REVIEW: The Case for Jamie
The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro
Page Count: 368 pages
Release Date: March 6, 2018
My Rating: 5/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
It’s been a year since the shocking death of August Moriarty, and Jamie and Charlotte haven’t spoken.
Jamie is going through the motions at Sherringford, trying to finish his senior year without incident, with a nice girlfriend he can’t seem to fall for. Charlotte is on the run, from Lucien Moriarty and from her own mistakes. No one has seen her since that fateful night on the lawn in Sussex—and Charlotte wants it that way. She knows she isn’t safe to be around. She knows her Watson can’t forgive her.
Holmes and Watson may not be looking to reconcile, but when strange things start happening, it’s clear that someone wants the team back together. Someone who has been quietly observing them both. Making plans. Biding their time. Someone who wants to see one of them suffer and the other one dead.
My Review:
I am super happy to give this book 5 stars, especially after the not-so-great second book. But the final book in the Charlotte Holmes series completely lived up to the high expectations put in place by book one.
All the qualms I had with the second book, The Last of August, -- confusing writing, confusing plot, confusing choices made by characters -- were completely cleared up. The writing was tight and fast-paced once more, and the storyline was intricate and full of twists without being confusing in the slightest. The plot was so full of new revelations that I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time; it was almost like a reading a thriller in places!
And best of all, Jamie and Charlotte had SO much character development. I absolutely loved how in this book readers got both Jamie and Charlotte's point of view, and the alternating chapters worked so well. I identified with and liked Charlotte so much more after reading from her POV. The alternating viewpoints allowed the plot to move forward with zero confusion, while still allowing for complex character evolution.
Based on the greatness of the first and last book, I highly recommend this series to fans of YA mystery or Sherlock Holmes retellings! Even with the meandering second book, the series as a whole is worth it.