★★★★☆ Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose, by Nancy Springer
Enola meets Rudyard Kipling
Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose
Nancy Springer
Enola meets Rudyard Kipling
Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose is the ninth novel in Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes series of mystery novels. It is currently (2-Nov-2023) the last extant book in the series, but since it was published just two months ago, I hold up hope that more are in the pipeline. At 298 pages, Mark of the Mongoose is a bit thicker than previous Enola Holmes novels, and in fact the story is more elaborate.
We begin with a prolog in which we met the American brother/sister couple Wolcott and Caroline Balestier. Wolcott and Carrie speak of their great friend Ruddy, who is, they hold, a talented author. Ruddy, of course, is Rudyard Kipling. If you know your Kipling, you may remember that his wife was American, and in fact was named Carrie Balestier. Furthermore, Kipling coauthored a novel, The Naulahka, with Charles Wolcott Balestier. So those are the parties to this year's Enola Holmes mystery.
In Chapter the First, Kipling shows up at the office of Dr Ragostin, Scientific Perditorian, Enola's lightly fraudulent business, which she has wound down in order to concentrate on her studies. Kipling demands to see Dr Ragostin in person, that he may track down Kipling's missing friend Wolcott Balestier. With some heat, Enola informs him that Dr Ragostin does not exist, that the actual Perditorian is the young woman standing before him. Kipling answers with even more heat, berating Enola in colorful terms.
“You?” he went on, wild-eyed and yelling. “You ostrich biddy with the mouth of a muleteer! You mud-head snipe-nose, you are the she-demon Putana who sucks men’s blood, whose milk poisons babies! Banish yourself! Aroynt thee!”
Far from being discouraged, Enola relishes his colorful insults, and echoing Marcus Aurelius, tells Joddy
“My best revenge for that bully’s rudeness,” I said, “will be to locate his missing friend for him.”
Kipling, meanwhile, has recourse to Sherlock. Thus Enola and Sherlock end up competing/collaborating in the hunt for Balestier.
Enola leaps into action in her characteristic improvisational way. Sherlock's hunt, as usual, is more deliberate.
This one is more action-packed and physical than usual -- there are fights, and Enola has to use that famous dagger that she carries in the front of her corset. It is as much fun as usual. And Springer's portrayal of Kipling, whose writing she admires while deploring his misogyny, is entertaining.