Aged 13 Sherlock is taken out of Eaton because his mother is accused of murdering the town midwife. Sherlock’s mother has complete trust he will find the evidence to exonerate her. Towns-women seem to end up dead and Sherlock has to find out what’s going on.

The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife (The Early Case Files of Sherlock Homes #1) by Liese Sherwood-Fabre is the first installment in The Early Case Files of Sherlock Holmes and is the story about Sherlock Holmes as a young boy trying to find out why the town midwife was found dead in the Holmes’ back garden and why Sherlock’s mother is imprisoned for it.

The story seems to be based on Sherlock’s childhood memories of what happened. As the original Sherlock Holmes stories were written from 1887 onwards, it might set this story roughly in the beginning of the 1870s at the family estate Underbyrne. Sherlock is brought up as the son of a country squire with a lot of focus on manners and maintaining his family’s status. This seems to influence his decisions a lot.

Elements of Sherlock’s home life seem to explain his skills as an adult. His brother, parents and uncle are all well educated and impressively skilled people interested in research and investigation. In this story Sherlock’s mother, Mrs. Holmes, is in the center of the plot as she is suspected of using her knowledge of herbs for criminal activity.

Main character Sherlock Holmes is 13 in this story. It’s amusing how he gets into the habit of using a spy glass to investigate and starts to wear his special cap, which is actually part of his hunting outfit. He is brought up to “not be seen or heard” when adults talk. I worried throughout the story that this might hold him back when investigating, but he found a way to make it work.

Secondary character Constance Straton is a very poor, but gutsy, pickpocket with serious survival skills. I find it both sad and impressive what she has to do to provide food for her young siblings. She is a nice girl at heart and, in my opinion, a well crafted character and my favorite of this story.

The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife by Liese Sherwood-Fabre included description of an interesting way to prove Mrs. Holmes’ innocence without the forensics we rely on today. Some seriously gory details was included, but my favorite part of the story nonetheless

I enjoyed The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife by Liese Sherwood-Fabre. I found the plot interesting and exciting. The clues were carefully placed throughout the story and from today’s perspective I found the motive for murder absolutely mind boggling. Exiting to see what other adventures Sherlock Holmes might get up in Liese Sherwood-Fabre’s next story.

Readers of crime fiction would enjoy The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife by Liese Sherwood-Fabre. Other authors to explore might be Leonard Goldberg or Charles Veley.

Thank you to the publisher Little Elm Press and NetGally for the opportunity to share my honest review of The Adventure of the Murdered Midwife by Liese Sherwood-Fabre. All opinions are completely my own.

My rating: 4 stars / 5
Main reasons: interesting plot, good writing, very surprising ending