The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan: 07/03/13

The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan by Nancy Springer is the fourth of the Enola Holmes series. It's a follow up to The Case of Left-Handed Lady.

Enola while on an investigation happens to meet up with Lady Cecily. With the help of a cheap pink fan, Cecily begs Enola for help. It doesn't take her long to figure out that Lady Cecily is being kept prisoner somewhere and needs her help again.

The color pink in a Sherlock Holmes adaptation, homage or spinoff is usually a nod to the first of the stories, A Study in Scarlet. Now usually these mysteries focus on the murder with the scrawled message, RACHE. Springer, though, takes the other half of the original as her inspiration — keeping her focus on feminism in the Victorian era — namely the forced marriage of a young woman.

On the personal front, Enola seems to be gaining ground with Sherlock. There's a great scene where Enola has to come to her brother's rescue. While he doesn't completely capitulate to her demands, he does silently agree to be her ally.

It's a short enjoyable edition to the series. It has the usual fun stuff of cyphers, disguises, and secret forms of communication.

Five stars

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