Really tried to start this book multiple times but could not get into it the storyline enough to enjoy it.

I would like to thank netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Found it rather boring.

I enjoyed reading A Study in Treason by Leonard Goldberg. Joanna Blalock is Sherlock Holmes daughter. It was exciting to follow her as she figures out how to solve a major crime.. The book is well written and the plot has so many twists and turns. The ending was a surpriese but makes sense. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading Sherlock Holmes stories.

The successors to Holmes and Watson, Joanna Holmes and Dr John Watson Jnr. Unfortunately, the story line and the way it was told, just did not catch and engage me which meant I was skimming through pages then back-tracking. I in no way identified or connected with the characters of Joanna (especially) and John Jnr - maybe I am too much of a Sherlockian snob - and this was too much of a stretch for me.

3.5 stars. I totally enjoyed this second book in the Daughter of Sherlock Holmes series. I haven’t read the first one so I was a bit skeptical if I’d miss out on something. But this was a good stand alone book that from what I gather has the same characters and does talk about how Joanna was the one who set the trap for the bad guy in the last book. Maybe devout Sherlock fans would be wary. But overall an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Second book in this series and loosely connected to Goldberg's Joanna Blalock series, this book follows Sherlock Holmes' daughter and Dr Watson's son, who need to retrieve some important documents and solve a few murders.

Not having read any of Goldberg's other books I was approaching this with caution, but it is so well-written and fast paced that it not only gripped me right from the start, but that I also want to read the other books in this and the Joanna Blalock series.

To be honest, I have not read The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes. However, I thought that I didn't need to read it to understand this novel. I was intrigued by the narrator of Doctor Watson, Jr. He sounded a lot like his father. I liked how he was impressed with Joanna's detective skills and that he respected her for it! I thought the mystery was compelling and was on the edge of my seat as I raced to find out who done it! However, what struck me most was that it felt true to the real Holmes and Watson. There have been so many Sherlock fanfiction out there that the original characters are hardly recognized. Mr. Goldberg kept the characters faithful with the same characteristics and speech. Instead of fanfiction, it felt like a real sequel to the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The character I was most impressed with was Doctor Watson! Overall, I highly recommend this novel to any Sherlock Holmes fans.

This was a difficult read for me. I usually love books that fall into a category I call "Derivatives of the Great Detective".
Unfortunately I feel like the writer went too far in trying to show his ability to write the characters from Sherlock Holmes. The first third of the book just seemed like a series of deduction exercises and interviews to show how clever Joanna is. And Watson and Watson Jr. just extolling her virtues. I literally felt like they were just in a constant state of utter amazement at her intelligence. Starstruck over someone they live and work with on a daily basis...
Lestrade was over the top incompetent, almost buffooinish. Joanna (daughter of Sherlock Holmes) was beyond emotionless. She's married to Watson, Jr., but there was not even enough emotion or femininity in her character to demonstrate a caring (or really any) relationship with her husband.
Almost every chapter ended with Joanna cryptically telling someone how wrong they were, and she frequently praised Watson and Watson, Jr. for small deductions almost like talking to a child. At one point she asked Watson what he made of a woman rushing into the telegram office and when he said she was in a hurry to send a telegram Joanna responded with "Excellent, Watson!". I found myself feeling almost embarrassed for her colleagues.
I finished the book, and the mystery was good, but I just had serious difficulty liking the characters or becoming interested in them.

A Study in Treason is the second installment in author Leonard Goldberg's The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. The year is 1914, protagonist Joanne Blalock, the daughter of Sherlock Holmes, is now married to John Watson, Jr. the son of Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes partner and chronicler. This time out, the trio is summoned by Sir Harold Whitlock, First Sea Lord in His Majesty's Navy to solve a case that has the utmost national security implications for England. A case that needs to be solved quickly, or thousands of lives may be lost.

“The most unifying explanation is most likely to be correct.”


As it so happens, a highly secret document called the French Treaty, has gone missing. Scotland Yard's Inspector Lestrade is on the case, but we all know that in this world, Scotland Yard tends to bungle things up worse than they already were. The document was last seen at the estate of Duke Winchester, so, this is where most of the story takes place. With the winds of war now blowing across Europe, and a secretive paper missing, and quite possibly in the wrong hands, it will take a whole lot of that old Sherlock Holmes ingenuity, and cunning to solve the case.

We now have three characters, not just Joanna, tossing things back and forth to see what they can come up with. Even with Dr. Watson's health issues, you can't keep a good man from doing what he believes in. Like her father, Joanna has a keen intellectual mind and is relentless in her pursuit of the villain or villains who may be involved in what will become a national security nightmare if the Treaty ends up in the wrong hands. Joanna loves to get in the faces of those like Lestrade, and a new character from Naval Intelligence, Leftenant Dunn.

While explaining away contradictions and impossibilities right and left, Joanna has the humility and good grace to accept that if an answer doesn’t make sense, it is likely because she doesn’t yet have all the facts. In this way, she stalwartly seeks out the facts and thereby appears to let the mystery solve itself. In this story, anyone could be the culpert, and then again, nobody could be the culpert. When a witness dies, and a prime suspect disappears, Joanna and company must not lose focus on the general scheme of things for fear of being accused of incompetence.

So, in closing, I have a few negatives to report. I will be a happy camper if I never see or hear the words Nevertheless and Persisted in a story again! Holy crap does the author over use these words. In a span of several chapters, it seems as though these two worlds are the only words he can think of for certain situations the characters find themselves in. Not such a negative. There is a symmetry in having the daughter of Sherlock Holmes, the son of Dr. Watson, the son of the original Inspector Lestrade, as well as the offspring of the original tracker dog Toby once again appear in Goldberg's story.

A Study in Treason is book from Leonard Goldberg's The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. I thought it was good and give it three and half stars.

*I received this book through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review*

After reading and really liking the first book in the series, I jumped on the chance to read the sequel. I love traditional mystery books, even if I don't read them often and this cast is quite likeable.
Although, this is not a character-driven book, so they are not the focus for the most part. The focus is the mystery, as it should be. I think it just felt odd to me because I'm used to having even a small inkling of romance in the books I read and even though John and Johanna are married, they don't feel romantic, but more like partners until John writes about how he admires her or how lucky he is to have married her.

Okay, so the mystery. Now, I had a huge headache while I read most of this, so that might be why I didn't commit to my theory and let it go, so I can't say I saw where the book was going. I think this one might trick some people. It was a great little chase. I thoroughly enjoying reading people make deductions and looking for clues to make the puzzle work. If you feel the same, then I think you'll really like this one.

You don't need to have read the first book to understand this one, so you can jump right into this if you want. I will say reading these books makes me want to read the original Sherlock Holmes books. If you like traditional mysteries and Sherlock Holmes then I think you'll like this one!

I loved this adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.

This story follows the daughter of Holmes, who is now married to the son of Watson. Watson is also in this story, though he had a stroke so he isn’t able to do much physical work.

I really liked how this story followed the same style of the original Sherlock Holmes stories. The story was told by John Watson Jr. Though Joanna didn’t know her father, Sherlock, she inherited his talent for deduction. She also likes to study different areas of interest, like tobacco and languages, just like Sherlock.

The ending of the story was good too. The culprit was who I suspected. But it was a very clever mystery. It played out just like a Sherlock Holmes mystery, with very complex and hidden clues.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.

I love a gender flipped version of a story. This novel follows the life of Sherlock Holmes daughter who has taken over the family business. Working with the original Watson and his son (her paramour) they find themselves involved in another mystery. And I LIVE for it. The banter between the new Holmes and Watson works, and the elder Watson is a good foil and provides insight from his earlier cases. This series is very enjoyable and I can't wait to read more mysteries going forward!

I am a fan of the original novels about Sherlock Holmes mysteries and was excited to get to review this book. I had not read the earlier book and perhaps if I had I would have enjoyed this one more. I plan to find it at the library and find out!

Joanna, the daughter of Sherlock Holmes, her husband Dr. John Watson, Jr., along with the aging Dr. John Watson Sr., work together to solve a mystery of missing secret treaty papers between England and France. It follows a very similar pattern to the Sherlock Holmes mysteries of old, being told from the younger Dr. Watson's point of view. It did not grab my attention from the start, perhaps as I was not as invested in the characters from the first book.

It was fun reading this story featuring a female version of Sherlock Holmes. It’s not a fast-paced or extremely suspenseful story, but one to enjoy as the author takes his time in building the case to the satisfying conclusion. This case is written from the viewpoint of the original Watson’s son, John, and his writing style mirrors that of his father’s.

There are many of her father’s characteristics in Joanna Watson. She is clever, intelligent, and relentless in moving forward to solve the case. She also does not show her emotions, which could possibly make a reader not connect well with her, but I felt it was appropriate as she is supposed to be reflecting the character of Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed reconnecting with an elderly Watson again, and in his role as Joanna’s father-in-law. There’s also an appearance of the Baker Street Irregulars which was a light-hearted, but necessary, addition to the storyline.

This was my first book to read in this series, and I’ll look forward to reading more of Joanna’s adventures in the future.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my own.

The second in a series following the exploits of Dr. John Watson, his son Dr. John Watson, Jr and Sherlock Holmes' daughter, Joanna Blalock Watson. This story details the investigation of a missing treaty and it's subsequent recovery. At 320 pages, it is just long enough to present all the facts and sew up the mystery. Nice interaction between the main 3 characters.

Goldberg brings an interesting twist to the Sherlock Holmes offshoot genre by introducing a rather coldly dispassionate daughter of Holmes who is married to the son of Holmes. Joanna Blalock is as mildly contemptuous of her husband’s detecting skills as her father was of Watson’s. The plot is very Sherlockian with locked rooms, missing state documents, and… but that would be telling!

Why I am not reading the second book in the series.

DNF @50% - review to come
RATING: 1 STARS
(Review Not on Blog)

I REALLY wanted to like this. I even crossed my fingers hoping I would be approved for this book on NetGalley and was declined but ended up bein approved for the second book. I love the cover on this book, and it has a female lead as Sherlock's daughter. (Side note: Joanna Blalock, Sherlock and Adler's daughter is also the great grandmother to Joanna Blalock from Goldberg's contemporary series). I didn't have any expectations for this book other than it would be Sherlock-esque and entertaining. Watson is still alive, but seems to have lost some personality. He has a son who is a doctor as well, and is the one that writes his and Joanna's case. Mrs. Hudson has a daughter and owns the same building. Moran and Lestrade also have sons that...surprise surprise do the same thing. The dog is also an offspring of the original dog. The stories all seem to be recycled as well. It does not have the atmosphere that the original novels and stories have, nor is it well characterized or well-written. I feel like they had an idea for a spin-off but didn't think it through. I was to review the second book, but I can't even get past this one. I did try the first chapter of the second book and it seem reminiscent of the first book.
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Leonard Goldberg’s A Study in Treason is the second book in the popular series, The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. These books feature Joanna Blalock, daughter of Sherlock Holmes, and her husband, John Watson, Jr., who is (you guessed it), the son of Holmes’ sidekick, Dr. John Watson, Sr. as they follow in their parents’ footsteps and solve mysteries that are so tough they stump both local law enforcement and the finest detectives at Scotland Yard. I’ve always been a fan of the original Sherlock Holmes mysteries so I thought this would be a fun read

In this second book in the series, there is an imminent threat of war (WWI) and England and France have entered into a secret treaty that details strategies on how they will work together to defeat Germany if they actually do go to war. The treaty is sent to the country estate of Lord Halifax so that copies of it can be produced, and even though the document is kept under lock and key and the room it is stored in is guarded at all times, somehow the document is still stolen. The local police and Scotland Yard are called in immediately, but when they can’t determine how the document was stolen from a locked and guarded room, Joanna and the Watsons are called in to lend their assistance.

My favorite part about A Study in Treason was actually the mystery itself. It’s a cleverly crafted locked door mystery, filled with plenty of suspense and twists and turns that kept me guessing as to who the culprit was and how they did it, all the way to the very end.

I also loved the feeling of nostalgia that I got while reading because Goldberg does such a fine job of writing the story in the style of the original Sherlock mysteries and in capturing the atmosphere of pre-WWI England. In that sense, I think this series makes for a great complement to the original series. It was like meeting up with an old friend after many years.

Speaking of meeting up with old friends after many years, I also really loved seeing Dr. Watson again. Sherlock has unfortunately passed away by the time this story is set, but Watson is still with us and it just warmed my heart to see him and especially to see how wonderful his relationship with his son is.

I also liked Joanna, well most of the time anyway. She’s quite the feminist and doesn’t put up with anyone treating her as less than capable because of her gender. She is also truly a chip off the old block, both in terms of her personality and her investigative skills. She’s like Sherlock in a dress and is quite a fun character to follow around, as many of her mannerisms even mimic dear old dad’s.

As much as I liked Joanna, I unfortunately also had some issues with her as well. Some of the clues Joanna found while investigating seemed like clues that any trained member of law enforcement should have also been able to locate. In that sense it almost felt like other characters were being “dumbed down” to make Joanna appear more superior.

I also wasn’t a big fan of the way she would micro-manage everyone around her as if they were dimwits who couldn’t think for themselves at all. There was one scene in particular where she wants her husband John to observe what one of their suspects is doing, but to do so without being seen. She actually instructs him to hold his hand up next to his face to shield his face from view, as if he doesn’t have enough common sense on his own to figure out how not to be recognized. She speaks in a similarly condescending tone to Dr. Watson at times, as if he’s a child, and I found it annoying. Then, if they did something well or came up with an idea on their own, she would praise them as if they were pets. I half expected her to reward them with treats every time they did something that pleased her. That same arrogance used to occasionally annoy me about Sherlock, so I guess it’s not surprising that it annoys me with his daughter as well, lol.

Overall, I found A Study in Treason to be an entertaining read. If you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes or even just a fan of mysteries, in particular, locked door mysteries, I’d definitely say to give it a try.

I fell in love with the cover when I saw it and when I realized that I was dealing with a Sherlock Holmes story, I could not resist! I love that kind of stories! But by cons, I must admit that I did not realize that it was a second volume, otherwise I would have waited to read the first one but I told myself that I could always try and see if I managed to understand everything.

I found that the form of the story was quite original. The author launches us directly into an investigation, and gives us the impression to follow the research step by step as if we were witnessing the arrival of the police during a crime and that we attended all hypothesis. It’s quite interesting and different to read.

However, I must say that I was sad enough not to be able to get into the story or to become attached to the characters. I do not know if it’s due to the fact that I did not read the first volume so I do not want to stop you from getting into this one, but it did not really work for me.