The Last of August

by Brittany Cavallaro

Overview

In the second brilliant, action-packed book in the Charlotte Holmes series, Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are in a chase across Europe to untangle a web of shocking truths about the Holmes and Moriarty families.

Jamie and Charlotte are looking for a winter break reprieve in Sussex after a fall semester that almost got them killed. But nothing about their time off is proving simple, including Holmes and Watson’s growing feelings for each other.

When Charlotte’s beloved Uncle Leander goes missing from the Holmes estate—after being oddly private about his latest assignment in a German art forgery ring—the game is afoot once again, and Charlotte throws herself into a search for answers.

So begins a dangerous race through the gritty underground scene in Berlin and glittering art houses in Prague, where Holmes and Watson discover that this complicated case might change everything they know about their families, themselves, and each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062398956
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/06/2018
Series:	Charlotte Holmes Trilogy Series , #2
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	63,941
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Brittany Cavallaro is the author of the New York Times bestselling Charlotte Holmes series and the poetry collection Girl-King. She earned her BA in literature from Middlebury College and her MFA in poetry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She lives in Michigan. Find her at her website, www.brittanycavallaro.com, or on Twitter @skippingstones.

Editorial Reviews

Beautiful prose, thrilling action, a touch of romance, and two complicated heroes to root for make this a not-to-be-missed sequel. Readers will be craving the final book in the trilogy.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Fans of the first Charlotte Holmes novel, A Study in Charlotte, will not be disappointed, and readers who are new to these characters will savor the fast-paced plot....This series is entirely un-put-downable. The Last of August will definitely leave readers anxiously awaiting the next installment.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

“A thrilling twist on a classic. Readers will be pulled in by both the riveting mystery and Charlotte Holmes, a brilliant heroine with secrets of her own.” — Maureen Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of the Shades of London series

“Cavallaro’s crackling dialogue, well-drawn characters, and complicated relationships make this feel like a seamless and sharp renewal of Doyle’s series. An explosive mystery featuring a dynamic duo.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on A Study in Charlotte

“Fans of television’s Elementary and Sherlock will avidly devour this book...a joyous excuse to watch one of the literary world’s most beloved pairings come together.” — Booklist on A Study in Charlotte

“Debut author Cavallaro brings Arthur Conan Doyle’s sleuths (or their distant relatives, anyway) into the 21st century, casting Holmes as a brilliant young woman and Watson, who narrates, as her admirer and accomplice...An involving murder mystery, and a promising start to a planned trilogy.” — Publishers Weekly on A Study in Charlotte

From the Publisher

Fans of the first Charlotte Holmes novel, A Study in Charlotte, will not be disappointed, and readers who are new to these characters will savor the fast-paced plot....This series is entirely un-put-downable. The Last of August will definitely leave readers anxiously awaiting the next installment.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

A thrilling twist on a classic. Readers will be pulled in by both the riveting mystery and Charlotte Holmes, a brilliant heroine with secrets of her own.

Maureen Johnson

Fans of television’s Elementary and Sherlock will avidly devour this book...a joyous excuse to watch one of the literary world’s most beloved pairings come together.

Booklist on A Study in Charlotte

Beautiful prose, thrilling action, a touch of romance, and two complicated heroes to root for make this a not-to-be-missed sequel. Readers will be craving the final book in the trilogy.

Booklist (starred review)

Beautiful prose, thrilling action, a touch of romance, and two complicated heroes to root for make this a not-to-be-missed sequel. Readers will be craving the final book in the trilogy.

Booklist (starred review)

12/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Picking up just weeks after A Study in Charlotte ended, Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes are on their Christmas break in London. Their friendship has taken a few steps back, though, and things seem tense. After Holmes's mother turns suddenly ill and her beloved uncle Leander goes missing, the game is afoot. The pair travel across Europe from Berlin to Prague, bickering all the way yet still making a great team. The book is nearly all from Watson's perspective, as was the first title in the trilogy, but a few chapters at the end are from Holmes's view, and they are worth the wait, filled with turns of phrase that only she could dream up. This delightful sequel introduces a mystery on a grander scale with much higher stakes while staying true to the flavor of an original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story. There are new characters, a kidnapping, poison, art fraud, narrow escapes, danger, drama, and a final twist with a heap of delicious, complex sleuthing that will keep readers guessing until the end. No one is ever what or who they seem. VERDICT A strong purchase for fans of A Study in Charlotte and where mysteries are popular.—Kristen Rademacher, Marist High School, IL

School Library Journal

2016-10-19
A duo becomes a trio and tries to settle family feuds in this relationship-focused crime caper sequel to A Study in Charlotte (2016).On school break, white teenagers Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson trade Connecticut for the Continent. Raised on the legendary escapades of the original Holmes and Watson, hapless narrator Jamie romanticizes a girl who rejects his affection—à la the works of John Green and Woody Allen—and feels out of his element among the elite. Sober but still scarred by her sexual assault, Charlotte uses the cases of a missing uncle and a poisoned parent to escape to her brother Milo's high-security Berlin bachelor pad. There, the two gain a partner, August Moriarty—Charlotte's former tutor, first crush, and alleged homicide victim—whose resurfacing does not fully appease his criminal kin. The forgery subplot, parodied-but-still-pretentious art scene, dark humor, witty dialogue, and action scenes thankfully leaven the relentless relationship drama. Cavallaro expands beyond Doyle's storylines while still using his characters and their hallmark behaviors, but this second outing somehow feels less original than the series opener. Although characters sometimes skate close to caricature, the young Holmes, Watson, and Moriarty contend with "a metric ton of psychic damage" in a raw and unflinching manner. This muddled mystery rests on elaborate machinations with disproportionate motivations, but the emotional odyssey should satisfy readers seeking a contemporary, teenage take on the Baker Street pair. (Mystery. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews