To paraphrase Heraclitus, you can never step into the same stream twice. This simple saying occupies a Schrodinger’s version of truth because you both can and can’t. The stream itself is the collection of water, land, stone, and geographic marker while at the same time each of those are undergoing micro-changes. While the phrase is typically used to mean that we cannot return to the past, it’s also a useful phrase to show that change is continuous whether we see it or not. While writing this review of A Study in Honor by Claire O’Dell, I couldn’t help but see Dr. Janet Watson in light of this. She, a wounded veteran, returns to DC, but it is not the place where she grew up, and she is not the young woman that shipped out from there. But as she adjusts to her new life, she seems stuck in a holding pattern, but when we look close, we can see the changes in her as she slides further into depression. As a mysterious stranger pops into her life based on the recommendation of a friend/fellow soldier, the stream of her life picks up speed.
TL;DR
From the Publisher
Set in a near future Washington, D.C., a clever, incisive, and fresh feminist twist on a classic literary icon—Sherlock Holmes—in which Dr. Janet Watson and covert agent Sara Holmes will use espionage, advanced technology, and the power of deduction to unmask a murderer targeting Civil War veterans. Dr. Janet Watson knows firsthand the horrifying cost of a divided nation. While treating broken soldiers on the battlefields of the New Civil War, a sniper’s bullet shattered her arm and ended her career. Honorably discharged and struggling with the semi-functional mechanical arm that replaced the limb she lost, she returns to the nation’s capital, a bleak, edgy city in the throes of a fraught presidential election. Homeless and jobless, Watson is uncertain of the future when she meets another black and queer woman, Sara Holmes, a mysterious yet playfully challenging covert agent who offers the doctor a place to stay. Watson’s readjustment to civilian life is complicated by the infuriating antics of her strange new roommate. But the tensions between them dissolve when Watson discovers that soldiers from the New Civil War have begun dying one by one—and that the deaths may be the tip of something far more dangerous, involving the pharmaceutical industry and even the looming election. Joining forces, Watson and Holmes embark on a thrilling investigation to solve the mystery—and secure justice for these fallen soldiers.
Story
A Study in Honor takes place in the near future United States. One that with each passing day becomes increasingly plausible. Dr. Watson, an injured veteran, returns to D.C. in hopes of getting an adequate replacement for her mechanical arm that would allow her to return to the life of a surgeon. The life she trained for prior to enlistment. While adjusting to current circumstances and waiting on the bureaucracy of the Veteran’s Administration to work, Watson deals with PTSD, heartbreak, and loss. While putting her civilian life together, she becomes roommates with the eccentric, potentially dangerous Sara Holmes. During the course of her new job, Dr. Watson stumbles upon mysterious deaths of soldiers. From there, the game, as they say, is afoot.
While this is very much an SFF mystery, I appreciated it more as the character study of Dr. Janet Watson, surgeon, veteran, queer woman of color. Her return from the front lines, her daily care of her prosthetic arm, her search for a job, all worked for me. It’s a slow burn where I felt her anger, her despair, her hopelessness. The mystery begins to be introduced about a third of the way in and doesn’t really take off until halfway through the novel. This is not a criticism. Reading how Janet navigated post-service life had me turning the page. I could have done with a whole novel of character study, but it wouldn’t have been a retelling of Sherlock Holmes without the mystery.
Writing
A Study in Honor is an exquisitely written book. Ms. O’Dell gets deep into Dr. Watson’s head, and we get to know this woman well. I enjoyed the use of journaling throughout, especially as it’s a near future novel but Watson prefers pen and paper. (Side note: I agree; there is something much more enjoyable about journaling on actual paper.) Dr. Watson is a fully three dimensional character, and her experiences with PTSD feels right. It’s approached with care, not simply as a plot point. PTSD is not a character trait, like preferring vanilla to chocolate ice cream. It is character; it is deeply part of a person’s make up and can’t be ditched for plot expediency. Ms. O’Dell gets it right, in my opinion.
Because of the intimate exploration of Watson’s character, Holmes seemed painted with broad strokes throughout the book. She was detached, aloof, and in control of more than we understand. She’s a powerful woman with hidden depths that will hopefully be explored in future volumes. Holmes is very controlling with respect to Watson in both the micro – food, drugs, journaling material – and macro – job, prosthetic – of the doctor’s life. Though Holmes is in control, her presence makes Watson’s life chaotic. I feel this story through her point of view would be very different and much less mysterious. She knew more throughout than she let on, which to be fair is very Sherlockian, and I don’t know what to make of her yet. BUT I want to know more.
Thoughts
Sequels please. This felt like an introduction, an origin story, and I’m ready for the further adventures. Ms. O’Dell has created a world worthy of exploration. This mystery felt rushed to me; it exists as a setup for future volumes. Although the plot went by fast, the whole book was paced excellently. The beginning, as I said, was a slow burn, and as Holmes came into Watson’s life, the pacing increased with the drama and action. It very much felt like Watson’s life was spiraling out of her control even more as Holmes’s presence increased in it. I believe there’s an argument to be made that her life in DC was already out of control, but Watson didn’t acknowledge that. She is stuck in a holding pattern that unfortunately anyone who has dealt with or watched a loved one deal with the Veteran’s Administration will recognize. Watson imbues that hope/pessimism of believing that help exists just out of reach behind gatekeeping bureaucrats.
The label feminist and the description ‘gender flip’ will turn off some to this unrepentantly left leaning novel, and those people will lose out. This is a good story. Period. For me, literature and SFF, in particular, are a chance for me to find a connection with people different than me, and the characters of this book are as different from me as can be. Yet, common ground is easy to find because of the care given to the PTSD, to finding a job, to worrying about being homeless. I’m not a feminist scholar; so, I probably missed a lot more in this novel. And I’ve probably got other things wrong. But as a straight, white, male, I have to remain stereotypical and march forth with my uninformed opinion. The truly radical thing here is making these characters and their very human struggles visible.
I loved this book, and there’s a lot more that I could write about it. It lends itself to close reads, interrogations, and discussion. Even though the mystery is solved by the end, this is a book for re-reading.
Its Place in the Sherlockian Tradition
Confession time: Other than A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman, this is the only bit of the Holmes shared world that I’ve read. Sure, I enjoy the movies and TV shows, but I just haven’t ever picked up a book in the universe, nor an audiobook. So, I cannot place this for you in the Sherlockian literary catalog. But in terms of Sherlock pop culture, Sara Holmes is close to the Benedict Cumberbatch version yet with more depth, more control. Sara Holmes seemed like a puppet master in this story. Dr. Janet Watson is a version that I haven’t seen before, and I like this interpretation. I’m interested to see how others place this in the shared world. Other reviewers, like Dr. Liz Bourke, say these characters are close to Doyle’s originals.
Conclusion
A Study in Honor exceeded my expectations. Frankly, I read the description, saw the cover, and requested an ARC as soon as I could. It’s a story of the horrors of war on a personal and national level without being didactic. Claire O’Dell has created a world that begs for more exploration by these flawed, heroic women. As a novel, it’s great. As a character study of Dr. Janet Watson, it’s superb. Read it. Reads it as soon as you can.
Available July 31, 2018 from Harper Voyager.