“I wore a hat with a feather plume the first time I met Sherlock Holmes.”

From Heather W. Petty’s Lock & Mori.

Ever since her mother died, Mori’s world has been a painful mess. Devastated by his grief, Mori’s London police officer father has turned into an angry drunk, making life at home volatile for Mori and her younger brothers. When a murdered man is discovered in the nearby Regent’s Park, Mori doesn’t think much of it until she meets Sherlock “Lock” Holmes, her brilliant, but annoying classmate. Lock is arrogant, but Mori finds him interesting, and she soon finds herself agreeing to try to solve the murder from the park as a test of minds. While the police label the murder a robbery gone wrong, Lock and Mori instantly realize that the victim’s murder was anything but random. When they learn that the victim, Mr. Patel, was the parent of another student, Mori and Lock attend the funeral for information, but when Mori finds an old picture of her mother with Mr. Patel and several others, she’s overwhelmed with questions. Mori isn’t ready to share this personal information with Lock, but when he finds three other Regent’s Park murders–with victims all from the picture–Mori realizes that her mother’s past is the key to the deadly mysteries. As the two dive deeper into the lives of the victims, both Mori and Lock realize that nothing is as it seems, but her inability to trust Lock completely might prove to destroy everything.

The first book in the modern Sherlock Holmes young adult trilogy is an interesting mystery from start to finish. Petty creates a new, genuine world that works well for the characters that fans of the iconic detective stories will recognize. Lock & Mori moves quickly, but manages to create a mystery that is deep enough to keep readers captivated.