The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets

As I mentioned before, these Enola Holmes books delve into the meaning of flowers.  This book in particular is all about it.  The Victorians were curious creatures, a mixture of the proper and improper, but for some reason we tend to remember the former much more than the latter.  I certainly won't get into certain improper things here, as it is not the proper place to do so, but one way they got around the proprieties was through messages.  Fans (which is the next novel) and flowers could convey secret messages by how they were arranged and what flowers were present.  Pretty cool, huh?

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The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets
by Nancy Springer

Enola is distressed to learn from the papers that Dr. Watson is missing, so she dons one of her many disguises (this time, the beautiful lady, Viola Everseau, her crowning achievement) and visits the worried Mrs. Watson in order to determine what has happened to the good doctor.  While there, she notices what is a strange bouquet among traditional arrangements: red poppies, white hawthorn, convolulus, and asparagus.  The meanings of these are sleep, bad luck, and a convoluted or twisted meaning with the asparagus, which Enola does not know the meaning of immediately.  However, it is clear that the sender does not mean to comfort the woman.

When Sherlock Holmes appears while Enola is there, she stays in character and gushes over him, then effectively makes her escape.  But who could have created such a strange bouquet?  Deciding to keep watch for further messages within flowers, Enola starts boarding across the street, makes a message to the creator of the bouquet in the classifieds of the time, and waits and watches.  It is only a day or two before another bouquet comes.  The meaning looks like something dire has happened to Dr. Watson, and Enola is once again on the case, this time trying to find the dear friend of her brother.

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Again, there is quite a bit of danger to Enola in the book, but the readers should have no trouble separating fact from fiction.  I give this nine out of ten sonic screwdrivers.