EVERY WORD Blog Tour

Today, I am one of several bloggers taking part in Ellie Marney’s North American blog tour, celebrating her latest novel, Every Word.

This is the second book in a series, by Australian Ellie Marney,  that riffs on Sherlock Holmes and follows James Mycroft and Rachel Watts as they travel (separately) to London to investigate the theft and readers learn about Mycroft’s tortured background.

Publisher’s Summary:James Mycroft has just left for London to investigate a car accident similar to the one that killed his parents … without saying goodbye to Rachel Watts, his ‘partner in crime’.

Rachel is furious and worried about his strange behavior – not that Mycroft’s ever exactly normal, but London is the scene of so many of his nightmares. So Rachel jumps on a plane to follow him … and lands straight in a whole storm of trouble.

The theft of a copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio, the possible murder of a rare books conservator, and the deaths of Mycroft’s parents…. Can Watts help Mycroft make sense of the three events – or will she lose him forever?

Sparks fly when Watts and Mycroft reunite in this second sophisticated thriller about the teen sleuthing duo.

Every Word is intelligent reading and even better than the first book. Mycroft and Watts fit the Holmesian models of complicated and brilliant sleuth with a loyal and logical partner. There is some romance between the two, but the mystery is definitely front and center.

Both books are told from Rachel’s point of view. She is a tough, down to earth character, who begins competing in roller derby in this second book. Just as Watson grounds Holmes, Rachel grounds Mycroft. She knows he is a flawed boyfriend, but is willing to make the effort.

“I’ve nursed sick animals before, and sometimes they just give up. Their eyes fill with this helpless lethargy, and there’s not a lot you can do after that. Now I’m filled with the same awful feeling — that whatever’s broken inside Mycroft might well be beyond my ability to fix. “

The first book, Every Breath,  was enjoyable because of its Australian setting and the publisher’s decision to keep the language authentically so. Every Word, set in London feels equally as authentic and the pace of the story is right on, making it tempting to read the book in a single sitting.

Although I recommend reading Every Breath  before Every Word, you could conceivably read them out of order. This pair of mysteries would be excellent holiday gifts for a young adult reader who loves mysteries.