The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets

The best thing about the Enola Homes books are the characterizations! Enola comes out of the pages as a fully rounded and complicated person, full of contradictions and foibles, yet highly intelligent and capable! Then there are the descriptions of London and Victorian era. Very factual and interesting. Nancy Springer does a great job also with the mystery part of the books.

I absolutely adored this 6 book feminist retelling of the Sherlock Holmes series and so wish it had been around in my youth. The protagonist is Enola Holmes, the much younger sister of the famous Sherlock & Mycroft Holmes, who is abandoned on her 14th birthday by their unusual mother but left with sufficient means to make her own path (if she can evade her brothers and societal expectations). Every sentence of Springer’s writing is brilliant and witty and the mysteries are intriguing, well-crafted—and at times shocking—in the true spirit of a Sherlock Holmes mystery. But my favorite aspect is the way the books reveal the true plight of women and the poor in Victorian London. There is a social consciousness as well as a retelling of romanticized notions we might have about this era that truly give this series substance. A book that manages to be clever and meaningful? Yes please! Finally, I was a bit worried that the quality of the series would start declining as it went on—as easily happens with longer series. Not so in this case. Books 4-6 were actually my favorites. Absolutely brilliant from start to finish!

I love Nancy Springer's writing and plotting and characterization, and I love the Enola Holmes series. This, the third book, is in my opinion a bit weaker than numbers 1, 2, 5, and 6, which are outstanding -- but it is very worth reading, both on its own and as part of the series. I love what is at stake in this book: Dr. Watson! And because out of the Holmes brood only Enola knows the language of flowers, only she can "see" what is happening and only she can solve the crime and save Dr. Watson. Throughout the series, Enola often knows things that her brothers don't because she, being female, is aware of the doings and interests of both males and females. They, being males, completely ignore the doings and interests of women. Therefore, Enola is really better armed and better prepared than her brothers, because she does not shut out half of the world. Very cleverly plotted and paced. Recommended!

I initially read/listened to audiobook version of the Enola Holmes mysteries when my girls were very small. Now they are much older and enjoy listening to audiobooks, I thought it would be fun if we listened to the Enola Holmes stories this summer when we drive around on errands. The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets is the third book in the Enola Holmes series. Even if you are unfamiliar with this series, you might be able to deduce that Miss Enola is the younger sister of the famous detective. After her mother’s disappearance, Enola runs away from home and has been living in London. She has her own detective business, and solves mysteries in between evading her brothers and trying to figure out what happened to her mother. After the events in the second book, Enola is afraid her cover has been blown, so to speak, and that her brothers will be able to track her down. So when she sees a newspaper article about the disappearance of Dr. Watson, she initially suspects that it might be a trick to lure her out of hiding. If Enola is going to solve this case, she is going to employ some of her most clever disguises yet! After paying a visit to Mrs. Watson, Enola sees a very odd bouquet amongst the flowers sent by well-wishers. Enola is familiar with the language of flowers, and this paticular arrangement conveys a very negative message indeed. When she realizes that Dr. Watson might be in grave danger (pun intended), Enola springs into action. This is a very clever mystery. Sometimes books in a series can become rather repetitive after awhile, but that is not the case here. Enola has new ideas and techniques to solve this mystery, which is more personal to her due to the disappearance of someone she respects. I would recommend The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets. I would suggest starting with the first book in this series before reading this one. If possible, I would recommend the Audible/audiobook version of this book because narrator Katherine Kellgren brings the book to life with a wide variety of accents. As with the other books, there is some moderate scariness, so this book is probably best suited for children in the older years of elementary school or middle school. My girls liked listening to this book, and we are hoping to get through the rest of the series before they go back to school in about a month.

Gopd

Any Sherlock fan or someone who appreciates a strong/competent female protagonist who is not annoying will like this series. It's got to be in my top twenty favorite books, and in my top ten characters. Enola is simply so great. This story was a lot of fun to read because though it's meant for a younger audience, they mystery aspect still had me guessing. And I gained an interest in the "language of flowers," how in olden days flowers each had their special meaning and you could have conversations and communications with them. In particular women had this secret way of communicating in a day in age where women were a bit more stifled and oppressed than today. And of course the appearances of Sherlock and Mycroft are awesome.

I love this series. I just watched the movie and now I am swallowing whole all of the books. The books take a different turn than the movie but I can’t say that I am not absolutely delighted how Elona manages to foil her brothers’ attempts to find her. Clever absolutely clever

The premise of this book is wonderful. Dr. Watson is missing! And we're told right from the beginning where the dear man is, and though I'm not a particular fan of this method of storytelling, where important information is given to the reader at the beginning, I must say that it worked brilliantly in this case. Poor Dr. Watson. I was creeped out and worried. Although I remain a fan of the series, and Nancy Springer's ability to bring London and Doyle's style alive, I did feel as if 'the discovery process' was a little over the top. Not for middle-graders but for adults. And perhaps shamefully I felt like there were too many words. Lord, this book isn't that long, but I found myself speeding careless through some paragraphs. ATOS/AR reading level 7.4 Points: 6

When doctor Watson goes missing and not even the great Sherlock Holmes can find his friend, there is Only one thing to be done. Let a women sort but out What this story shows is not only the brilliance of our young sleigh but that men in society would do better to pay attention to women rather than pigeon hole and patronize them

Interesante , entretenido libro para adolescentes . Asequible leerlo en inglés con un nivel medio

It's not only about Enola finding people its also about Enola finding herself n coping with various things.

Very cute very interesting definitely recommend.

Enola finds herself face to face with Dr. Watson, this time by design rather than need. While Watson is trying to find out more about Sherlocks sister