Welcome to another edition of Must Read Monday! This feature is where I spotlight current and/or upcoming releases I am looking forward to. The lists will include all genres I like to read, everything from picture books to comics, children’s lit to adult fiction!

This week is elementary, my dear- featuring two young adult novels that promise a fresh take on the legendary Sherlock Holmes and John Watson:

Every Breath (Every #1) by Ellie Marney
Publication: October 14th 2014 by Tundra Books

When James Mycroft drags Rachel Watts off on a night mission to the Melbourne Zoo, the last thing she expects to find is the mutilated body of Homeless Dave, one of Mycroft’s numerous eccentric friends. But Mycroft’s passion for forensics leads him to realize that something about the scene isn’t right–and he wants Watts to help him investigate the murder.

While Watts battles her attraction to bad-boy Mycroft, he’s busy getting himself expelled and clashing with the police, becoming murder suspect number one. When Watts and Mycroft unknowingly reveal too much to the cold-blooded killer, they find themselves in the lion’s den–literally. A trip to the zoo will never have quite the same meaning to Rachel Watts again…

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
Expected publication: March 1, 2016 by Katherine Tegen Books

The last thing sixteen-year-old Jamie Watson–writer and great-great-grandson of the John Watson–wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s enigmatic, fiercely independent great-great-granddaughter, who’s inherited not just his genius but also his vices, volatile temperament, and expertly hidden vulnerability. Charlotte has been the object of his fascination for as long as he can remember–but from the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else.

Then a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Holmes stories, and Jamie and Charlotte become the prime suspects. Convinced they’re being framed, they must race against the police to conduct their own investigation. As danger mounts, it becomes clear that nowhere is safe and the only people they can trust are each other.

From the time I first saw (and truthfully became number one fan of) The Great Mouse Detective as a kid, my lifelong love of everything Sherlockian was pretty much set. Both of the above titles sound like they could be terrific: a blend of character friction, mystery, suspense, romantic tension and some gore, which- if in the right hands- can make for some amazing reading. I have been reading such positive reader comments and reviews about Marney’s series and I look forward to diving in to the first in the series. A Study in Charlotte grabbed my attention as soon as I read the blurb; combine that with early buzz and an appealing title, and my hopes are up!