character, Janet Watson, fought on the federal side of a second US civil war, against (what sounds like) right-wing terrorists; Trump and his supporters are explicitly named as responsible for this current crisis, and GWB is also mentioned as contributing to the problems. I didn't realize at first that the author was white, but I don't object to non-own-voices books on principle; I'm also white, and some of my favorite authors (like KJ Charles) regularly write about marginalized groups they don't belong to. This book does deal directly with Watson's identity as an American black woman. I didn't notice any problems on that front, but it isn't my place to say whether it's good representation or not. I am a queer woman and I was happy with that aspect of Watson's character, but her queerness is given less attention than her race. It's set in the near future but there's no specific date given; it could be 5 years down the road or 50, but it mostly feels like today with a little more technology, as well as the societal ramifications of the second civil war. So, the author didn't really give herself leeway on conveying the experience of black and/or queer people in the real world, because the setting is sort of a version of the real world. But again, a black reader would be more qualified than I am to say whether the representation is accurate or not.But overall, I found the book boring as well as sad. Watson is deeply depressed, with good reason, but her misery is unrelenting. She suppresses almost every laugh and smile. She has thoughts like this frequently:Perhaps it was just as well my life had crumbled into dust.We spend almost the entire book deep in Watson's mind, as she analyzes events, thinks about her life, writes in her journal (why did we need journal excerpts in the book when it's written in first person?), notices the grim landscape, and is generally unhappy. There are at least two long and detailed sections of her doing nothing but riding the city bus or wandering around the city while nothing worth mentioning happens for seemingly endless paragraphs, but the author reports every bit of minutiae anyway. Late in the book, she ends up on a long car ride with Holmes which has the same boring level of detail, and they rarely speak to each other, even though at this point they're investigating the book's main mystery. Holmes has shared some info with Watson, but she withholds important details until the last moment, for no real reason except maintaining narrative tension.Most damningly, Watson doesn't admire Holmes. She does not even like Holmes, although she is attracted to her. While I haven't read a lot of the newer versions of these characters, I've seen many of the TV & movie adaptations; one element all of those versions have in common is the companion's admiration for the detective's intellect. The admiration doesn't have to inspire romantic feelings, but I do think it needs to be there. Janet Watson doesn't care about Sara Holmes' powers of deduction. She is not impressed. Really, she's too deep in her misery to find anything impressive. She's also highly intelligent herself, which I think is fine in a Watson-type character; they should be smart, with their own skills, just not as skilled at deduction as Holmes. But since we are firmly in Watson's PoV, I didn't admire Holmes' intellect either. We don't really see Holmes do anything all that impressive except use cool gadgets and arrange convenient transportation, which come across as signs of her wealth and connections; she's good at what she does because of her resources, not because of her abilities, and I think Holmes should work the opposite way (enhancing their abilities with their resources). The author doles out information in a really annoying way. I never knew what Holmes knew or what she was doing. I actually still don't know who all the glamorous people were that she entertained at their apartment. I was confused for most of the book, and the ultimate reveal was a serious letdown. I don't know if I was confused because of my own shortcomings or because of the book, but I rarely get confused in this way when reading. I kept thinking of a book with a slightly similar structure, [b:Seven Summer Nights 33116450 Seven Summer Nights Harper Fox https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479938519s/33116450.jpg 53781146], which is also about a veteran suffering from PTSD because of a specific incident. You don't know the details of this incident until far into the book, but the author shares a lot of info about it without giving all the details; I never felt lost or irritated at the lack of info. Here, everyone else in this book knew the basics of what had happened at Alton; it was a major battle in the war and the kind of incident that everyone who knew about would have an opinion on, but the reader was basically in the dark. When we do find out more details, they're incredibly anticlimactic. To me, it would've been a much better book if we'd seen that event clearly from Watson's perspective very early on. So, the mystery was not gripping, and the real villain does not actually make an appearance in the book. I guess there will probably be a sequel, but I don't know if I'll read it. The plot was basically a backdrop to Watson being miserable. I think there is a romance plot; I read it that way, but it isn't totally clear. I also think it would've been a better book if the romance plot had been more in the foreground, and if it had seemed at any point that Watson actually liked Holmes - not just because I enjoy romance (I do), but because any moment of lightheartedness would've made this book significantly more enjoyable. On a positive note, I really liked the audiobook narrator, Lisa Renee Pitts, and I'll seek out other books she's narrated. She chose distinct voices for everyone and kept my attention with her delivery, even when the writing itself was extremely dull. But I don't really recommend this book.

I love Sherlock Holmes and mysteries, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book. I loved the twists on the original story. Watson and Holmes are both black females and their characters are fleshed out and believable. The story takes place in a dystopian future where the USA is in the midst of another civil war and reflects some of the current political turmoil. The writing was superb as well, so why isn't this a new favorite book? In spite of all of the things that I enjoyed, the actual unfolding of the mystery wasn't that exciting or interesting. In fact, it was kind of dull and the ending involves an overused theme. I didn't find myself surprised and only mildly curious as the story unfolded. I think I was expecting something more clever, intriguing and surprising...some of the aspects I love about the original Sherlock Holmes. I think that Sherlock Holmes fans will enjoy the same aspects of the story that I did, but if a reader is interested in a thrilling mystery, pass this one up.

Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for the digital advanced review copy of this book.