Caffeinated Reviewer

A Beautiful and Terrible Murder by Claire M. Andrews is the first in the Irene Adler series. Narrated by Brittany Pressley, this historical fiction mystery has Irene and Sherlock Holmes teaming up to discover who is murdering Oxford’s elite students in the All Souls class.

Perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper, this historical murder mystery follows the cunning Irene Adler as she teams up with the mysterious Sherlock Holmes to discover who is murdering Oxford's elite students in the All Souls class.

Irene Adler is no ordinary young lady. She's at the top of the ranks in the All Souls cohort, a competitive preparatory class reserved for Oxford's brightest minds. But her peers and professors don't know she's a lady at all. To them, she is Isaac Holland.

Keeping up her disguise gets trickier when All Souls students start dying, one by one. Determined to find out who's responsible for the deaths, Irene—as Isaac—teams up with fellow classmate and roommate Sherlock Holmes to track down clues. Their mission grows more dangerous by the day as someone tries to frame Isaac for the murders, and Irene's own father, Dean Moriarty, begins to threaten her seat in school.

Listeners will love following these classic and beloved characters through the twists and turns in the dark halls of Oxford, and discovering what secret lies behind the glitz and glamor of the elite.

I am always in the mood for a good historical mystery with detectives. Irene Adler ranks in the top tier of her class in the All Souls cohort, a competitive preparatory class reserved for Oxford’s brightest minds. Her classmates, including her roommate, Sherlock Holmes, know her as Issac Holland.

While Irene also attends classes as herself and has a dorm in the ladies’ building, women may not take the classes she wants, and thus Issac Holland was born. I will admit I feared her secret would be discovered.

When All Souls students turn up dead, Holland (Irene) and Holmes investigate. At first separately but soon side by side. This was an engaging mystery with plenty of twists that led to Issac as the prime suspect. Can they solve the mystery? Will Irene be exposed? Will her father, Dean Moriarty, make her leave the school? Why is someone trying to frame Issac?

I adored Irene and found her to be clever. Holmes seemed aloof as I waited for him to piece things together. We get a VERY light romance but not enough to satisfy those looking for romantic historical mysteries. The story works with or without it.

Brittany Pressley narrates and did a wonderful job of giving voice to these characters and setting the tone. The story adapts well to audio, and I recommend listening.

A Beautiful and Terrible Murder was a fast-paced and engaging start to the Irene Adler series. Fans of Sherlock Holmes and Stalking Jack the Ripper will enjoy this one. I look forward to the next audiobook. A perfect mystery for a fall car ride.

Amazon | Audible | Libro.fm

About Claire M. Andrews

Claire was raised in both Alaska and Scotland, but currently lives in Vermont; when not writing, she can usually be found outside swimming, skiing or hiking across the state’s famous green mountains.

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About Brittany Pressley

Audiobook Narrator of over 450 titles. Voice Over for brands including Stouffer's, Tic Tac, Ulta Beauty, Whirlpool and more. Series regular on the Netflix animated shows Robocar Poli and Winx Club.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2025 Audiobook Challenge

About Kimberly

Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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