Saturday, February 28, 2026

Enola Holmes and the Clanging Coffin by Nancy Springer

 Enola is at the funeral of one of her friends when she hears a bell ringing.  She follows the sound to its origins, and discovers that a young woman has been buried alive. Enola and her companions exhume and revive the woman, but she can't remember who she is and why someone would try to kill her. Of course, Enola is on the case, but as she starts to dig into the woman's past, she finds she is wading into very deep criminal waters. Soon, protecting her new young friend become a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Nancy Springer wrote her first six Enola Holmes books in the early 2000's and then waited more than 10 years to write the most recent four.  I think her return to the character is probably because of her success with the Enola Holmes series on Netflix. Or it might be because the Sir Arthur Conon Doyle family trust sewed Springer and others for copywrite infringement in 2020, but the suit was dismissed. Anyway, whatever the reason, we are glad she started writing more novels.  This one is as good as all her others.  Enola is such a fun character, with equal quantities of courage and insecurities.  (Spoiler) I thought it was brave of Springer to take on writing about Holme's arch enemy, but she used a creative angle and handled it well.  I wonder if her taking on "the man who must not be named" in this book means that it will be her last. (336p. 2026) 


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