I'm weary of reading about Sarah and Nan's exploits, with or without the inclusion of Holmes and Watson. I keep returning to this series hoping that its charm will be revived, and I'm consistently disappointed. I've got to come to terms with the fact that I will never enjoy the continuation of this series as much as I enjoyed earlier books like The Gates of Sleep and other similar strictly-fairy tale retellings.

Glutton for punishment that I (apparently) am, I'll probably keep reading any further books. But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy them. (I used to recommend this series to people... From now on, I'll stick to just recommending specific titles that I enjoy, or perhaps the "Five Hundred Kingdoms" series instead.) ( )

The next case for Dr. John Watson, his wife Mary, and Nan, Sarah, and Suki starts with a letter sent to the deceased Sherlock Holmes begging for help in finding two children lost on the moors of Dartmoor. Since the letter bears traces of Earth magic, they are eager to help but not sure what they can actually do.

Lord Alderscroft sends the group to Dartmoor when it is learned that an unusual number of children have disappeared in the area of Yelverton over the preceding four years. They also learn that Sherlock Holmes is investigating a case of his own in the area. It seems the women are being raped and robbed under some sort of magical compulsion.

A good part of the story is told from the viewpoint of the missing children who are captured by someone they call the Dark One who has imprisoned them and steals their magic from them. One of the two missing children mentioned in the letter - Helen Byerly - has no magical ability though her brother Simon does. Helen has the tip of her finger chopped off and buried under the hearthstone and finds herself as a servant for the evil magician unable to leave the grounds of his house.

While working as his servant, she is able to better the lot of the other prisoners and is finally able to dig up her missing finger and escape during one of the evil magician's absences. However, she manages to get herself lost on the moors and almost dies of pneumonia despite being found by one of the local witches.

Meanwhile, the Watson group is doing all they can to explore the area and locate the missing children by tracking down every possible rumor and checking every possible location using all of their various abilities.

This was another excellent adventure in the Elemental Masters series. Gemma Doyle did a great job with all the various voices and the dialects. The worldbuilding was excellent and the characters interesting. ( )

Sherlock is still officially dead so John and Mary Watson along with Sarah Lyon-White and Nan Killian are taking on some of his cases. Lord Alderscroft asks them to investigate a rumour of evil magic. Then a Dartmoor resident reports that his child is missing and this brings them to a tale that resembles Hansel and Gretel. It's an interesting look at poverty and trying to make ends meet and how difficult it can be for the parents.

Sometimes the social message can be a bit strong but it's also fun and interesting and fairly Mercedes Lackey typical. ( )

Part of the Elemental Masters series, this book is based on Hansel and Gretel. It also is one of the tales that includes the Watsons and tangentially Sherlock Holmes. I read it quickly as I really wanted to find out what happened next.

While I wanted a bit more Sherlock Holmes and a bit less on the birds, still this was an intriguing story. While I half expected a gigantic Hound, there was enough good overcoming evil, in part due to a normal girl doing what was right in an effort to save other children.

Recommended for those who like fairy tales interwoven with magic and mystery. ( )

Nan, Sara, Suki and the Watsons venture out to find lost children whose situation is known to the reader. There has been at least one book in the Elemental Masters series that is duller than this, for which the only excuse is to beat the reader over the head with Dartmouth dialect. ( )